PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 11: Not even 10 samples are being tested in the state’s lone government-run food testing laboratory located at Namkum in the Ranchi district due to the manpower crunch.
State food analyst CB Meena said that due to the absence of quality manpower the food testing is on the lower side compared to the food laboratory present in Kolkata. “At present, we only have one chemist that too in a position of Lab technician,” he added.
According to Meena, a chemist should nearly test 450 food samples in a month but due to the human resources crunch that the state food testing laboratory is facing, the food testing in the state is in a very poor status.
“We have sent the requirement for 13 posts including two each of food analyst, director, microbiologist, senior scientific officer and seven scientific officers. If we get all these 13 posts filled then 1350 samples will be checked every month in the state,” Meena said.
On the question of the present status of the state’s food testing laboratory, he said, “At present, we can detect 22 types of harmful metal in the food, 25 non-dangerous metals, antibiotics, pesticides, additives and benzoic acid. All these are way below the standards of the laboratory present in Kolkata but after we get quality manpower then surely the testing rate will increase in the state.”
Over a one-and-a-half decade after its establishment, the state’s food testing laboratory got legal sanction on April 11 to test samples as the facility received National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation as mandated under the Food and Safety Standards Act (FSSA), 2006.
The lab was set up in 2008 but remained defunct for many years due to manpower and resource crunch. Though it began functioning in 2013, it remained powerless to curb the adulteration menace due to the lack of legal status.
Explaining the significance of NABL accreditation, Meena said, “We could only generate awareness among the public about the quality of food in the state through our works. The biggest challenge faced by the lab to curb adulteration was that tests done here didn’t have legal sanctions. So even if we detect anomalies in any sample, the erring person/persons cannot be prosecuted or taken to task legally. Many food vendors often face punitive action by the district administrations during festive seasons in recent times for violation of food norms. This was only possible after those samples were tested in an accredited lab in Kolkata.”
He further added that after getting the required quality manpower the state’s lone food testing laboratory would come on track.
