Kohima, 22 March (MTNews): Commissioner & Secretary, Health & Family Welfare cum Commissioner, Food Safety, Y Kikheto Sema IAS acknowledged the FSSAI, Government of India for the provision of all required logistics to upgrade the Food Laboratory and enable it to obtain National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation.

 

Commissioner & Secretary, Health & Family Welfare cum Commissioner, Food Safety, Y Kikheto Sema IAS interacting with visiting official team from National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW), GoI. (DIPR)

 

The Commissioner said this while interacting with the visiting official team from the National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW), GoI led by Prof VK Tiwari at the FSSAI notified the State Public Health Laboratory (State Food Laboratory) on 22 March 2023.

 

According to the Commissioner, obtaining NABL accreditation makes it one of the few food laboratories in the Northeast state. He said that once the ongoing infrastructure development and logistics installations are completed, the state of the art laboratory will be able to function optimally and may also assist the other neighboring states.

 

The Commissioner expressed gratitude to the visiting teams for coming from Delhi to contribute to the strengthening of the Food Testing Ecosystem and apprised them of the need for another such Food Testing facility preferably in Tuensang District which can cater to eight districts viz (Mon, Longleng, Tuensang, Noklak, Shamator, Kiphire, Zunheboto, and Mokokchung district).

 

According to the commissioner, presently the state has one functional Food Safety on Wheels (FSW) and two new Modified Food Safety on Wheels (MFSW) that are provided by the GoI and will be made functional shortly. However, given the geographical terrain where the distance from one district headquarters to another takes time as compared to the distance taken in the mainland, the commissioner requested the team to highlight the need of four or more MFSW to the GoI.

 

“This step is a significant milestone in ensuring the safety and quality of food products and it demonstrates the government’s commitment to public health and safety. However, the department alone will not be able to achieve and sustain it,” the commissioner said and requested all stakeholders to give cooperation and support in its endeavor.

 

The team consisting of Prof VK Tiwari, Dean, Dr. Ravinder Kumar, CMO, and Dr Ramesh Gandotra, ARO are visiting the SPHL for “Rapid Appraisal of Strengthening of Food Testing system including provision of Mobile Testing Labs (SOFTEL)” in the country in collaboration with the Food division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI from 21 to 23 March 2023.

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