Summary:
In a significant development Food Testing Laboratories of Jammu and Srinagar have joined elite list of prestigious institutions of the country engaged in analytical work of food & food products by achieving NABL accreditation as mandated under Section 43 of Food Safety & Standards Act 2006. National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) a constituent board of Quality Council of India (QCI) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has granted accreditation in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 to food testing laboratories of Jammu and Srinagar under chemical testing for quality assurance. Consequently the food samples lifted by the Food Safety Officers in Kashmir valley during market inspections since January 2021 had to be referred to Food Testing Laboratory Jammu for analysis. Commissioner Food & Drug Administration in a statement released to the media said that the Department without the assistance of any Consultant since 2019 mobilized all the resources & manpower to get NABL accreditation of Food Testing laboratories Jammu and Srinagar. Giving further details it was revealed that the Food Laboratory Jammu was granted NABL accreditation in the month of March 2021 while the Food Laboratory Srinagar has been accorded NABL accreditation recently on 22nd May 2021..