FSSAI lab staff trained to test mycotoxins, pesticide and veterinary drug residues

FSSAI and GFSP organized a program for 10 trainers on pesticide residues and mycotoxins in Singapore in December last year, who will now train the food testing personnel in India.

The next Training of Trainers program will be at the National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM) in Hyderabad; CFTRI, Mysore; CFL, Kolkata and a private lab in Nashik.

GFSP will also provide training similar to the December event to master trainers on veterinary drug residues at the University of Maryland, US.

GFSP is a public-private initiative to improve safety of food in middle-income and developing countries.

The meeting of members of the Governing Council (GC) of GFSP represented by World Bank, UNIDO, FAO, FDA, FIA, USAID and Waters Corporation was held in New Delhi last week.

GFSP representatives also met with FSSAI and other food safety stakeholders.

Officials of FSSAI and CEOs of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Nestlé, Tata Sons, representatives from the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Centre for Science and Environment also participated.

Ashish Bahuguna, chairperson of FSSAI, said the authority is relatively new and there was an opportunity to learn from global best practices.

Pawan Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI, said he hoped collaboration with GFSP would expand in coming years.

FSSAI has food safety partnerships with authorities in Germany, France, Netherlands and New Zealand.

The authority is also working with agencies in other countries including the US, Canada and Singapore for benchmarking the food safety regulatory system in India.