Lok Sabha Question No. 885 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-24
Subject: FSSAI and Food Testing Labs
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, BHARATENDRA SINGH, PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA, ABHISHEK SINGH, M. B. RAJESH, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, HEMAMALINI, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, C. N. JAYADEVAN, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE, RAGHAV LAKHANPAL, RAMA DEVI, DUSHYANT CHAUTALA

**GOVERNMENT OF INDIA**

**MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE**

**DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE**

**LOK SABHA**

**UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.885**

**TO BE ANSWERED ON 24** **TH** **JULY, 2015**

**FSSAI and Food Testing Labs**

**885. 	SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:**

**KUNWAR BHARATENDRA:**

**SHRI PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA:**

**SHRI ABHISHEK SINGH:**

**SHRI M.B. RAJESH:**

**DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:**

**SHRIMATI HEMA MALINI:**

**SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:**

**SHRIMATI KAVITHA KALVAKUNTLA:**

**SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:**

**SHRI C.N. JAYADEVAN:**

**SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:**

**SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:**

**SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE:**

**SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL:**

**SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI:**

**SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA:**

Will the Minister of **HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE** be pleased to state:

(a) the number of notified Food Testing Laboratories (FTL) operating under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), State/UT-wise;

(b) whether the existing FTLs are of international standards and fully equipped to meet the demands of the industry, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the FSSAI/Government proposes to set up/modernize/upgrade the FTLs and infrastructure including a separate board to ensure better food safety, if so, the details thereof along with the time by which it is likely to be done and the funds allocated for the purpose during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;

(d) whether FSSAI is facing any operational difficulties, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the corrective steps being taken by the Government in this regard; and

(e) whether certain cases of delay in custom clearances for the want of FSSAI approval have been reported during the last three years and the current year, if so, the details thereof along with the preventive steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

**ANSWER**

**THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE**

**(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)**

(a) : The number of such labs are as below :-

|    | Referral laboratories                | -   |   12 |
|----|--------------------------------------|-----|------|
|    | State/Pubic food laboratories        | -   |   72 |
|    | NABL accredited Private laboratories | -   |   82 |
|    | Total                                | -   |  166 |

State-wise details of these labs are at **Annexure** .

(b):	FSSAI has informed that the Referral Laboratories and the NABL accredited private laboratories are equipped to undertake the tests as per their defined scope and the State labs, with the exception of a few, however, need upgradation.

(c):	There is a proposal to upgrade food safety infrastructure, both at the Centre and in the States. The Revised Estimates for FSSAI were Rs.50 crore, 65 crore, and Rs.60 crore for the year 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively.

(d):	The FSSAI is currently facing shortage of adequate trained manpower. To tide over the shortage, the FSSAI has been advised to recruit qualified manpower on contract basis.

(e):	While some delays have been reported in clearance of import consignments in some cases, an exercise has been carried out to optimise the timelines for clearance of imported consignments of food.

**Annexure**

**State – wise list of Food Testing Laboratories**

| **Sr. No.**   | **State/UT**              | **Number of State/ Public Food Laboratories**   | **Number of Referral Food Labs***   | **Number of NABL Accredited Private Labs notified by FSSAI**   |
|---------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.            | Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 2.            | Andhra Pradesh            | 1                                               | 1                                   | -                                                              |
| 3.            | Assam                     | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 4.            | Bihar                     | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 5.            | Chhattisgarh              | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 6.            | Daman & Diu               | -                                               | -                                   | 1                                                              |
| 7.            | GNCT of Delhi             | 1                                               | -                                   | 11                                                             |
| 8.            | Goa                       | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 9.            | Gujarat                   | 6                                               | 1                                   | 3                                                              |
| 10.           | Haryana                   | 2                                               | -                                   | 8                                                              |
| 11.           | Himachal Pradesh          | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 12.           | Jammu & Kashmir           | 2                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 13.           | Jharkhand                 | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 14.           | Karnataka                 | 4                                               | 2                                   | 7                                                              |
| 15.           | Kerala                    | 3                                               | 1                                   | 5                                                              |
| 16.           | Madhya Pradesh            | 3                                               | -                                   | 3                                                              |
| 17.           | Maharashtra               | 11                                              | 2                                   | 18                                                             |
| 18.           | Meghalaya                 | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 19.           | Nagaland                  | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 20.           | Odisha                    | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 21.           | Puducherry                | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 22.           | Punjab                    | 3                                               | -                                   | 2                                                              |
| 23.           | Rajasthan                 | 8                                               | -                                   | 3                                                              |
| 24.           | Tamil Nadu                | 7                                               | 1                                   | 7                                                              |
| 25.           | Telangana                 | 1                                               | 1                                   | 5                                                              |
| 26.           | Tripura                   | 1                                               | -                                   | -                                                              |
| 27.           | Uttar Pradesh             | 3                                               | 2                                   | 3                                                              |
| 28.           | Uttarakhand               | -                                               | -                                   | 1                                                              |
| 29.           | West Bengal               | 5                                               | 1                                   | 5                                                              |
|               | **Total**                 | **72**                                          | **12**                              | **82**                                                         |

*The Referral Food Laboratories work as appellate laboratories for the purpose of analysis of appeal samples of food lifted by the Food Safety Officers of the State/UTs and local bodies and the imported food samples.