Post Maggi episode UP FDA upgrading lab testing facilities

Close on the heels of the Maggi noodles episode that originated from Barabanki district, about 30 km from the Uttar Pradesh capital, the state government is now in the process of upgrading its food and drug testing labs.

The UP Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) department has floated a Rs 5 crore tender for procurement of advanced equipment to test samples for its labs.

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Currently, there are six labs in UP at Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Jhansi. Of these, Jhansi unit is only operational for surveillance purposes only and does not conduct food sample testing.

Of the six labs, Lucknow is the biggest and most specialised unit catering to about 20 districts. During 2014-15, it had tested nearly 8,500 food and 9,500 drug samples. The Lucknow lab gets food samples from the Railways too for testing.

A routine collection of Maggi sample from a store in Barabanki and subsequent lab testing in UP and then Kolkata had confirmed high levels of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the popular noodles brand. The revelation had led to the banning and subsequent withdrawal of Maggi from the Indian market.

Besides, the FDA department is upgrading the Lucknow lab to secure the top rating by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

The government is making steps for filling up the vacant posts as well. Against the sanctioned staff strength of 120 in all the six labs, about 20 percent are vacant.

"We are in the process of filling up all the vacant posts," FDA assistant commissioner (food safety) Vijay Bahadur told Business Standard here.

He, however, claimed the shortage of staff does not affect the operational efficiency of testing samples and other administrative functions.

The department is upgrading food sampling and surveillance across the 75 districts of UP. The upgrading would span staffing, building, equipment, training and testing parameters, he added.

Meanwhile, the Lucknow lab has now been equipped with equipment/systems to test heavy metals, such as lead, which hitherto was absent.

So far, UP FDA had collected 350 noodle samples for testing all over the state.