Central Institute of Fisheries Technology is now national referral food lab

KOCHI: The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) has been notified as the national-level referral food laboratory of the Food Safety Authority of India by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With the recognition, the lab will be the sole agency of FSSAI to test quality of fish and fishery products. It will be authorized to do various tests like detection of viruses, bacterial toxins, antibacterial substances, analysis of pesticide residue and heavy metals and other microbiological tests.

One of the major mandates of the referral laboratory is dispute resolution, when there is a difference in test reports between two laboratories. As per the Food Safety Act, the designated officer can send the sample to the referral laboratory for an opinion against any appeal on the report submitted by the food analyst. The decision of the referral laboratory is deemed to be final in disputes when samples are submitted through the legal route. On the importance of national-level recognition as a Referral Food Laboratory, Dr. C.N. Ravishankar, Director of CIFT, said that it was a remarkable achievement for the institute.