Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh state government has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in New Delhi on Tuesday for establishing food testing labs and mobile food testing labs at a cost of Rs 88.41 crore.
FSSAI chief executive officer G. Kamalavardhan Rao and AP Food Safety commissioner C. Hari Kiran, along with FSSAI executive director Inoshi Sharma, signed the MoU in the presence of AP Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav.
Speaking on the occasion, the FSSAI CEO Rao assured full support to Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, integrated food labs will be set up at Tirumala and Kurnool at a cost of Rs 20 crore each. Basic food testing labs will be established at Eluru and Ongole at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore each. Additionally, Rs 12 crore will be allocated for collecting food samples and subjecting them to analysis, while Rs 11 crore will be designated for raising awareness among the public regarding food safety norms. Beyond the existing four mobile food testing labs, 22 labs will be set up using a turnkey method at a cost of Rs 15 crore, as outlined in the MoU.
Later, Health minister Satya Kumar stated that an action plan would be developed to firmly implement the Food Safety and Standards Act in the state, adding that the MoU would facilitate the recruitment of human resources and the establishment of basic amenities. When the minister requested a food testing lab for every district in the state, the FSSAI CEO agreed to allocate Rs 15 crore for this purpose.
The AP Food Safety commissioner expressed that food safety and standards need to be enhanced at a cost of `140 crore in the state and assured that the recruitment of food safety officers would commence soon.
