Last updated: November 18th, 2022 12:11 PM

Food Safety on Wheels

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has introduced new schemes to enhance the safety and hygiene of foods by bringing up additional food testing labs. As a part of this, there is an introduction of mobile units called "Food Safety on Wheels." These portable units also create awareness about food safety and hygiene, promote healthy eating habits and support FSSAI registration. In addition, food wheels also conduct training and certificate programs for people in the food business and surveillance activities in remote areas. In this article, let us see the Food Safety on Wheels initiative of the FSSAI.

Key features

The FSSAI has declared five key features that help enhance our country's food testing system. They are as follows.

• Indian Food Laboratory Network connects the entire food laboratory in the country to a centralized Lab Management System. InFoLNet serves as the source for risk analysis, standards improvement, training, and better observation of food products. The field units in charge collect the samples and send them to the FSSAI-notified labs to code and test them, thereby providing solutions to the defects in the foods. This would be taken into consideration and would be established to control food imports.
• Food Safety on Wheels is moving vehicles arranged by the FSSAI to supervise the food products in different areas around the country. They are used to educate the public and give awareness about the hygiene of foods. They have laboratories equipped with testing facilities, and their uses are as follows.
• It quickly tests and detects the presence of common contaminants in foods
• It is used to spread awareness of food safety and hygiene
• It conducts training and certificate programs for people involved in the food business

FSSAI provides one mobile unit to each state or union territory to monitor the food hygiene and the employees' personal hygiene. Some states that have been provided mobile units are Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.

• The labs that come under the State Food Testing Labs should be strengthened in all the 45 State food labs by providing them with state-of-art, high-end food testing equipment, including microbiology labs.
• The testing laboratories use a tool called DART (Detecting Adulterants with Rapid Testing), enabling them to identify the presence of food contaminants quickly. This test is a compilation of simple tests put together to spot the inappropriate ingredients that are added to the foods. Doing this can be an effective tool for Food Business Operators and a ready-home guide for consumers that helps prevent adulteration.
• FSSAI has appointed Junior Analyst Examination on top of the Food Analyst Examination to attend to severe issues about food analysis in our country. With a team like this, it is possible to provide good services to the food industry and the regulatory system.