November 4, 2010

India's poultry industry sets up food testing lab

India's National Meat and Poultry Processing Board has set up its first Food Testing Laboratory in Delhi to help ensure the supply of safe and high-quality meat and poultry products.

The laboratory was inaugurated on Wednesday (Nov 3) by the Minister of Food Processing Industries, Subodh Kant Sahai.

Officials said that in view of the stringent quality controls in international markets, the laboratory would meet an acutely-felt need for ascertaining the quality, toxins, and microbes in food samples.

They said the laboratory would cater to the needs of the entrepreneurs of the meat and poultry processing industries in particular, and other food processing industries in general from the northern part of the country. The laboratory will be useful for research scientists and other academic professionals in the region.

The Board has been set up as a national hub for addressing all key issues related to meat and poultry processing sector. It is also meant to help industry to utilize slaughterhouse waste materials, set up quality control laboratories for meat and meat products, promote meat manufacturers to adopt Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems, ISO-9001: 2000 standards, create and disseminate data, and train workers and technicians.

The release said the Board had set up a consultancy wing for providing technical services to urban/local bodies, municipalities, institutions, producers/manufacturers, and exporters of meat and meat products.

The consultancy services are available for setting up modern abattoirs, renovation/upgradation of existing abattoirs, rendering plants, poultry processing plant, utilization of inedible animal by-products, and setting up of quality control laboratories for meat/meat products.

The Board will also undertake the preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), preparation of tender documents, documents for export/import, analysis of investment proposals, project risk analysis, surveys, data compilation, training and capacity building, and monitoring of the execution of the meat sector projects, the release added.