Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: At long last, the over century-old State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL), commonly called Food Safety Laboratory, has got accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).
Even as the accreditation was confirmed on January 16, 2020, it has been formally announced by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika at a function at Bamunimaidam.
Accreditation is the recognition that the laboratory is competent to carry out analysis work as per international standard. SPHL is the only food testing laboratory in the entire Northeast and sixth in the country to have got such an accreditation.
At the function three highly sophisticated instruments worth Rs 8.50 crore were also formally installed in the laboratory. With such installation, the laboratory can analyse many parameters like pesticides residue, metal contaminants, veterinary drugs residues etc.
A Rs 50-lakh food safety van known as food safety on wheels was also inaugurated in the laboratory. This is second such van in the laboratory. The programme was attended, among others, by Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration Chandrani Baruah, Director of Health Services Rathin Bhuyan and Food Analyst Anupam Gogoi.
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