Is the milk you drink adulterated? Are fruits available in market spiked with colourants and sweeteners? A new food testing facility coming up in Ghaziabad can make the process of finding adulterants and contaminants in food easier and more accurate. The Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI) has partnered with Thermo Fischer Scientific, a US based biotechnology firm, to address food safety and food quality concerns in India.

The objective of the partnership is to facilitate and build world class food testing capabilities in India. Thermo Fisher Scientific will offer skilled analysts to conduct high quality food testing and to also train food scientists.

The CSC is equipped with latest innovations in liquid, gas and ion chromatography, mass spectrometry, and trace element analysis. “The upcoming Customer Solution Center (CSC) at Ghaziabad is equipped with advanced analytical solutions that will overcome a wide range of challenges presently faced by food safety scientists. For example, detecting organic pollutants like brominated flame retardants and chlorinated paraffin in food. The CSC will be equipped to find these pollutants within a routine food safety analysis laboratory environment,” says Amit Chopra, managing director, India and Middle East Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Similarly, finding and accurately measuring trace pesticides on apple skins and micro concentrations of lead and nickel in foods will also be possible at this new food testing facility.