AWANTIPORA: In a significant development, the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) has joined the list of prestigious institutions of the country engaged in the testing of food products as its Food Testing Laboratory (FTL) has now been accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NABL), under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
NABL, a constituent Board of the Quality Council of India (QCI), has authorized the Food Testing Laboratory at IUST to provide certified testing and analysis reports for food samples as per the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) procedures. This is for the first time that any lab in any of Universities in the JKUT has been granted this accreditation and IUST has officially become part of the Food Safety ecosystem. Now, IUST can go for analysis of the approved food items and detect any adulteration by using the most sophisticated high-end equipment.
Varsity’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Shakil A. Romshoo complimented the efforts of HoD food Technology Prof H R Naik and the team comprising Dr. B. N. Dar (Coordinator), Dr Sajad A. Sofi (Food Analyst), Dr. Darakshan Majid (Quality Manager), Dr. Hilal A. Makroo (Technical Manager), supporting staff and other officers of the University associated with the accreditation process. He said that the NABL accreditation of the IUST’s Food Testing Laboratory would support the food industries of UTs of J&K and Ladakh for testing their food samples and also the samples referred by the government agencies.
