India’s first NABL-accredited honey testing lab inaugurated

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday inaugurated India’s to start with honey screening lab set up by Countrywide Dairy Growth Board (NDDB) at Anand.

The screening lab will unlock possible for apiarists to not just get domestic company but also get gain of exports to the US and Europe. Till a short while ago, the exporters were needed to ship their samples to Germany for screening.

The improvement comes soon after Countrywide Bee Board’s 10 years-very long wait for a government screening facility for honey.

“Standard high quality screening and certifications are the primary necessities and preconditions for exporting honey to the marketplaces these types of as the US and Europe. The new lab will test honey as for every the norms specified by the meals protection regulator FSSAI. The high quality honey will improve exports and assure improved fees for farmers,” reported Tomar including that this move will add to India’s endeavours to double farmers’ earnings by 2025.

The lab — set up with ₹7.seven-crore funding from the government — has been accredited by the Countrywide Accreditation Board for Screening and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and Export Inspection Council. It has also got an approval from FSSAI as a national reference lab. The government has allotted ₹500 crore for bee-preserving infrastructure improvement under Atmanirbhar Bharat offer.

NDDB Chairman Dilip Rath reported that the Board has set up the facility soon after FSSAI notified high quality benchmarks for honey, as there was no extensive screening lab in the place.

Rath also mentioned that a proposal has been sent to the Union Agriculture Ministry to deliver Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) screening to determine ‘Country of Origin’.

For the duration of the e-inauguration, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh reported, “Honey’s authenticity experienced turn out to be a severe difficulty as suppliers indulged into unethical practices for financial gains. The screening lab will enable honey farmers, cooperatives and honey industry to deliver high quality honey for domestic consumption and exports.”