India’s first NABL-accredited honey testing lab inaugurated

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday inaugurated India’s first honey screening lab set up by National Dairy Advancement Board (NDDB) at Anand.

The screening lab will unlock probable for apiarists to not just get domestic organization but also get advantage of exports to the US and Europe. Till just lately, the exporters had been necessary to ship their samples to Germany for screening.

The development arrives right after National Bee Board’s decade-very long hold out for a governing administration screening facility for honey.

“Standard good quality screening and certifications are the most important specifications and preconditions for exporting honey to the markets these kinds of as the US and Europe. The new lab will check honey as for every the norms specified by the foods protection regulator FSSAI. The good quality honey will strengthen exports and make certain much better charges for farmers,” explained Tomar adding that this go will contribute to India’s endeavours to double farmers’ earnings by 2025.

The lab — set up with ₹7.7-crore funding from the governing administration — has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Tests and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and Export Inspection Council. It has also acquired an acceptance from FSSAI as a countrywide reference lab. The governing administration has allocated ₹500 crore for bee-trying to keep infrastructure development less than Atmanirbhar Bharat bundle.

NDDB Chairman Dilip Rath explained that the Board has set up the facility right after FSSAI notified good quality benchmarks for honey, as there was no comprehensive screening lab in the place.

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

All through the e-inauguration, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh explained, “Honey’s authenticity had turn into a really serious situation as suppliers indulged into unethical techniques for economic gains. The screening lab will assist honey farmers, cooperatives and honey sector to make good quality honey for domestic intake and exports.”