Food safety in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is facing a critical bottleneck due to severe operational delays at the region's only authorized food testing facility. The state-run laboratory located in Nacharam, Hyderabad, is struggling under an immense workload, leading to test results being delayed by up to three to four months.
A Lab Serving Two States
The Nacharam laboratory is not just responsible for Telangana but also handles samples from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Officials reveal that the facility receives a staggering nearly 600 samples every day from districts across both states. Since each inspection often requires multiple samples, the cumulative workload is enormous.
The root of the current crisis traces back to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Several trained staff members were transferred to Andhra Pradesh following the split, but no new positions were created in Telangana to fill the void. A senior official from the office of the commissioner of health and family welfare explained that while the lab has adequate machine capacity, the acute shortage of manpower has effectively doubled the workload on existing personnel.
Enforcement Hampered by Delays
The food safety department conducts two primary types of sampling:
- Surveillance Samples: For routine quality checks.
- Statutory Samples: Collected specifically for legal action and prosecution against violators.
Officials emphasize that efforts are being made to improve the quality and quantity of statutory samples, as these are crucial for legal proceedings. However, the prolonged testing timeline undermines enforcement actions.
According to guidelines, each food safety officer must perform at least 10 inspections per month, collecting 15 surveillance and 10 statutory samples during these checks to strengthen legal frameworks. Monthly drives also target high-risk food business operators (FBOs) dealing in items like:
- Edible oils
- Sweets and bakeries
- Spices
- Mineral water units
Inspections have been extended to e-commerce warehouses, focusing on expiry dates and storage conditions, with improvement notices issued for violations.
Seeking Solutions and Expansion
To address the crisis, authorities have sought permission from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to hire more staff on a contract basis. A proposal has also been sent to the Andhra Pradesh government, offering to continue testing its samples if the state agrees to bear the associated costs.
Furthermore, the department has written to the FSSAI seeking approval to establish new food testing laboratories in the state. Land availability has been communicated, but final clearance is pending. Districts have been tentatively identified for new labs, with locations to be finalized based on FSSAI approval and a need-based assessment.
Compounding the problem is the staffing at the district level. Telangana currently has just one food safety officer per district, a number officials admit is grossly inadequate for a large and populous state. Proposals to recruit more staff have been submitted to the relevant authorities.
The situation highlights a growing infrastructure gap in food safety regulation, where enforcement capabilities are being severely hampered by systemic delays in sample testing, potentially impacting public health oversight.
