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Kolkata , Aug. 8

THE services of the analytical laboratory of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) are available for resolving the controversy over pesticide residue allegedly found in branded colas, softdrinks and bottled water, Dr V. Prakash, Director, CFTRI, has said.

"Inspection is not in our domain", but he explained that the Government or industry could get samples tested at the CFTRI laboratory. He added that neither the Government nor industry had approached it for testing the soft-drink samples.

"CFTRI laboratory has the best analytical facility and has the status of an appellate testing centre for food items in the country. It follows international benchmarking regarding food safety. However, we do not test any food sample voluntarily and we charge a fee," Dr Prakash said while responding to a query at the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry recently.

Dr Prakash told Business Line that there should be no dual food safety benchmarking. "What is unsafe for one human being in one part of the globe is equally unsafe for another in another corner of the world", he observed and emphasised that for food items "safety is primary.

The Government should know. You cannot bargain on that.

Codex norms, the international guidelines for food items, do not differentiate between human beings, he pointed out.

He felt industry has to be proactive and self-regulatory too. "There cannot be enough inspectors to match industry and the toxic or unsafe elements. A few decades ago we had to contend with only three pesticides. Now, we have 32 in use in the country", he added.

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