The Akshaya Patra Foundation opens Food Safety and Quality Control Lab in Ahmedabad

Bangalore, India, India, April 24, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The Akshaya Patra Foundation inaugurates its first and latest Food Safety and Quality Control Lab (FSQC Lab) in Ahmedabad. The State-of-art Laboratory is equipped with the modern technology and high precision testing instruments, for evaluating the food products right from the farm to plate. To name a few are Atago make table top refractometer which evaluates the total soluble solids, fat purity, adulteration in oils etc. The Shimadzu make spectrophotometer which evaluates DNA/Protein concentration, absorbance, Transmittance etc.

The FSQC Lab inauguration was done in the presence of Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice- Chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Jaganmohan Krishna Dasa, Unit President, Gujarat, Dr Sanjiv Phalsankar, Programme Director, Tata Trusts, Dr Alok Srivastava, Senior Principal Scientist, Dept of Food safety and Quality Control Lab, Representatives from the Food and Drugs Control Administration, Government of Gujarat.

Speaking on the occasion, Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, Akshaya Patra Foundation said, `It is indeed a great moment to have a state-of-the-art food safety lab being inaugurated at Ahmedabad. All the kitchens of Akshaya Patra follow a standard process for preparing the mid-day meals. This process is charted out to ensure hygiene and quality of the cooked meal and also to adhere to the food safety standards".

Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, provided the technical assistance in setting up this prestigious lab of Akshaya Patra. The Central Food Technological Research Institute, since its inception on October 21, 1950, has been striving towards facing one of the country's biggest challenges of achieving food and nutritional security. For the last six decades CFTRI has been contributing enormously towards the growth of food technology in the country.

The microbiology lab is equipped with the latest technology instruments in enumerating the microbial count, using filtration techniques with pre sterilized membranes of 0.45 microns. The Air sampler instrument evaluates the environmental quality in few hours. Added to the above, the laboratory is equipped with imported Duran make glass wares to carry out physical and chemical analysis to the maximum accuracy level. To have a clean laboratory environment and free of any contamination, this lab is equipped with fume hood and exhaust systems. To accurately weigh the chemicals for microbiological and chemical analysis, the lab is equipped with precision weighing balances of 0.0001g accuracy. Results of all the tests conducted in the laboratory are recorded directly to the computer system on real clock basis. 

About Akshaya Patra Foundation:
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organization headquartered in Bengaluru, India, is the world's largest (NGO run) mid-day meal programme. Akshaya Patra effectively implements Mid-Day Meal Scheme with a vision that 'No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.' With a mission to reach 5 million children by 2020, the Foundation today serves mid-day meals to 1.4 million children from over 10,000 Government and Government Aided Schools across 10 states in India. The programme achieves this scale by leveraging technology. Akshaya Patra kitchens are also known for their hygiene and quality standards with ten of their kitchens ISO 22000:2005 certified. Their innovations have become a product of various studies across the world. For details, please log on www.akshayapatra.org

For media queries, please contact:

Mahesh Babu T R / Neelima Somashekar
The Akshaya Patra Foundation
M: + 91 98443 79722 / 97400 29203
[email protected] / [email protected]