Shri Subodh Kant Sahai, Minister of Food Processing Industries, has inaugurated the Food Testing Laboratory of the National Meat & Poultry Processing Board. The Board has established this world-class facility at New Delhi to cater to the needs of the stakeholders for the supply of quality and safe meat and poultry products. In view of the stringent quality controls in international markets, the lab would satisfy an acutely felt need for ascertaining the quality, toxins and microbes in food samples.

The Laboratory will be catering to the needs of the entrepreneurs of the meat and poultry processing industries in particular and other food processing industries in general of the northern part of the country. This laboratory will be useful for research scientists and other academic people in this region.

The Government of India launched the National Meat and Poultry Processing Board launched to work as a National hub for addressing all key issues related to meat and poultry processing sector for the systematic and proper development of this sector. The Board will also help industry to utilize slaughterhouse waste materials, set up quality control laboratories for meat and meat products, promote meat manufacturers to adopt Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems, ISO-9001: 2000 standards, help industry to create and disseminate data, train workers and technicians and work as a central and National hub to address meat and poultry processing related issues so that more hygienic and whole some meat and poultry products are available to the consumers.

The Board has set up a Consultancy Wing for providing technical services to the following categories:

• urban/local bodies, Municipalities, institutions
• producers/manufacturers
• exporters of meat and meat products

The consultancy services are available for setting up modern abattoir, renovation/upgradation of existing abattoirs, rendering plants, poultry processing plant, utilization of inedible animal by-products, setting of quality control laboratories for meat/meat products. Board will also undertake the work for the preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), preparation of tender documents, documents for export/import, analysis of investment proposals, project risk analysis, surveys, data compilation, training and capacity building, monitoring the execution of the meat sector projects, etc.