India’s Food Safety Authority Launches Project to Understand Microplastic Contamination of Food
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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a project to address microplastic contamination of Indian food.
Commenced in March, the study, titled, “Micro-and Nano-Plastics as Emerging Food Contaminants: Establishing Validated Methodologies and Understanding the Prevalence in Different Food Matrices,” will develop and validate analytical methods for detecting micro- and nanoplastics in various food products. These methods will then be used to assess the prevalence of micro- and nanoplastics in India, as well as the public’s exposure levels to these contaminants. The main goals of the project are to establish standard protocols for analysis, conduct intra- and inter-laboratory comparisons, and generate critical data on microplastic exposure levels among consumers.
FSSAI will collaborate with the country’s leading research institutions to carry out the project, including the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Indian Institute of Toxicology Research at Lucknow, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Central Institute of Fisheries Technology at Kochi, and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani.
The project’s findings will inform regulatory actions and contribute to the global understanding of microplastic contamination.
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