Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Wednesday inaugurated the province\u2019s first state-of-the-art Provincial Food Testing Laboratory and Centre for Research in Hayatabad, Peshawar, a handout said.
\nAccording to the statement, established at a cost of Rs905 million under the administrative control of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (KPFS&HFA), the facility is built in accordance with ISO standards. It aims to revolutionize the way food is tested, monitored, and regulated across the province. Minister for food Zahir Shah Toru, Advisor to CM for Relief Naik Muhammad, secretary food, secretary C&W, DG food authority and other officials were also present on the occasion.
\nThe laboratory comprises eight specialized units under one roof, supported by a centralized Management Information System (MIS) and a digital traceability system. The system is designed to ensure transparency and faster access to lab reports for consumers and food businesses alike.
\nAccording to Food Minister Zahir Shah Toru, the facility is equipped to test around 1,500 parameters across 100 categories of food and beverages. \u201cThis lab is a game changer in food safety landscape. We no longer need to rely on other provinces or private labs for testing. This will significantly improve the quality of food available to the public,\u201d the minister remarked.
\nHe added that the lab would also play a key role in guiding the food industry, strengthening R&D efforts, and supporting evidence-based policymaking.
\nThe provincial laboratory is also integrated with the Authority\u2019s field operations in more than 20 districts, where teams are tasked with collecting samples. This network ensures the timely and secure transportation of samples to the lab for detailed analysis.
\nThe data collected from food samples across the province will not only assist the KPFS&HFA in enhancing food quality and safety, but will also serve as a scientifically backed resource for other key departments. These include Public Health, Local Government, Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries, and the Health Department, helping them identify preventive healthcare markers. Moreover, departments like Industry, Environment, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use this data to trace sources of adulteration and identify non-compliant units. The Authority aims to build strong interdepartmental synergies, ensuring efforts are not duplicated but instead complemented, positioning itself as a support mechanism for all relevant departments Furthermore, The laboratory offers an extensive range of food testing services, including: microbiological analysis for detection of harmful pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, , and moulds, Chemical analysis for detecting food adulteration, artificial colouring, preservatives, and toxic compounds such as, aflatoxins, and famaline, and nutritional testing to determine the presence of fat, protein, moisture, ash, and calorific value.
\nThe laboratory also offers advanced testing services, including the detection of antibiotic residues in milk and meat. It facilitates Halal certification and meat speciation to identify non-permissible species such as pork, donkey, or dog meat.
\nIn addition, the lab is capable of detecting heavy metals in water and beverages etc. and pesticidal residues in fruits and vegetables.
\nFurthermore, the lab is equipped cutting-edge technologies, including Gas Chromatography\u2013Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), Inductively Coupled Plasma\u2013Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), High-Performance and Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC & UHPLC), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Wednesday inaugurated the province\u2019s first state-of-the-art Provincial Food Testing Laboratory and Centre for Research in Hayatabad, Peshawar, a handout said. According to the statement, established at a cost of Rs905 million under the administrative control of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Food Safety and Halal Food Authority (KPFS&HFA), …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":84173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84183,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84167\/revisions\/84183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}