The Department of Food Safety is equipped with three Government Analytical Food Testing Laboratories situated at Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode respectively. All the Labs are technically competent and committed to monitoring the Safety and Quality of Food Products by making use of State-of-the-Art equipment and Testing Methods that have been developed and validated to the best practice standards.
All the three Laboratories are accredited by NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration of Laboratories) to conduct the analyses of Food Articles and Ingredients and provide scientifically valid data that help in the Monitoring, Regulation and Enforcement of Food Safety in the State.
The Department of Food Safety has a District Food Testing Laboratory at Pathanamthitta that functions exclusively for testing Vazhipadu/Prayer articles for Sabarimala Pilgrimage.
The Department of Food Safety has also established two Mobile Food Testing Laboratories that are equipped to conduct tests on Milk, Water, Food Colours and Edible Oils.
The services of all the Labs can be availed by the Public on payment of the prescribed fee fixed by the Government.
Food Categories that can be analysed in the Laboratories are as follows:
- Milk and Milk Products
- Cereal and Cereal Products
- Proprietary Foods
- Spices and Condiments
- Tea, Coffee and Beverages
- Fats, Oils and Confectionery
- Packaged Drinking Water
- Fish and Meat
