Bihar will set up four new food-testing laboratories in Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Munger and Purnia as the state expands food safety enforcement beyond Patna, health minister Nishant said on Friday. The move will be supported by the deployment of 26 newly trained food safety officers across the state and year-round inspections of food establishments.
The minister announced the proposed laboratories while distributing training certificates to the officers. According to the health department, food safety activity had earlier been concentrated largely in Patna because of a shortage of personnel. With the new appointments, every district will have food safety officers responsible for inspections, sample collection and action against violations.
The department said inspections would continue throughout the year rather than being concentrated around festivals. Raids and inspections were already under way across Bihar, although the announcement did not specify the number of establishments inspected or the violations detected so far.
The Patna food-testing laboratory is also being renovated. The additional laboratories in Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Munger and Purnia are intended to expand the state’s testing capacity and reduce the dependence of districts on facilities in the capital. The department did not announce commissioning dates, estimated costs or the planned capacity of the four proposed facilities.
Kumar Ravi, health department secretary-cum-food safety commissioner, urged the newly appointed officers to educate food businesses about safety standards and allow them to make improvements according to procedure. He also directed them to monitor food quality and the use of harmful chemicals.
The 26 officers completed 40 days of mandatory training, including 14 days of classroom instruction and 26 days of practical work. Their training covered inspections, food sample collection, laboratory testing and enforcement procedures. Their district-level presence is expected to give the department a permanent field network instead of relying mainly on periodic drives or festival-linked checks.
The expansion places greater responsibility on the state’s inspection and laboratory systems. Food safety enforcement depends not only on the presence of officers but also on the ability to collect samples correctly, test them promptly and initiate action under the applicable procedure. The department’s announcement did not provide details of staffing, equipment or operating arrangements for the four proposed laboratories.
The next steps are the establishment of the laboratories, completion of the Patna facility’s renovation and continued inspections across all districts. The health department has not yet announced a timeline for the new facilities to become operational.
