On 28th February at The Park Hotel, New Delhi, Mr Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India inaugurated the most awaited 5th annual conference of AOAC International with Partner in Food Science and Safety along with Dr Kaushik Banerjee, President, India Section of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL

The inaugural was followed by the Exchange of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and AOAC INTERNATIONAL.  FSSAI has signed a MoU with AOAC International which was exchanged in the inauguration. Through this MoU, AOAC has offered FSSAI free access to the official method of analysis (OMA). AOAC will also support FSSAI in its capacity building programs, and in initiating collaborative studies on developing and validating the methods of analysis for various nutritional and food safety parameters in India specific food matrices. FSSAI will recognize the AOAC methods for official control purposes.

The aim of this conference was to provide a forum for international educators, scientists, scholars, researchers, industry professionals, laboratory chemists, policy-makers, and graduate students with the opportunity to explore, network and discuss issues in the topics on analytical sciences.

The inaugural session included a presidential address by Dr Kaushik Banerjee, President, India Section of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL and Ms DeAnn L. Benesh, President, The AOAC INTERNATIONAL and Global Regulatory Affairs Manager at 3M Food Safety.

The Keynote Address was given by Shri Pawan Kumar Agarwal where he mentioned that “AOAC and FSSAI are mostly the same, and this will be the best collaboration of AOAC INTERNATIONAL”. Special addresses were given by and Dr Erik Konings, Immediate Past President, The AOAC INTERNATIONAL and Global Analytical Method Alignment Coordinator, Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The findings of this conference would be effective and insightful for gaining technical information about the advances in analytical methodologies, regulatory compliance requirements, and also, for learning new techniques and applications of advanced analytical tools from eminent experts.