Food Manifest 
Key Development
Kerala’s first Food Analytical and Research Laboratory under the Food Safety Department continues to function with serious limitations, even five years after its inauguration. Authorities laid the foundation stone at Valiya Velicham, Koothuparamba, Kannur, on February 28, 2019, and inaugurated the facility on October 24, 2020. However, the laboratory still lacks a fully functional permanent building and essential infrastructure for comprehensive food testing.
Construction delays State Full-scale Operations
A government order dated February 13, 2020, allotted leased land under KSIDC and assigned construction to the Public Works Department (PWD). Authorities later permitted the laboratory to operate from a rented temporary facility until the permanent structure was completed. Despite this, construction has not progressed beyond the ground floor even after five years, delaying full operations.
Limited Infrastructure Strains Regional Testing Capacity
The laboratory continues to function from rented premises with minimal infrastructure, according to senior Food Safety Department officials. To sustain basic operations, the department redeployed technical staff from the Kozhikode Regional Analytical Laboratory through an order issued on September 16, 2020. This move has adversely affected the Kozhikode laboratory, the only fully functional regional analytical facility in Malabar.
Absence of NABL Accreditation Limits Statutory Testing
Authorities designated the Kannur Regional Analytical Laboratory to test food samples from Kannur, Wayanad, and Kasaragod districts. However, inadequate manpower and a lack of advanced testing facilities have prevented it from securing NABL accreditation. As a result, the laboratory does not analyse statutory food samples and currently restricts its work to drinking water surveillance samples.
Staff shortages affect Timelines and Revenue Generation
For the past five years, the laboratory has functioned with borrowed technical staff and ministerial personnel drawn from other offices. Despite repeated proposals to create 25 permanent technical and ministerial posts, authorities have not approved them. Food safety laboratories are required to test statutory, surveillance, and private samples. Due to staffing constraints, the Kannur laboratory fails to deliver private sample results within stipulated timelines. RTI records show that the temporary facility earned over ₹1 lakh per month in 2025 from drinking water testing alone, highlighting missed revenue potential.
Research Mandate yet to take Shape
The government sanctioned the laboratory following intervention by former Health Minister K. K. Shailaja to establish the State’s first food analytical laboratory with research capabilities. While authorities inaugurated a district food laboratory in Pathanamthitta on November 4 last year, the research component of the Kannur facility remains unrealised.
Calls grow for Immediate Corrective Action
T. Jyothi, a rank holder for the technical assistant post, has called for immediate sanctioning of permanent posts, faster completion of construction, and funding for the second phase, including the research laboratory. Responding to these concerns, K. Sujayan, Assistant Commissioner of the Food Safety Department in Kannur, stated that authorities have completed the ground floor and are executing the project in phases based on funding availability. He added that the PWD is overseeing the construction.
