FOOD QUALITY & NUTRITION 
Food Quality & Nutrition Programe was established in 1984. The main objective of the programme is to evaluate the food commodities and crop varieties for nutritional qualities and consumer acceptance.

OBJECTIVES

• Creation of consumer awareness regarding food nutrition and health related problems.

• Identification of nutritional problems of food commodities and evolvement of methods to overcome these problems.

• Development of low-cost novel food products.

• Strengthening of linkages with national and international institutions for collaborative research.

ACTIVITIES

• Testing of germplasm, promising/advance lines of cereals, legumes and oilseeds for nutritional quality and consumer acceptance.

• Analyzing exportable wheat and rice samples from provincial food departments, PASSCO and private agencies for quality parameters.

• Studying stored wheat grain for mycotoxins producing fungi contamination and mycotoxins.

• Evaluating consumer items (breads jams, honey, oils, etc) for nutritional quality and chemical composition.

• Analyzing fruits and vegetables for nutritive values.

• Examining anti-nutritional factors in cereals, legumes and oilseeds and developing treatments for improving the digestibility of legumes.

• Providing service to the public for quality analysis of wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds, oils, fruits, vegetables, honey and sugars.

ACHIEVEMENTS

• More than forty thousand sample of different commodities were analyzed for their quality traits.

• Provided grain quality analysis service to private and public sector. Analyzed more than 2500 wheat sample each year since 2001.

• Prepared caffeine free herbal tea, baby food (cepulac and pulcelac, chickpea milk (as a cure for persistent diarrhea), lentil-rice-vegetable instant soup for infants and adults.

• Prepared chapattis with combination of wheat and maize in various ratios.

• Developed slip melting point of palm oil and trans-fatty acid in hydrogenated vegetable oil.

• Analyzed commercial fruit products like squashes, jams, jellies and juices for their quality traits.

• Analyzed quality of local mango and citrus varieties.

• Studied the quality maintenance of wheat flour in different packing materials and effect of processing on anti-nutritional factors in wheat and pulses.

• Prepared date syrup form different varieties of date.

• Determined nutritional quality of mushroom and honey available in market.

• FQNP has been rated among the top four labs out of 214 international labs by the Food Analyses Performance Assessment Scheme (FAPAS) of Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food UK.

GRAIN QUALITY TESTING LAB

INTRODUCTION
Grain Quality Testing Lab is an important component of Food Quality & Nutrition Programme. It was recently established under the special instructions of The President of Pakistan. The main purpose of the lab is to provide all the facilities for grain quality testing under one roof. In coming future, Grain Quality Testing Lab will play a key role in determining the quality of the grains in order to meet the challenges of export and import of the commodities. The main objectives of Grain Quality Testing Lab are as follows:

OBJECTIVES

• Quality testing of exportable agricultural produce for public and private sectors, according to WTO/TRIPS Codex Elementarious requirements.

• To enhance the grain and its products quality testing capabilities.

• To provide trained manpower in Pakistan to undertake research and grain quality testing work.

ACTIVITIES
Analysis and certification of Agricultural Products

ACHIEVEMENTS
Establishment of Grain Quality Testing Laboratories (GQTL)

1. A state of the art laboratory was established in June 2004. It was equipped with most sophisticated 68 types of equipment for undertaking tests. All the equipments were installed and scientists were trained to their use.

2. Six scientists were trained through an extensive training program of eight weeks at Canadian International Grains Institute, the world renowned institute for research and training on grain testing.

3. The laboratories have developed procedures for undertaking 29 types of grain tests in following areas and are fully functional:

        a. Physical quality characteristics of grains
        b. Cereal chemistry and cooking quality
        c. Pest and Disease related to grain
        d. Environmental safety aspects viz pesticide residues, heavy metals and mycotoxins.
        e. Microbiological and pathological testing

Support to Import/Export

1. All the wheat imported by Pakistan from 2004 and 2006 through TCP and private sector from Russia, USA and Australia was analyzed in these laboratories for quality assurance.

2. The wheat imported by private sector from Australia in 2004 was testing and rejected by these laboratories.

3. About 0.86 million tons of wheat imported by private sector in 2004-05 from Russia, USA and Australia was inspected and analyzed at load / discharge port by the staff of these laboratories.

4. The laboratories are providing technical support to Punjab Food Department for meeting the technical specification of Indian Govt. Tender for import of 3.00 million tons wheat.

5. The laboratories interact with MINFAL on technical matters related to wheat quality specifications for imports / export.

6. Laboratories are also providing testing/certification facilities to fruits and vegetables exporters on pesticide residues and heavy metals to facilitate their exports.

Research and Development Programs:

1. The laboratories undertake survey of wheat growing regions of Punjab and NWFP every year. So far about 2500 samples of wheat have been collected and analyzed for incidence of diseases and about 500 for complete quality analysis.

2. As a part of in-house research program the laboratories have analyzed 129 samples of fruits and vegetables for pesticide residues and 114 for heavy metals to facilitate exports.

3. The laboratories have provided analytical services to private food / fruits / vegetables dealer for analysis of about 1500 samples annually.

4. The laboratories are providing the support to educational institutions by housing their Ph.D, M.Sc. and internship students on topics of mutual interest. So for 29 students have / are beneficiated and many of them are serving the food industry.

FACILITIES
Major Equipments Available 
GQTL is equipped with latest facilities to analyze the quality parameters of various food commodities. Details of some major equipment are given below in the table.

Services to Public and Private Sector 
Analytical services are being provided to public and private sector. Parameters analyzed with their cost of analysis are given below:

TESTING SERVICES OFFERED BY FOOD QUALITY & NUTRITION PROGRAM AND GRAIN QUALITY TESTING LAB

TEST CHARGES