Annual Conference Announcement – India Section of AOAC International 2026

10th Annual Conference 2026  |  Hyderabad  |  19 – 20 November 2026

INDIA SECTION – AOAC INTERNATIONAL

“One Health, One Analysis”

Integrated Approaches to Food Safety & Public Health

Dates    19 – 20 November 2026

Venue    Hotel Le Meridien, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Organised by    India Section – AOAC International

The Executive Committee of India Section of AOAC International is pleased to announce its 10th Annual Conference. We hope to see you in Hyderabad!

Note on Conference Theme

Relevance and Importance for India

India stands at a defining moment in its food safety journey. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, a food processing sector growing at over 11% annually, and agricultural exports surpassing USD 53 billion, the stakes for robust food quality assurance have never been higher. Yet the challenges are equally formidable: fragmented supply chains, post-harvest losses, climate-driven mycotoxin pressure, unchecked pesticide use, and the looming spectre of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spreading silently through the agri-food system.

The One Health framework recognises that human health, animal health, and environmental health are deeply and irrevocably interconnected, and offers the only coherent response to this complexity. Food is the primary vector through which the three domains interact: a pesticide applied in a field accumulates in soil, enters the water table, contaminates a crop, passes through an animal feed pathway, and ultimately reaches the human consumer. No single discipline, and no single analytical method, is sufficient to trace, detect, or manage this continuum.

India’s regulatory architecture is rapidly evolving to reflect this reality. FSSAI’s harmonisation with Codex Alimentarius, APEDA’s tightening of residue tolerances for export commodities, the National Action Plan on AMR, and the expansion of NABL-accredited laboratory networks collectively signal a paradigm shift from reactive compliance testing toward proactive, integrated surveillance. The analytical science community sits at the very heart of this transformation.

Importance to Analytical Science Stakeholders

• ▪  Multi-analyte platforms redefining laboratory economics: LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, ICP-MS, and FTIR-based multi-residue methods now allow a single analytical run to screen for hundreds of analytes simultaneously, collapsing silos between pesticide, veterinary drug, mycotoxin, and environmental contaminant testing.
• ▪  AMR as an emerging analytical mandate: The detection of resistance genes and resistant organisms in food matrices is no longer the exclusive preserve of clinical laboratories. Food testing laboratories are being called upon to integrate AMR profiling into routine surveillance, demanding new methodologies and harmonised reporting frameworks.
• ▪  Whole-genome sequencing for outbreak attribution: WGS is transforming the speed and precision of foodborne outbreak investigation. India’s investment in genomic surveillance infrastructure, and the role of NABL-accredited laboratories within it, is a frontier analytical challenge.
• ▪  Digital integration and data interoperability: Digital platforms like LIMS, INFoLNET, FoSCoRIS, and APEDA’s digital compliance systems generate vast datasets. Regulators with access to analytical data must lead the translation of raw laboratory data into actionable public health intelligence.
• ▪  Export competitiveness and method equivalence: With the India – EU FTA on the horizon and ASEAN markets scrutinising residue profiles, harmonisation of Indian testing methods with AOAC Official Methods, ISO, and EU reference methods is a commercial and regulatory imperative.
• ▪  Capacity building and the young analytical scientist pipeline: India’s accredited laboratory network is expanding rapidly under multiple government schemes. The pipeline of trained analytical scientists proficient in modern instrumentation, quality systems, and data interpretation must expand with equal urgency.

This milestone conference, completing a decade of AOAC India Section’s commitment to the advancement of analytical science, brings together regulators, industry scientists, academic researchers, and laboratory professionals under a single, urgent mandate: to build the integrated analytical capabilities that India’s food safety and public health systems urgently require. The convergence of One Health thinking with cutting-edge analytical methodology is not merely a conference theme. It is the defining challenge of our decade.

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