G Kamala Vardhana Rao has taken over the charge as the CEO of food regulator FSSAI. According to a statement, Rao, an IAS officer, took charge as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Thursday.

In a Personnel Ministry order on December 26, Rao was named CEO of FSSAI. The FSSAI is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Prior to this, Rao was serving as the Managing Director of Indian Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC), a Miniratna PSU under the Ministry of Tourism.

G Kamala Vardhana Rao is an IAS officer of 1990 batch from Kerala cadre. He has earlier served as Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, and as Principal Secretary, Finance and Expenditure, Government of Kerala.

He has also served as Secretary, Kerala Tourism, and Director Culture, Government of India.