The ‘CIFTest’ — developed by ICAR - Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR-CIFT), Cochin — is hogging the limelight as the food safety officers in Kerala as part of Operation Sagar Rani seized more than 28,000 kg of chemical-contaminated fish coming into the state in recent days using CIFTest kit. Ever since the monsoon trawling ban came into effect, the Kerala State Health & Safety Department, under ‘Operation Sagar Rani’, has been using the CIFTest to successfully intercept adulterated fish being brought into the state thus saving millions of consumers. Of late, there had been several reports that fresh fish is being sold after adulterating with chemicals like formaldehyde and ammonia. While there are many processes that can be done in the laboratories, all of them take time to detect the adulterants. Hence, ICAR-CIFT took the challenge to develop a quick and simple kit that consumers can use.

Shri. Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, released the Rapid Detection Kits (CIFTest) at national level to detect adulteration of Formaldehyde and Ammonia in fresh fish. Smt. J. Mercykutty Amma,Minister of Fisheries, Kerala distributed the kit to Matsyafed and Food Safety officials, and called for periodic inspections at fish markets across the State and promised stern action against traders using hazardous chemicals.