KOCHI: The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) here is set to sign an MoU with a private firm in a week’s time for the commercial production and marketing of the affordable and easy-to-use paper strip it has developed to help detect the presence of chemicals at the time of purchasing fish or meat. When brought in contact with fish containing harmful chemicals like ammonia or formaldehyde, the strip will change its colour.
The development assumes significance in the wake of large-scale seizure of adulterated fish from the state borders. The consumers have also been looking for mechanisms to detect adulterated fish. “The Rapid Detection Kits (CIFtest) will detect adulteration of formaldehyde and ammonia in fresh fish,” said Dr. C.N. Ravishankar, director, ICAR-CIFT, Kochi. The strips will be priced around Rs 3 each and a kit will have 50 strips.
“After the expression of interest process, we have selected an Indian company to produce the strip and the MoU conditions have been finalised. We will sign the MoU in a week’s time for transfer of technology and will make the announcement. After that, the personnel from the company will undergo training at CIFT,” he said.
