Food Safety: Your home kit for spot testing adulteration

Mumbai: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India plans to develop a special Rapid Analytical Food Testing (RAFT) or spot testing kits which will give the spot results of food if it is adulterated.

“This new testing kit will also reduce the testing load on Food Safety Officers (FSOs) and laboratories by giving test results quickly,” said an FSSAI official.

FSSAI has also invited applications from entrepreneurs under its programme of developing RAFT Kit / Equipment / Method for the purpose of testing food. The apex food regulator has issued guidelines for the same, detailing the pro forma for filing the application.

Senior FSSAI official said while filing the applications the applicants should also produce proper justification for each product category of RAFT kit along with validation certificates. No application for general parameters like pH, density or routine laboratory equipment and accessories and so on will be accepted.

“Applicants should submit separate application for each kit, equipment or method and each application should be accompanied by separate application processing fee,” read notice issued by FSSAI.

Shailesh Adhav, joint commissioner, FDA, Food, said this kit will enable FSOs as well as laboratories to get results quickly and will also help in establishing food safety for the ordinary consumer. This is because results of tests conducted on various categories of food products such as milk and edible oils, among others, will be available readily, which often are time-consuming.

“During festivals, the most common victim of adulteration is khoya or mawa. Because of high demand, people often engage in spurious activities. But with the help of RAFT kit, it can be ascertained very quickly on the spot -- whether the mawa is adulterated or not,” he said.