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Annam Spot Test Kit: Food safety at your doorstep
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Saturday, 27 May, 2006, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Meghanadan S, Mumbai
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days. Households are considered food-secure when they have access to safe food free from adulteration and contamination. Unchecked adulteration of food may lead to innumerable health hazards. To detect adulteration at household level that will enable consumers to select right type of food or to avoid foods of doubtful quality, CONCERT (Centre for Consumer Education, Research, Teaching, Training and Testing) has developed a handy kit known as ANNAM Spot Test Kit.
According to G Santhanarajan, Director, Food Division, CONCERT, the person responsible for putting together ANNAM Spot Test Kit, "It was devised by CONCERT as a simple test kit to detect common adulterants in food products. It provides a simple method of detecting adulteration at household level at their doorstep".
CONCERT was instrumental in formulating the guidelines and test procedures for preparation of such a kit, when Bureau of Indian Standards wanted simple kit devised to help housewives.
The Annam Spot Test Kit has been demonstrated at several meetings of Government Departments particularly the Food and Civil Supplies Departments and at the Consumer Club meetings. It has been accepted by all the departments concerned.
The target consumers for this kit are housewives, members of self help groups, officers in the food and civil supplies department and members of Consumer Clubs in schools.
"This kit was developed to assist housewives in detecting common adulterants at home. The kit is supplied with an instruction manual and some accessories. As per the test procedures outlined in the manual a total of 54 tests can be performed. The number of tests that can be performed using the reagents in the kit are 21. A total of 31 food items can be tested using this kit and a total of 33 adulterants can be identified using this kit. It is a 100% safe kit with simple test procedures that do not involve sophisticated lab equipment," Santhanarajan explained.
"When we supply the kit we are also including samples of common adulterants found, to be able to provide hands on experience for housewives using this kit," he added.
Already orders for Annam Spot Test Kit have been received from the Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. We will also be supplying to Govt. of Maharashtra very shortly.
CONCERT being a centre for testing, training and research, has always been involved in spreading awareness among consumers. They have set up a Fuel testing laboratory in collaboration with California Air Resources Board, USA and the Tamil Nadu Government to detect adulteration in fuel. This is the only lab of its kind in the NGO sector. They also have a Mini Drug Lab, to test spurious drugs. CONCERT's objective is to spread consumer awareness among consumers through training programmes, seminars and workshops which we conduct on a regular basis.
For more details:
Email: concerttrust@hotmail.com
The Conert Trust, 3/2 Shanti Avenue, Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai - 600 041;
Tel: 044 24521682/83
Fax: 044 24521597
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