Pesticide testing kit unveiled at 250th Tea Board meeting

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, August 12

The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli (NIFTEM-K), an Institute of National Importance under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Government of India, showcased its innovation — a rapid pesticide detection system — during the recently held 250th meeting of the Tea Board of India, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry at Palampur.

NIFTEM-K unveiled a newly developed indigenous rapid pesticide testing kit for tea at the event. Ministry of Commerce and Industry Additional Secretary and Tea Board Chairman Amardeep Singh Bhatia was the chief guest at the event, which was also attended by secretaries from the departments concerned, senior officers from Tea Board of India, members from tea grower associations and exporters from all over the country.

The kit developed by NIFTEM-K aims to transform the food safety ecosystem of the tea industry.

The rapid pesticide testing kit would enable faster and more accurate detection of prominent pesticide residues, ensuring better safety and quality standards for tea.

The kit can screen major pesticides both in fresh as well as dried tea leaves within 30-60 minutes.

While acknowledging the support of Tata Consumer Products Limited for this endeavour, NIFTEM-K Director Harinder Oberoi said the kit, after validation at CFRA, NIFTEM-K, a notified primary and a referral lab of FSSAI, would be sent to reputed FSSAI notified labs for inter-lab comparisons. Once the validation is complete, it is likely to be launched during World Food India-2024, set to be organised by MoFPI from September 19 to 22.