Why seafood-loving Kerala must test its fish before tasting it

According to state Fisheries Minister, Saji Cherian, the state has been importing an average of 539 tonnes of fish a day to meet its daily requirement of 2,281 tonnes, which works out to a 24 per cent shortage. But the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) estimates the deficit at 30 per cent, while an unofficial June 2022 study pegs it at “almost 60 per cent”.

So, if you order meen pollichathu or fish molee at a restaurant in Kerala, there is a good chance that the pomfrets, mackerels, sardines – or a dozen other varieties – used in the dish are bought from other states. And if they are, there is a good chance that your scrumptious fish curry has a chock-full of, besides Kerala’s famed spices, two dangerous chemicals: ammonia and formaldehyde.

Harmful chemicals: Price of tasty platter

Ammonia and formaldehyde are added – almost routinely – to the fish stocks during their journey from other states and on arrival at shops in Kerala. Ammonia, which slows down the melting of ice meant to preserve the fish, can cause mouth and stomach ulcers. And formaldehyde (which mortuaries use to stop dead bodies from decomposing) has the potential to cause muscle problems, cancer—and even death.

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“Contamination of fish with these chemicals seems to continue on a large scale, and Kerala probably needs an epidemiological survey to determine the extent of harm it inflicts on people,” Dr Kesavan Rajasekharan Nayar, principal at the Global Institute of Public Health in Thiruvananthapuram and a noted expert in environmental health, told The Federal. He, however, said that it might be difficult to trace symptoms to formaldehyde and ammonia.

Fresh catch, rapid test kit the answer

So, if you want to stay healthy, the least you can do in Kerala is to buy only locally caught fish for cooking. Or dine at restaurants by the side of the sea or the backwaters which supply fresh catch. Also, the least the Kerala government can do to save people from falling prey to chemical-laden fish, is popularise the rapid test kits. These kits, which are easy to use and cost only Rs 2 per test, have been developed by the Kochi-based Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) five years ago and can detect ammonia and formaldehyde in your food. A white paper strip in the kit placed on the fish changes to blue in 30 seconds if there is formaldehyde and to green or blue in case of ammonia in a couple of minutes.

The ‘CIFTest kits’ are currently used only by food security officials for random tests on samples. But consumers, who are also the intended users, are largely unaware of the kits and the few who know about them have no idea of where to get them. The CIFT transferred the technology to a Mumbai pharmaceutical company five years ago, but with the company’s exclusivity to make them having ended recently, the state government can initiate fresh production.

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Kerala’s distinction in food safety

It is nobody’s argument that all the fish that Keralites relish – or all the stocks that arrive from other states – are adulterated. And treating fish with formaldehyde, ammonia and even sodium benzoate is by no means limited to Kerala. In fact, for the second year in a row in 2024, Kerala was ranked first in the country in food safety by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

But this distinction is marred by imports of large quantities of fish that are often brought in trucks without freezers, rendering them stale and unfit for human consumption. Often just ice is sprinkled on them. Worse, they are almost always treated with ammonia and formaldehyde. State food security officials periodically conduct raids, but the fish they confiscate amounts to only a small part of what enters the state.

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“Washing and cooking can only reduce contamination levels but cannot altogether rule out the possibility of contamination and, moreover, the heat from cooking can alter these chemicals into more noxious compounds,” Dr George Ninan, the director of CIFT, told The Federal.

Kerala catches less fish, eats more

Driven by rising incomes, dropping price of fish and increasing awareness about health benefits of consuming it, India’s fish production has been on the rise: from 2005 to 2020, it doubled to 142 lakh metric tonnes, with Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal alone accounting for half of it. But Kerala’s fish production has been steadily declining – from 6.09 lakh tonnes in 2018-2019 to 5.8 lakh tonnes in 2023-2024. Climate changes, primitive fishing practices and rising costs of fishing are the major reasons behind this decline.

Widening this gap further, Keralites binge on fish as if there is no tomorrow. A February 2024 study by WorldFish, a global leader in aquatic research, reported that 97.35 per cent of people in Kerala consume fish (against the national average of 72.1 per cent). And 53.5 per cent of Keralites eat fish on a daily basis. Nation-wide average of everyday fish-eaters is only 5.95 per cent. (See table)

Kerala’s fish consumption highest in world

Kerala’s per capita consumption of fish – the amount of fish a person eats every year on average – is 30 kg. This is thrice the all-India average of 8.89 kg and higher than even the world average of 20.25 kg, according to WorldFish data. The CMFRI says it will only rise further.

This means, the fish imports will continue, and so will the accompanying health hazards.

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“But what option do we have?” asks Sheela Joseph, a housewife who lives in Kochi’s Marine Drive.

“Yes, we are aware of the chemical contamination,” she said. “We are Malayalees, and Malayalees can’t do without fish, right? Even water is polluted. Do you stop drinking water? There is nothing we can do,” she reasons.

What’s the solution?

But there is something the Kerala government can do to alleviate the problem. It can arm people with CIFTest kits.

Asked why consumers are not using these, the state’s Joint Commissioner of Food Safety Jacob Thomas said: “They are not available to people.”

So, make them available.

(The writer is a Bengaluru-based journalist who has covered the southern states and Goa in a career spanning over 30 years)