There is a solution to improper smoking of fish

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OPINION

By Emily Arayo Arineitwe

EDITOR: I am writing in response to the newspaper article of Monday, July 7, on pages 21 and 22 under Health and Beauty. The challenge of improper smoking of fish was highlighted among the dangers affecting fish safety. However, the solution was not mentioned, yet it is available.

The Government, through its engineering scientists from the National Agricultural Research Organisation, developed a smoking technology called the NARO Safe Fish Smoking Kiln.

This technology is able to filter the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) to non-detectable levels, meeting the European standard of less than 12μg/kg for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

It filters out PAH from the smoke before being imparted on the fish during smoking and dehydration. It consists of the smoke generation, smoke filtration, combustion and dehydration chamber. Different sizes, ranging from 100kg, 250kg, 500kg and 700kg, are available to fish processors.

The technology smokes fish in a period of 12hours compared to traditional smoking of approximately four days.

It has also improved the safety of fish processors due to reduced exposure to open fires during smoking, as well as reduced the amount of fuel in the form of firewood required for smoking. The technology offers a practical solution to processing smoked fish and meat that are safe from Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

The dark turn or black colour of the smoked fish indicates that the fish is not rotten, according to smoked fish consumers.

This colour is imparted to fish by smoking using firewood. The smoke contains Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), which are carcinogenic and hence cause cancer when such fish is consumed in large quantities.

The writers: Emily Arayo Arineitwe handles development communications at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), while her co-writer, Ronald Walozi, is with engineering as a research officer at NARO