Wash your troubles away

Vegetables left to dry post soaking

The use of the word 'unprecedented' in 2020 is unprecedented. We're living in a time when every action we undertake has to not only be well-thought about but also rethought: Is it safe to order in dinner today? Did I wash my hands for at least 20 seconds? And was my sanitiser alcohol-based? The list of questions that crop up daily is long. But the only route for coping, even though it comes with considerable anxiety, is to focus on the old adage - prevention is better than cure. Recognising that sanitation is the need of the hour, city-based couple Namrata and Aniket Parikh launched Sanitab, a multipurpose effervescent disinfectant tablet, last week.

The FDA-approved product description and usage is clearly laid out on the website; all you have to do is drop one tablet in the target volume and wait for one to two minutes for it to dissolve. The necessary volume varies as per the kind of task - if you have to clean fruits and veggies, one tablet can be dropped in 20 litres of water but if you have to disinfect a surface (avoiding contact with electronics and metals), you require one litre of water. "We recommend you rinse the fruits and vegetables after soaking them to ensure there is no residue. The active ingredient used here is NaDCC (sodium dichloroisocyanurate), which has proven to be more stable. It's not alcohol-based, and therefore not flammable or smelly," Aniket states.

Fruits being disinfected in a tub of water with Sanitab

The idea of the venture was conceived a month ago. The duo split responsibilities: Namrata, 24, manages the marketing, armed with a degree in psychology and marketing from UPenn; she is currently pursuing a part-time Masters in English literature from Harvard. Aniket, 29, who has a chemical engineering from John Hopkins University, and is the CEO of the animal health company Artevet, helms the technical aspects and finance. The Parikhs have had extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry and the inspiration for Sanitab also emerged from a water sanitising product called Cleantab offered by Stallen, another family business. Namrata elaborates, "While Cleantab is used for animal healthcare and has a similar formulation to Sanitab, the latter had to be adapted for humans. For instance, you cannot use a lot of binding agents for humans and the size of the tablet needed to be made smaller."

With their registered office based in Vile Parle, the tablets are manufactured at the factory in Palghar where most tasks are automated. Namrata states that a lot of precaution is being taken during production, too, where the tablet is being used for disinfection, and gloves and masks are a must. Deliveries are accepted pan-India and usually take two to four business days. "I was initially expecting around 30 orders per day but we've been receiving over 50. The average quantity per order is four tubes [25 tablets per tube]. Our primary clients are households but we're getting bulk requests from factories and are in talks with getting the product to airports, too," says Namrata. As for future plans? Expect more sizes and fragrant versions. And Aniket tells us, "We're working on an EPA registration to enter the US market."

Namrata Parikh

Log on to buysanitab.com
Cost Rs 250 per tube

Aniket Parikh

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