A simple strategy has been proposed for the covalent anchoring of cobalt hexacyanoferrate (CoHCF) particles on graphitic carbon substrate using p-phenylenediamine as a linker molecule. The covalent anchoring was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and electrochemical studies. A robust pellet electrode was fabricated using CoHCF particles modified graphitic carbon and it has been applied in the electrocatalytic oxidation of sulfite. The proposed sensor showed a linearity in the concentration range 4-128 mu M of sulfite with a limit of detection (LOD) 1.7 mu M and limit of quantification (LOQ) 5.8 mu M. Proposed sensor has been successfully applied to measure sulfite levels from a variety of food sample matrices. The results obtained by the proposed electrochemical sensor have been compared with the iodimetric method. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.