TITLE:
STUDY OF COMMON
FOOD
ADULTERANTS IN
FOOD-STUFFS
INTRODUCTION
Adulteration is the act of intentionally debasing
the quality of food offered for sale either by
mixture
or substitution of inferior substances or by the
removal of some valuable ingredient. In past few
decades adulteration of food has become one of
the most serious problems.
Consumption of adulterated food causes diseases
like cancer, asthma, ulcer, etc. Majority of
adulterants
used by the shopkeepers are cheap substitutes
which are easily available.
In order to prevent adulteration of food products
by dishonest traders, the government has
issued ‘The Prevention of Food Adulteration
Act’.
The Bureau of Indian Standards is the agency in
India that provides
the certificate of reliability to food manufacturers
in India.
THEORY
We are very fortunate to be born a country which is
blessed with rich soil, diversified climate, many rivers
and the great Himalayas where almost all varieties of
fruits, vegetables and cereals, etc. can be grown. In
ancient times, the land was in abundance, the supply of
food was more than the demand and people used fresh
food materials in most natural form. The population
spurt in our country has given rise to unemployment and
poverty.
The demand for food has increased & our country has
to import food grains, oil etc. from other countries.
This shorta ge of food and ignorance of consumers is the
main cause for adulteration of foodstuffs by the
unscrupulous traders. It has become so common that the
consumers have to run from pillars to pillars to get a
foodstuff which is not adulterated. The consumers are
not aware of hazards of adulteration and pay heavily
for consuming adulterated food. If the consumer knows
the ways and means to check the commodities of daily
use, they can save themselves and their families from this
mind-boggling problem.
SOME OF THE COMMON
FOOD ADULTERANTS IN
FOOD ITEMS ARE:
FOOD ITEMS ADULTERANTS
Desi ghee & Butter Vanaspati ghee
Vegetable ghee Paraffin wax
Mustard oil Argemone oil
Sugar Chalk powder, washing powder
Chilli Red lead, Brick powder
Turmeric powder Yellow salts of lead, yellow chalk powder
EXPERIMENT 1 :
AIM:
To test the presence of adulterant
in fats, butter & oils.
APPARATUS:
Test-tubes, beakers, test-tube stand,
filter paper, dropper etc.
CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
For desi ghee & butter – conc. HCl, sugar,
small amounts of vanaspati ghee or butter.
For vegetable ghee – conc. acetic anhydride,
small amounts of vegetable ghee.
For oil – conc. Nitric acid, small amounts of
edible oil.
PROCEDURE:
In case of ordinary test for fats, butter & oils,
put a small amount of these separately on a
filter paper. Fold it & press, then unfold it. The
presence of translucent spot indicates the
presence of oil or fat. Hold the filter paper over
flame, the spot grows larger.
Test for oils:
Take 1 ml of mustard oil in a test tube & add
few drops of conc. HCl solution to it. Shake the
mixture well. Appearance of red color in the
acid layer indicates the presence of argemone
oil in mustard oil.
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS:
[Link] TYPES OF FOOD COMMON OBSERVATION INFERENCE
ADULTERANT
1 Desi Ghee & Vanaspati ghee Brownish pink Presence of
Butter starch & Potato aqueous layer is vanaspati ghee is
observed confirmed.
i) Sample 1 Yes
Yes
ii) Sample 2 No No
Sample 3 No
iii) No
Sample 4 No
iv) No
2. Mustard oil Argemone oil Orange colored Presence of
solution is observed. Argemone oil is
i) Sample 1 confirmed.
Yes Yes
ii) Sample 2
No No
iii) Sample 3
No No
iv) Sample 4
No No
EXPERIMENT 2:
AIM:
To test the presence of adulterants in Sugar,
Chilli powder, Turmeric powder, salt & Pepper.
APPARATUS:
Test-tubes, beakers, test-tube stand, dropper,
glass rod etc.
CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
For sugar – dil. H SO , water, sample of sugar.
2 4
For chilli powder – dil. HNO , KI solution,
3
sample of chilli powder.
For turmeric powder – conc. HCl, sample
of turmeric powder.
For pepper – water, sample of pepper.
For salt- water.
PROCEDURE:
1) Tests for Sugar:
(a) Take a small amount of sugar in a beaker &
add some amount of water to it. Stir the
solution with a glass rod. Pure sugar
dissolves in the water whereas the insoluble
particles (chilli powder, washing powder etc.)
floats on the surface indicates the presence of
adulterants.
(b) Take 1 g of sugar in a test-tube & add few
drops of dil. HCl to it. A brisk effervescence
due to the formation of CO indicates chalk
2
powder or washing soda in the given sample of
sugar.
2) Tests for Chilli powder:
(a) Take a small amount of chilli powder in a
test-tube & add few drops of dil. HNO to the
3
test-tube. Shake the mixture well & filter the
solution. To the filtrate, add 2-3 drops, of 10%
KI solution. The presence of yellow coloured
precipitate indicates the presence of lead salts
in chilli powder.
(b) Take a small amount of given red chilli
powder in a beaker & add water to it. The pure
chilli powder floats over the surface of water
whereas brick powder settles at the bottom
3) Tests for Turmeric powder:
Take a small amount of turmeric powder in a
test-tube & to this add few drops of conc. HCl.
The color changes from yellow to violet or
magenta indicates the presence of lead salts in
turmeric powder.
4) Tests for Pepper:
Take a small amount of pepper in a beaker &
add water to it. Stir the mixture with a glass
rod. Dried papaya seeds float over water &
pepper settles at the bottom. Add a little salt
to water. Chalk powder will settle down.
5) Tests for Salt: Add a little salt to water.
Chalk powder will settle down.
CONCLUSION:
The increasing number of food producers and
the outstanding amounts of imported food
stuffs enables the producers to mislead and
cheat consumers. To differentiate of those who
take advantage of legal rules from the once who
commit food adulteration is very difficult. The
consciousness of consumers has become very
crucial.
However, how can we expect consequent
behavior from them regarding controversial
issues emerging day by day? In addition,
ignorance and unfair market behaviors is
endangering consumer health. So we need
sanctions and judicial penalties with adequate
restraining force to halt this process.
We should take some precautions mentioned
below.
PRECAUTIONS:
By taking a few precautions, we can escape from
consuming adulterated products:
i. Take only packed items of well-known companies.
ii. Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized
outlets.
iii. Check the ISI mark or Ag mark.
iv. Buy products of only air tight popular brands.
v. Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets
and buy only from reputed shops.
vi. Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.
vii. Avoid buying things from street side vendors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
Pradeep’s new course chemistry
NCERT
Help of teacher
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS: