CONTENTS

[Link] Content Page No.

1 Acknowledgement 2

2 Objective 3

3 Introduction 4

4 Theory 5

5 Experimental Work 6

6 Observation 9

7 Result 10

8 Precaution 11

9 Conclusion 12

10 Bibliography 13

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Apart from the efforts of me. the success of any project depends largely on the encour-
agement and guidelines of many others.
I express deep sense of gratitude to almighty God for giving me strength for the successful
completion of the project.
I wish to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks to the Principal, Ms. Roshni
Vijayan. for her encouragement and for all the facilities that she provided for this project
work. I sincerely appreciate her generosity by taking me into her fold for which I shall
remain indebted to. I extend my hearty thanks to my Chemistry Teacher Ms. Sreelatha
who guided me to the successful completion of this project. I take this opportunity to
express my deep sense of gratitude for her invaluable guidance, constant encouragement,
immense motivation, which has sustained my efforts at all the stages of this Project
work.
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to my parents and also to my classmates who
helped me to carry out this project work successfully and for their valuable advice and
support.

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 OBJECTIVE

The Objective of this project is to study some of the common food adulterants present
in different food stuffs.

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 INTRODUCTION

Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. Pure, fresh and healthy diet
is most essential for the health of the people. It is no wonder to say that community
health is national wealth. Adulteration of foodstuffs was so rampant, widespread and
persistent that nothing short of a somewhat drastic remedy in the form of a compre-
hensive legislation became the need of the hour. To check this kind of anti-social evil a
concerted and determined onslaught was launched by the Government by introduction
of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill in the Parliament to herald an era of much
needed hope and relief for the consumers at large. About the middle of the 19th cent.
chemical and microscopic knowledge had reached the stage that food substances could be
analyzed, and the subject of food adulteration began to be studied from the standpoint
of the rights and welfare of the consumer.

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 THEORY

The increasing number of food producers and the outstanding amount of import foodstuffs
enables the producers to mislead and cheat consumers. To differentiate those who take
advantage of legal rules from the ones who commit food adulteration is very difficult.
The consciousness of consumers would be crucial. Ignorance and unfair market behavior
may endanger consumer health and misleading can lead to poisoning. So, we need simple
screening tests for their detection. In the past few decades, adulteration of food has
become one of the serious problems. Consumption of adulterated food causes serious
diseases like cancer, diarrhoea, asthma, ulcers, etc. Majority of fats, oils and butter are
paraffin wax, castor oil and hydrocarbons. Red chilli powder is mixed with brick powder
and pepper is mixed with dried papaya seeds.
These adulterants can be easily identified by simple chemical tests. Several agencies
have been set up by the Government of India to remove adulterants from food stuffs.
AGMARK - acronym for agricultural marketing.... this organization certifies food prod-
ucts for their quality. Its objective is to promote the Grading and Standardization of
agricultural and allied commode.

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 EXPERIMENTAL WORK

Experiment 1
AIM

To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.

APPARATUS REQUIRED
Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid, conc. HNO3.
PROCEDURE
Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are parain wax, hydrocarbons, dyes and
argemone oil. These are detected as follows:
(i) Adulteration of parain wax and hydrocarbon in vegetable ghee:
Heat small amount of vegetable ghee with acetic anhydride. Droplets of oil loating on
the surface of unused acetic anhydride indicates the presence of wax or hydrocarbons.
(ii) Adulteration of dyes in fat:
Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture of 1mL of conc. sulphuric acid and 4mL of acetic acid.
Appearance of pink or red colour indicates presence of dye in fat.
(iii) Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oils:
To small amount of oil in a test-tube, add few drops of conc. HNO3 and shake. Appear-
ance of red colour in the acid layer indicates presence of argemone oil.

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EXPERIMENT 2
AIM

To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.

APPARATUS REQUIRED
Test-tubes, dil. HCl.
PROCEDURE
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other insoluble substances which
are detected as follows:
(i) Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar:
Take small amount of sugar in a test-tube and shake it with little water. Pure sugar
dissolves in water but insoluble impurities do not dissolve.
(ii) Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar:
To small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few drops of HCl. Brisk efervescence of
CO2 shows the presence of chalk powder or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.

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EXPERIMENT 3
AIM

To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chilli powder, turmeric powder and
pepper.
APPARATUS REQUIRED
Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution.
PROCEDURE
Common adulterants present in chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper are red colored
lead salts, yellow lead salts and dried papaya seeds respectively. They are detected as
follows:
(i) Adulteration of red lead salts in chilli powder:
To a sample of chilli powder, add dil. HNO3. Filter the dil solution and add 2 drops of
potassium iodide solution to the filtrate. Yellow ppt. indicates the presence of lead salts
in chilli powder.
(ii) Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder:
To a sample of turmeric powder add conc. HCl. Appearance of magenta colour shows
the presence of yellow oxides of lead in turmeric powder.
(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red chilli powder:
Add small amount of given red chilli powder in beaker containing water. Brick powder
settles at the bottom while pure chilli powder floats over water.
(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper:
Add small amount of sample of pepper to a beaker containing water and stir with a glass
rod. Dried papaya seeds being lighter float over water while pure pepper settles at the
bottom.

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 OBSERVATION

Adulteration Test Procedure Result

Heat small amount of vegetable
ghee with acetic anhydride.
Adulteration of parain wax Appearance of
Droplets of oil floating on the
and hydrocarbon in oil floating on
surface of unused acetic
vegetable ghee the surface
anhydride indicate the presence
of wax or hydrocarbon.
Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture
Appearance of
Adulteration of dyes in fat of 1mL of conc. H2SO4 and 4mL
pink colour
of acetic acid.
To small amount of oil in a test
Adulteration of argemone No red colour
tube, add few drops of conc.
oil in edible oils observed
HNO3 & shake.
Take small amount of sugar in a
Adulteration of various test tube and shake it with little
insoluble substances in water. Pure sugar dissolves in –
sugar water but insoluble impurities do
not dissolve.
Adulteration of chalk To small amount of sugar in a No brisk
powder, washing soda in test tube, add a few drops of dil. efervescence
sugar HCL. observed
Adulteration of yellow lead To sample of turmeric powder, Appearance of
salts to turmeric powder add conc. HCl. magenta colour
To a sample of chilli powder, add
Adulteration of red lead dil. HNO3. Filter the solution No yellow
salts in chilli powder and add 2 drops of KI solution precipitate
to the filtrate.
Add small amount of sample of
pepper to beaker containing
Adulteration of dried water and stir with a glass rod.
–
papaya seeds in pepper Dried papaya seeds being lighter
float over water while pure
pepper settles at the bottom.

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 RESULT

The required analyses for adulterants in food stuffs has been made.

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 PRECAUTION

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 Agmark.
iv) Buy products of only air tight popular brands.
v) Avoid craziness for artificially colored 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

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 CONCLUSION

Selection of wholesome and non-adulterated food is essential for daily life to make sure
that such foods do not cause any health hazard. It is not possible to ensure wholesome
food only on visual examination when the toxic contaminants are present in ppm level.
However, visual examination of the food before purchase makes sure to ensure absence of
insects, visual fungus, foreign matters, etc. Therefore, due care taken by the consumer at
the time of purchase of food after thoroughly examining can be of great help. Secondly,
label declaration on packed food is very important for knowing the ingredients and nu-
tritional value. It also helps in checking the freshness of the food and the period of best
before use. The consumer should avoid taking food from an unhygienic place and food
being prepared under unhygienic conditions. Such types of food may cause various dis-
eases. Consumption of cut fruits being sold in unhygienic conditions should be avoided.
It is always better to buy certified food from reputed shops.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Website:
. [Link]
. [Link]
. [Link]

Books:
. Comprehensive Practical Manual
. NCERT Class XII

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