Introduction :-
Food is one of the basic necessities for substance of life . Pure fresh and healthy diet is most
essential for health of the people . It is no wonder to say that community health is national
wealth . Adulteration of food stuffs was rampant , widespread and persistent that nothing short
of a somewhat drastic remedy in the form of a comprehensive legislation becomes the need of
the hour . To check this kind of the antisocial evil a concerted and determined onslaught was
launched by the governments 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 Century chemical and microscopic knowledge had reached the stage
that food began substances could be analysed and the subject of food adulteration began to be
studied from the stand point of the rights and welfare of the consumers. In 1860 the first food
law framed in the intrest of the purchaser was passed . That law, lacking sufficient means of
enforcement, remain largely ineffective until 1872 , when administrative officials were
appointed and penalties for voilation provided.
In United States the federal food and drug act of 1906 was result of a long and stormy campaign
led by Dr Harvey Washington . This law defined food adulteration and the misbranding of
products; it
provided regulalations covering the interstate movement of food and penalties for violation .
The 1906 act was superseded in 1938 by more rigorous food Drug and cosmetic Act
adminstered since 1940 by the Food and Drug administration . The FDA charged with enforcing
truthful and informative labelling of essential commodities ; maintain staff labrotarories and
formulating definations and standards promoting fair dealing in the intrest of the consumers .
The 1938 act brodened the defination of adulteration , misbranding , and lack of informative
labelling . it provided for factory inspections ; and it 's increased the penalties for violation . It
was amended in 1958 and 1962 to define and regulate food additives and food coloring . The
federal law control traffic from one state to another and is supplemented by local regulation
that require food handlers to be licensced , thereby discouraging the spread the disease; it
provides for the inspection by health officers of meat and other foods of resturants, and of
dairies and cold storage methods . Imported goods that violated the provisions of the acts may
be denied admittance to the USA and if not removed within a give time may be destroyedAim :-
To study adulterants in different food stuffs .
Appratus :-
1. Ghee/oils
2. Sugar
3. Chilli Powder
4. Turmeric Powder
5. Pepper
6. Test tube
7. Conc. H2SO4
8. Acetic Acid
9. Conc. HNO3
10. Dil HCl
11. Conc. HCl
12. Dil HNO3
13. K I Solution
Theory :-
The increasing number of food producers and the outstanding amount of import food stuffs
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 . Ingnorance and unfair market behaviour may
endanger consumer health and misleading can lead to poisoning . So we need simple screening
test for their detection . In the past few decades , adulteration of food has become one of the
serious problems. Consumption of adulterated food causes serious disease like cancer ,
diarrhea , asthma , ulcers , etc. majority
Procedure :-
To detect presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.
of fats , oils and butter are paraffin wax , castor oil and hydrocarbons . These adulterants can be
easily identified by simple chemical test . Several agencies have been set up by the
Government of India to remove adulterants from food stuff.
Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are dyes or argemone oil . These are detected as
follows
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 color indicates presence of dye
in fat
Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oil :- To small amount of oil in a test - tube , add
few drops of conc HNO3 and shake it well . Appearance of red color in the acid layer
indicates presence of argemone oil
To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar :-
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other insoluble substances which are
detected as follows :-
Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar :- Take amount of sugar in a
text tube and shake it with little water . Pure sugar dissolves in water but insoluble
impurities do not dissolve.
Adulteration of Chalk powder, washing soda in sugar :- To small amount of sugar in a
test tube , add few drops of HCl . Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the presence of
Chalk powder or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.
3. To detect the presence of adulterants in sample of chilli powder turmeric powder and
pepper :-
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:
Adulterants 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.
Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder :- To a sample of turmeric
powder add conc . HCl . Appearance of magenta color shows the presence of yellow
oxides of lead in turmeric powder
Final Tests & Observation Table)
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.
Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper :- Add small amount of sample of
pepper to beaker containing water and stir with a glass rod . Dried papaya seeds being
lighter floats over water while pure settles at the bottom.
Result :- The required anaylsis for adulterants in food stuffs has been made .
Precautions :-
By taking a few precautions , we can escape from consuming adulterated products .
Take only packed items of well known companies .
Check ISI mark or Agmark .
Buy products of only air tight popular brands
Buy items from reliable retail shops and recogmised outlets .
Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open .
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 absense of insects, fungs
foreign matters etc . Therefore , due to care taken by the consumer at the time of purchase of
food is very important for knowing the
ingredients and nutritional value . Its also helps in checking the freshness of the food and the
period of best before use . The consumer should avoid taking food from an unhygenic
conditions such as types of food may cause various diseases . Consumption of cut fruits being
sold in unhygenic conditions should be avoided . It is always better to buy certified food from
reputed shops .