ABSTRACT
As part of the B.Ed curriculum, i had performed a project for the determination of adulterants in certain food stuffs like chilli powder,pepper, cumin seeds, etc. The project had turned out to be successful to the best of my knowledge.
INTRODUCTION:
Adulteration in food is normally
present in its most crude form; prohibited substances are either added or
partly or wholly substituted. Normally the contamination/adulteration in food
is done either for financial gain or due to carelessness and lack in proper
hygienic condition of processing, storing, transportation and marketing. This
ultimately results that the consumer is either cheated or often become victim
of diseases. Such types of adulteration are quite common in developing
countries or backward countries. It is equally important for the consumer to
know the common adulterants and their effect on health.
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 the 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.
SOME COMMON WAYS
OF DETECTING FOOD
1.Papaya seeds are used to adulterate
black pepper seeds. Add some of the adulterated sample to glass water. papaya
seeds float while pepper seeds do not.
2. Kesari dal is an adulterant in arahar
dal and chana dal. Kesari dal pointed and wedge shaped. chana dal/ arahar dal
is smooth and round.
3. Starch is used as an adulterant in
milk. put few drops of iodine solution in milk . a blue or black colour
indicates starch.
4. Old used spices are often mix with
spices sold as fresh. Smell the spice . no or less smell indicates the
adulteration
5. Cheap edible oil in vanaspati. Add a
solution of washing soda to vanaspati and shake well. If froth appears on top,
cheap oil has been added to vanaspati.
6. Artificial dye in tea leaves. Put tea leaves
or moistened blotting paper. Artificial colour leaves will impart colour to
blotting paper
NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
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 shortage 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.
Several agencies have been set up by
the Government of India to remove adulterants from food stuffs.
AGMARK - acronym for agricultural marketing....this organisation
certifies food products for their quality. Its objective is to promote the
Grading and Standardisation of agricultural and allied commodities.
OBJECTIVE:
To
study some of the common food adulterants present in different food stuffs.
Causes of Food Adulteration:
Let us be clear that food
adulteration in India under the law includes both willful adulteration of food
and "substandard" foods which do not conform to the prescribed food
standards but are not done intentionally. Taking an overall view of all types
of food adulteration, three major underlying causes could be identified:
i. Inadequate availability of food to meet the demands of the consumer
prompting the unscrupulous food traders to use any means to stretch the supply
to earn more money.
ii. The more important reason is
the basic dishonesty of the food traders and an urge to make quick and easy money. In fact, this urge to make money in an
unscrupulous manner is possibly the basic reason for the majority of crimes
committed in the modern day society, be it theft, burglary, bank looting or
murder. This dishonesty to earn easy and quick money is not only restricted to
the food
iii. There are significant numbers
of cases of food adulteration committed by small
traders
due to their ignorance about the
standards they are expected to maintain. It is true that all food standards
after they are developed are circulated by government notification for the
knowledge of all traders; but it is equally true that there is an abysmal gap between the traders and the law enforcers, especially when they are
small and medium traders e.g. the street corner food sellers.
Food
safety knowledge & practices
Food safety is defined as food
that is free from all hazards, whether chronic or acute, that may make food
injurious to health of the consumer (Krueger
R. 1998). However, the term ‗‗safe food‘‘ represents different ideals to
different audiences (World Health Organization; 2003). Unlike in the
West, in the Indian context improper cooking and cross-contamination may not be
perceived as major food safety concerns; Research in other parts of the world
suggests that many people‘s stance on food safety issues changes depending on
their mood or the last thing they have read or seen (Elmi M.2004, FSA, 2000).
Epidemiologic surveillance summaries of
foodborne diseases clearly indicate that consumer behaviours such as ingestion of raw/undercooked foods and poor
hygienic practices are important contributors to outbreaks of food borne
diseases (Patil et al., 2004). Unusan (2007) reported that
people of all ages seem to think they know how to handle food safely, but their
self-reported food-handling
behaviors do not support this
confidence. A review of the consumer food safety literature indicates many gaps
that have an impact on food borne diseases at home (Vitas, 2005; Hillers et al., 2003; Jay, Comar, 1999b; Kendall et al., 2004; Kennedy et al., 2005; Li-Cohen,
2002; Redmond, 2003; Unusan, 2007;
Yang, 2000).
The growing concern about pesticide
residues was obvious in some areas, which to a large extent is fueled by recent
and extensive media coverage of the controversy about pesticide residues in
carbonated beverages.( Subba Rao, 2007;
Mago C, 2009; CNN, 2003) .
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS:
EXPERIMENT NO:1
To
detect the presence of adulterants in oil and butter.
REQUIREMENTS
Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. HNO3.
PROCEDURE
Common
adulterants present in ghee and oil are paraffin wax, hydrocarbons and argemone
oil. These are detected as follows :
(i)
Adulteration
of paraffin wax and hydrocarbon in vegetable ghee
Heat
small amount of vegetable ghee with acetic anhydride. Droplets of oil floating
on the surface of unused acetic anhydride indicates the presence of wax or
hydrocarbons.
(ii)
Adulteration
of argemone oil in edible oils
To
small amount of oil in a test-tube, add few drops of conc. HNO3 and shake.
Appearance of red colour in the acid layer indicates presence of argemone oil.
EXPERIMENT NO:2
To test the presence of the vanaspati ghee
in a given sample of ghee and butter.
REQUIREMENTS
Test
tubes, desi-ghee, diluted HCl, butter, water, and little sugar
PROCEDURE
1. Detection of Vanaspati:
A small amount {0.5gm} of ghee was taken in a test tube. The tube was
heated gently and a little sugar and HCl was added to it. The test tube was
shaken well for five minute. Presence of pink color showed the presence of
vanaspati ghee.
EXPERIMENT NO:3
To test the adulteration of dyes in fats.
REQUIREMENTS
A sample of fat, conc. Sulphuric acid, acetic acid, test tube.
PROCEDURE
1ml of fat was heated with as mixture of 1ml of conc. Sulphuric acid
&4ml of acetic acid. Appearance of red colour indicated the presence of dye
in fat.
EXPERIMENT NO:4
To
detect the presence of adulterants in sugar
REQUIREMENTS
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 dil. HCl. Brisk
effervescence of CO2 shows
the presence of chalk powder or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.
EXPERIMENT NO:5
To detect the presence of adulterants in
samples of chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper
REQUIREMENTS
Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3,
KI solution
PROCEDURE
Common
adulterants present in chilli powder and pepper are red coloured 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 solution and add 2 drops of potassium iodide solution to the
filtrate. Yellow ppt. indicates the presence of lead salts in chilli powder.
- (i)
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.
- (ii)
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.
EXPERIMENT
NO:6
To Detect the presence of given sample
of turmeric powder.
REQUIREMENTS
Test tube, dil.
HCl, turmeric powder, dil.nitric acid, conc.HCl
PROCEDURE
(i)
Detection of chalk powder
A small amount of given
sample was taken in a test tube & about ml of dil. HCl was
added to it. No effervescence indicates the absence of chalk powder in
the sample.
(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.
OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS
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 nutritional
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 diseases. Consumption of cut fruits being sold in unhygienic
conditions should be avoided. It is always better to buy certified food from
reputed shop.
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 behaviour from them regarding controversial issues emerging day by
day? In addition, ignorance and unfair market behaviours is endangering consumer
health. So we need sanctions and judicial penalties with adequate restating
force to halt this process.
REFERENCES
3. Detection of common food adulterants
- Bruce, Edwin Morris,1866
4. Simple methods for detecting food
adulteration [SPCK] - Bower,John A, 1895
5.
Detection of fraud and
protection of health – Byron, Marcus Lafayette, 1826-1903
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