Study Of Common Food Adulterants In

Fat, Oil, Butter, Sugar, Turmeric

Powder, Chilli Powder And Pepper.
 CONTENT

• INTRODUCTION

• THEORY

• EXPERIMENT 1 : To detect the 1presence of adulterants in

fat, oil and butter.

• EXPERIMENT 2 : To detect the presence of adulterants in

sugar.

• EXPERIMENT 3 : To detect the presence of adulterants in

chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper.

• CONCLUSION

• PRECAUTION

• BIBLIOGRAPHY
 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 food-stuffs was so rampant, widespread
and persistent that nothing short of a somewhat drastic remedy
in the form of a comprehensive 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.
‘Adulteration of food-stuffs and other goods’ is now included
in the Concurrent List (III) in the Constitution of India. It has,
therefore, become possible for the Central Government to enact
all India legislation on this subject. The Bill replaces all local
food adulteration laws where they exist and also applies to
those States where there are no local laws on the subject.
Among others, it provides for,
• A Central Food Laboratory to which food samples can be
referred to for final opinion in disputed cases (clause 4),
• A Central Committee for Food Standards consisting of
representatives of Central and State Governments to advise on
matters arising from the
administration of the Act (clause 3),
The vesting in the Central Government of the rule-making power
regarding standards of quality for the articles of food and certain
other matters (clause 22)
 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 behaviour 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 products for their quality. Its
objective is to promote the Grading and Standardization of
agricultural and allied commode.
 ADULTERANTS IN COMMON FOOD

Most of the adulterants used are cheap substitutes which are

easily available. For example:

➢ Adulterants in fats, oils and butter are paraffin wax, castor

oil and hydrocarbons.

➢ Adulterants in chilli powder and turmeric powder are

brick powder and yellow lead powder.

➢ Sugar is contaminated with washing soda.

➢ Pepper is adulterated with dry papaya seeds.

 IMPACT OF ADULTERANTS
• Adulteration of food is causes several health problems in
humans. These include stomach ache, body ache, anaemia,
paralysis, incidence of tumours, abnormalities in skin and
eyes.

• Due to food adulteration people suffer from heart diseases,

skin disease, asthma and other chronic diseases.
 ACT 37 OF 1954

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill was passed by both

the house of Parliament and received the assent of the President
on 29th September, 1954. It came into force on 1st June, 1955
as THE PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT,
1954 (37 of 1954).

LIST OF ADAPTATION ORDER AND

AMENDING ACTS

1. The Adaptation of Laws (No.3) Order, 1956.

2. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)Act,

1964 (49 of 1964).
3. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)Act,
1971 (41 of 1971).
4. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)Act,
1976 (34 of 1976).
5. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)Act,
1986 (70 of 1986).
EXPERIMENT 1

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

REQUIREMENTS: Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4,

acetic acid, conc. HNO3.
PROCEDURE:

Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are paraffin wax,

hydrocarbons, dyes 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 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. Appearance of red colour in the acid layer
indicates presence of argemone oil.
EXPERIMENT 2

AIM: 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. To detect
the presence of adulterants in samples of chilli powder,
turmeric powder.
EXPERIMENT 3

AIM: To detect the presence of adulterants in chilli powder,

turmeric powder and pepper.
REQUIREMENTS: Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI
solution

PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in chilli powder, turmeric powder
and pepper are red coloured lead salts, yellow lead salts and
dried papaya seeds respectively.
They are detected as follows:

• 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.

• 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 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.
 OBSERVATION TABLE

EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE OBSERVATION

Adulteration of Heat small amount of Appearance of

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

By taking a few precautions, we can escape from consuming

adulterated products.
1. Take only packed items of well-known companies.

2. Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized

outlets.

3. Check the ISI mark or Agmark.

4. Buy products of only air tight popular brands.

5. Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets and buy

only from reputed shops.
6. Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.

7. Avoid buying things from street side vendors.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Textbook of chemistry 12th - Oswaal

Textbook of chemistry 12th - Nootan
Textbook of chemistry 12th – NCERT

WEBSITES

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http://www.wikipedia.org
https://www.chemongo.com