HE 2800 – Consumer Education

Prepared by: Teresita G. Rodriguez

E-mail Address: teresita.rodriguez@clsu2.edu.ph

Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz 3120
Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Instructional Module for the Course

HE 2800: Consumer Education

Module 15: Food Adulteration

Food is most essential for our survival, but the same food becomes hazardous if it
is adulterated or not of specific standards. It is said to be adulterated not only when there
is intentional addition or substitution which adversely affects the nature, substance and
quality of foods, but also when there is incidental contamination during the period of
growth, harvesting, storage, processing, transportation and distribution.
Unfortunately, consumers themselves, either because of poverty or lack of proper
education, had not been much concerned about the quality of food products. This
ignorance, at times is making them suffer from severe health hazards. In this context
food safety is receiving attention throughout the world as the link between food and
health is becoming more prominent day by day. Food safety implies absence or
acceptable and safe levels of contaminants, adulterants, naturally occurring toxins or any
other substance that may make food injurious to health on an acute or chronic basis.
Hence a wise consumer must have knowledge regarding the different types of
adulterants, detection process and legal protection given to consumers to put their foot
down against adulteration. Consumer awareness on the possible adulteration and likely
adulterant in particular food will be most important aspect in the detection of food
adulteration. Some of the adulterants which can be detected with naked eye include

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stones, clay, insects in cereal and cereal products, oily pulses or shining pepper where
castor or mineral oil is coated, argemone seeds in mustard seeds etc.

Objectives
The study of this module would enable the students to understand:

1. types of adulteration and contamination in various foods and its impact on health;
2. the ways of detection of food adulteration; and
3. legal measures to protect consumer from food adulteration

Adulteration is a legal term meaning that a food product fails to meet the legal
standards. One form of adulteration is an addition of another substance to a food item in
order to increase the quantity of the food item in raw form or prepared form, which
results in the loss of actual quality of food item. These substances may be either available
food items or non-food items.
Adulteration is an illegal practice of adding raw and other cheaper ingredients to
excellent quality products to increase the quantity. Having this adulterated food is highly
toxic and leads to several health issues, including certain nutrition deficiency diseases,
kidney disorders, and failure of an individual’s organ systems, including heart, kidney and
liver.
Food Adulteration can be defined as the practice of adulterating food or
contamination of food materials by adding a few substances, which are collectively called
adulterants.

Adulterants are the substance or poor-quality products added to food items for
economic and technical benefits. Addition of these adulterants reduces the value
of nutrients in food and also contaminates the food, which is not fit for consumption.
These adulterants can be available in all food products which we consume daily, including
dairy products, cereals, pulses, grains, meat, vegetables, fruits, oils, beverages, etc.

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Why is Food Adulteration done?

The process of contaminating food or adding to the food components is a common
phenomenon in developing countries.

For instance: Milk can be diluted by adding water to increase its quantity and starch
powder is often added to increase its solid content.

Causes of Food Adulteration:

▪ Profit motive of traders: Done as a part of the business strategy

▪ Food insecurity: To increase quantity of food production and sales.

▪ Increased Urbanization: To make maximum profit from food items by fewer

investments.

▪ High population demands: Increased food demand of the population and its
changing trends.

▪ Illiteracy of general public: Lack of consciousness of proper food consumption.

▪ Lack of effective food laws

▪ Lack of government in initiative

FOOD IS ADULTERATED IF:

▪ The food sold does not meet the nature of the substance or quality as per the demand
of consumer.

▪ The food contains inferior or cheaper substance

▪ The food has been prepared, packed or kept under unclean conditions leading to
contamination.

▪ Food contains substances that depreciates or injuriously affects the health.

▪ If the food’s original nature is substituted wholly or partially by abstracting a portion

of vital substance from food.

▪ If it is an imitation of some other food substance.

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Types of Food Adulteration:

1. Intentional adulteration: The adulterants are added as a deliberate act with

intention to increase profit. E.G., sand, marble chips, stones, chalk powder, etc.

2. Incidental Adulteration: Adulterants are found in food due to negligence,

ignorance or lack of proper facilities. E.G. Packaging hazards like larvae of insects,
droppings, pesticide residues, etc.

3. Metallic adulteration: When the metallic substances are added intentionally or

accidentally. Eg: arsenic, pesticides, lead from water, mercury from effluents, tins
from cans, etc.

Methods of Food Adulteration:

1. Mixing: Mixing of clay, stones, pebbles, sand, marble chips, etc.

2. Substitution: Cheaper and inferior substances being replaced wholly or
partially with good ones.
3. Concealing quality: Trying to hide the food standard. E.G. adding
captions of qualitative food to low quality for selling.
4. Decomposed food: Mainly in fruits and vegetables. The decomposed
ones are mixed with good ones
5. Misbranding/ False labels: Includes duplicate food stuffs, changing of
manufacture and expiry dates.
6. Addition of toxicants: adding non-edible substances like argemone in
mustard oil, low quality preservatives, coloring agents, etc.

Food Adulteration in Developing Countries:

▪ Fresh vegetables and fruits, the main part of our meal is adulterated by the self
applied fertilizers and pesticides by the farmers to increase the production and to
avoid the attacks of insects and diseases.

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▪ Wax coating/ dipping in chemical water like copper sulphate (CuSO4) is used for
increasing the marketing by making them attractive and fresh looking.

▪ Nowadays, vegetables producing fields are irrigated with sewerage water which
included detergents, human feces, factory wastes having high concentrations of
toxic heavy metals i.e. lead and arsenic which can cause damage to liver, kidney
and cancer.

▪ Vegetables and fruits are also openly sold at roads which cause the free-fallen smoke
and dust particles resulting in contamination.

▪ Screen is used as sweetening agent in many confectionary products, instead of

sucrose, which is harmful for health

▪ The storage room are cleaned and fumigated to protect the storage products from
insects which contain hazardous substances affecting the health.

▪ Brick dust is added in chilli powder on the other hand lead chromate and metanil
yellow is added in turmeric powder that deteriorates health condition.

▪ Sugar and salt is adulterated with calcium carbonate, similarly urea is mixed in
parched rice.

▪ The saw dust is added in coriander powder and cumin powder.

▪ The sodium bicarbonate in jaggery, coal tar dye in tea leaves, metanil yellow color
in gram powder.

Health Hazards of Food Adulteration:

Some health hazards associated with specific food adulteration incudes;

▪ Mineral oil if added to edible oil and fats can cause cancers.

▪ Lead chromate when added to turmeric powder and spices can cause
anemia, paralysis, brain damage and abortions.

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▪ Lead added to water, natural and processed food can lead to lead
poisoning, foot drop, insomnia, constipation, anemia, and mental
retardation.

▪ Cobalt added to water and liquors and can cause cardiac damage also
copper, tin, and zinc can cause colic, vomiting and diarrhea.

▪ Mercury in mercury fungicide treated grains, or mercury-contaminated fish

can cause brain damage, paralysis, and death.

▪ Non-permitted color or permitted food color like metal yellow, beyond the
safe limit in colored food can cause allergies, hyperactivity, liver damage,
infertility, anemia, cancer and birth defects.

Mitigation Measures for Addressing Food Adulteration:

▪ There must be proper surveillance of the implementation food laws.

▪ There should be monitoring of the activities with periodical records of

hazards regarding food adulteration.

▪ There should be periodical training programs for Senior

Officer/Inspector/Analysts for food safety

▪ There should be consumer awareness programs organized by holding

exhibitions/seminars/training programs and publishing pamphlets.

▪ There should be strict actions regarding the punishment for those who are
involved in food adulteration.

▪ There should be help and support from International INGOs for

implementation of food laws.

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Below is a list of a few adulterants added to the food products along with their harmful
effects.

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Food
Adulterant Harmful Effects
Products

Milk and Curd Water and starch powder. Stomach disorders.

Gastro-intestinal
Ghee, Cheese Mashed potatoes, Vanaspati and starch
disturbances and other
and Butter powder.
stomach disorders.

Liver disorders,
Dust, Pebbles, Stones, Straw, weed seeds,
Grains Toxicity in the body,
damaged grain, etc.
etc.

Pulses Dyes, chemical and Lead Chromate. Stomach disorders.

Coffee
Chicory, tamarind seeds powder. Diarrhoea.
powder

Tea Artificial colouring agents. Liver disorders.

Stomach disorders
Sugar Chalk powder, Washing soda, Urea, etc.
and kidney failure.

Severe allergic
reactions including
Pepper Dried papaya seeds and blackberries.
stomach and skin
irritations.

Abdominal
Mustard contractions,
Argemone seeds.
seeds sluggishness and
increased excretion.

Gallbladder cancer,
allergies, paralysis,
Mineral oil, Karanja oil, castor oil and
Edible Oils cardiac arrest, and
artificial colours.
increased LDL
cholesterol.

Pesticide residues, sawdust, chalk dust,

Turmeric Cancer and Stomach
industrial dyes, metanil yellow dye arsenic,
Powder disorders.
lead metal etc.

Chilli and Metal toxicity, Cancer,

Redbrick powder, Rhodamine B dye, Red
Coriander lead poisoning,
lead, dung powder, soluble salts, water-
powder tumour, variations in

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soluble synthetic colours and other common blood pressure and

salts. other stomach related
disorders.

Liver Damage, Low

Cinnamon Blood Sugar, Mouth
Cassia bark.
sticks Sores and increased
risk of cancer.

Coloured grass seeds, sawdust and charcoal

Cumin seeds Stomach disorders.
dust

These dyes are highly

carcinogenic that have
Jam, Juice Non-permitted dyes including metanil yellow
the potential to cause
and Candies and other artificial food dyes.
different types of
cancer.

Vomiting and other

Jaggery Washing soda, chalk powder
Stomach disorders

Honey Molasses, dextrose, sugar and corn syrups Stomach disorders

Stomach disorders,
Chemical dyes, Malachite green, calcium
Fruits and vomiting, and dyes
carbide, copper sulphate and oxytocin
Vegetables used are highly
saccharin wax.
carcinogenic.

Gastritis and
Tomato Pumpkin pulp, non-edible artificial colors and
inflammation of vital
sauces flavors.
organs.

Pepper oil, ethyl acetate, butyraldehyde,

Dreadful diseases that
nitrate, washing powder. The kind of gum is
affect organs including
Ice Cream added which is prepared by boiling different
lungs, kidneys, and
animal parts including the tail, udder, nose,
heart.
etc.

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