FOOD

ADULTERATION
 Food adulteration
 The process of lowering the nutritive value of food either
by removing a vital component or by adding substances of
inferior quality, is called food adulteration. The substance
that is used to lower the quality is known as adulterant.

Reasons for food adulteration are

•To get more profit
•To increase the weight
•To increase volume of trade by
showing lower prices
Steps of food adulteration
The movement of food
from the producer
to the consumer
involves:
 Transportation
 Storage
 Processing
 Packaging
 Marketing and
 Distribution.
 Effects of adulteration
on humans
 Symptoms like headache, gastro-intestinal disorders,
muscular pain, drowsiness, allergic reactions, cancer etc.,
appear, if adulterated food substances are used regularly.

For example, Nordihydroguaiaretic acid

(N D G TA) is an antioxidant used in food
fats, which has been found to produce
allergic reactions in some individuals.
 How dangerous are these
adulterants??
 The argemone oil used to adulterate ghee and butter
is highly toxic. It causes a disease known as dropsy.
Watery fluid collecting in some parts of the body is the
main symptom. It affects the normal functioning of the
body. It may also paralyse the limbs.
 Metanil yellow used to brighten the colour of pulses,
turmeric powder and sweet meats, is a coal-tar dye. It may
cause cancer.
 Washing soda often added to powdered sugar and other
food items, may cause intestinal disorders.
 Food items prepared under unhygienic conditions and stale
foods cause food poisoning.
Cont,
 US v. Lexington Mills
 Alsop process added N2 gas to flour
 Presence of N2 caused flour to be adulterated
 Court held:
 Presence of a poison or deleterious substance must be
such as may render the food article “injurious to
health”
Types of Food Contamination
There are three ways which food can be contaminated:

• Physical;

• Chemical;

• Bacterial.
Physical contamination
This can occur in a variety of ways at different stages of food
processing and production. Some examples are:
• soil from the ground when harvesting;
• a bolt from a processing plant when packaging;
• a hair from a cook in the kitchen.

Chemical contamination
This can occur in a variety of ways at different stages of food
processing and production. Some examples are:
• chemicals from the farm;
• a cleaning product used in the processing
when packaging;
• fly spray used in the kitchen when preparing food.
Bacterial contamination
As soon as food is harvested, slaughtered or manufactured
into a product it starts to change. This is caused by two
main processes:
 autolysis – self destruction, caused by enzymes present in
the food;
 microbial spoilage – caused by the growth of bacteria,
yeasts and moulds.
Autolysis - enzymes
Enzymes are chemicals that are
found in food.
These chemicals have important
uses in food. They can cause
food to deteriorate in three main
ways:
 ripening – this will continue
until the food becomes inedible,
e.g. banana ripening;
 browning – enzymes can react
with air causing the skin of
certain foods, e.g. potatoes and
apples discolouring;
 oxidation – loss of certain
nutrients, such as vitamins A, C
and thiamin from food, e.g. over
boiling of green vegetables.
Microbial spoilage - bacteria
These are single celled micro
organisms (they cannot be seen
by the naked eye) which are
present naturally in the
environment.
 There are many different kinds,
some are useful, e.g. in the
production of yogurt, and some
harmful.
 The presence of bacteria in food
can lead to digestive upset.
 Some bacteria produce toxins
which can lead to this also.
 Spores can also be produced by
some bacteria leading to toxins
being produced.
Conditions for bacterial
growth
Micro-organisms need conditions to survive and reproduce
these can include:
•temperature;
•moisture;
•food;
•time;
•oxygen;
•pH level.
Chemical Contaminants
 Intentional Food Additives
 Use of materials which enhance the acceptability of the
products and/or aid in the development of the product
 Residues
 This includes both food processing component residues
as well as PESTICIDES, ANTIBIOTIC OR HORMONE
IMPLANT residues
 Natural Toxicants
 Product Tampering
 In animal products also, residues of veterinary drugs and
growth promoting substances may be present.
 During processing, food can be contaminated with
processing aids, such as filtering and cleaning agents, and
with metals coming from the equipment.
 Finally, contaminants can be included in foods during
packaging and storage. These can originate from plastics,
coatings, and tins.
Potential for Mercury Toxicity
 Mercury occurs naturally in soil and in the atmosphere
from volcanic emissions
 Mercury is extracted and used in industry, then enters air
or water from pollution
 Very toxic to the nervous system, also to kidneys
 Mercury contaminates mostly fish and fishery products
and is not changed by cooking.
 Minimata, Japan, 50 years ago…Seafood from the bay was
polluted with mercury from an industrial source, many
cases of neurotoxcity were seen, directly related to seafood
consumption
 Most striking was the vulnerability of the fetal brain to
mercury toxicity shown by the high rate of cerebral palsy in
children born during this period
Detection of food adulteration
 Tea powder and Soji (rava) : Adulterants : Iron filings:
Spread the tea leaves or soji on a paper. Draw a magnet over
it. The iron filings if present, are attracted by the magnet.
 Rice and wheat : Adulterants : Sand grit, marble pieces,
soap stone pieces. These are visually detected and removed
by sorting, handpicking and washing.
 Common Salt, Soji : Adulterants- sand and grit A tea spoon
of salt is added to a glass tumbler containing water. Salt
dissolves. Sand and grit settle at the bottom. About 5 gms
of soji is sprinkled on water. The sand particles sink and
soji floats.
 Coffee powder : Adulterant- Tamarind seed powder: Two
teaspoons of coffee powder is added to water in a tumbler.
Coffee powder floats and the adulterants sink.
 Cooking oil : Adulterant- Argemone oil: About 5 ml of
cooking oil is taken in a test tube and 5 ml of concentrated
nitric acid is added to it. A reddish brown colour appears if
argemone oil is present in it.
 Ghee and butter : Adulterants- Vanaspathi: A tea spoon
full of butter or ghee is taken in a test tube. Concentrated
hydrochloric acid and a pinch of sugar is added to it. It is
stirred well and allowed to settle for five minutes. Crimson
red colour appears in the lower layer if vanaspathi is
present in the sample.
 Milk: Adulterant- Water: A few drops of milk is dropped
on a slanting glass plate. Pure milk will flow slowly leaving
a white trail behind. Milk mixed with water will flow
quickly leaving no trail. Greens and Vegetables must be
cleaned well before using. They must be soaked in water to
which a little salt is added for ten minutes. The chemical
layer of pesticides and sticky dirt that contaminate will be
removed. Subsequently they are to be washed thoroughly
in water.64 This test will not hold good for skimmed milk
supplied by the government dairy. An instrument called
lactometer is used to measure the
density of milk. Unadulterated milk
should give a reading of 1.026 in the
lactometer.
Common adulterants found in food
 Food grains and grams- marble pieces, sand particles, clay
gilts, soap stone pieces.
 Pulses- kesari dhal – Colours
 Wheat flow Maida-powdered lime –
talcum powder
 Turmeric powder (Haldi)- metanil
yellow
 Pepper- dry papaya seeds
 Chilli powder- coloured saw dust
 Sweets- colours not permitted
 Honey- jaggery – sugar
 Tea- coloured tea leaves after
removing the essence
Cont-
 The most dangerous adulteration of wine is by some
preparation of lead.
 Poisonous bread --- the goodness of bread is measured by
its brightness. It is therefore usual to add a certain
quantity of alum to the dough. This renders the dough
whiter and firmer.
 Poisonous cheese --- colour cheese with annatto
contaminated with ‘red lead’
 Poisonous pickles --- to obtain a lovely green colour in your
pickles, boil vinegar in a copper pot and pour it boiling hot
on cucumbers.
 Poisonous confectionery --- mix sugar, starch and clay then
add red lead for a red colour or copper for a green colour
Food Standard
 The quality, composition, labeling, presentation and
advertising of food is covered by legal requirements known
as Food Standards. These also cover the suitability of
materials and articles that come into contact with food.
 Objectives of the Standard

To ensure the quality, safety and legality of packaging and

packaging materials

To assure the users of packaging that the packaging

producer has robust quality and safety systems

Maintain customer confidence in their supply base through

audit and certification

Provides a basis for approval of suppliers by

customers
 Precaution to be taken by the
public regarding adulteration
 It is better to avoid adulterated cool drinks , instead you can have
any fresh fruit juice and tender coconut.
 Parents should be concerned about the quality and freshness of
these food articles like chocolates, sweets that children usually
like.
 Take the help of food adulteration testing centres. Lodge
complaints to the concerned authorities, if adulteration is
detected.
 Make sure that food packets carry ISI,
 AGMARK or FPO labels, before buying.
 Do not buy food articles, if expiry date is
 crossed.
 Adulteration and law
 The Government of India has promulgated an Act called the
“Prevention of Food Adulteration Act’ in the year 1954.
 The Act has been periodically amended to check dishonest
practices of traders. If the traders violate the standards
mentioned in the Act, they are punishable under law.
 The quality controlling agencies like Indian Standards
Institution (ISI) and Directorate of Marketing and
Inspection (AGMARK) test the food products for their
quality periodically.
 FPO - Food Processing Organisation and the local health65
departments in the Corporation also conduct periodic
surveys and issue certificates. All the packets containing
food products must carry ISI, AGMARK or FPO stamp.
THANK YOU
BY- HIMANI BATHEJA