Food Adulteration, Preservation,

Processing and Food Additives

Dr. Munir Ahmed Shaikh

BMU
 Food Adulteration

Food adulteration is an act of adding or mixing of

poor quality, inferior, harmful, substandard,
useless or unnecessary substances to food. This
act of spoiling the nature and quality of food
items is considered food adulteration.
 Cont.
• It is an evolving concept due to increased
detection methods for contaminants (“we're
catching more fraud”) as well as the growing
opportunity for fraudsters to profit from the acts
(expanding markets).
• Any food product that is a public health threat is
classified as the effect of adulteration though
there may be many different types of causes or
motivations.
 Cont.
• Food has nutritional and non-nutritional
components. Food adulteration have reached its
peak in Western Europe and US in 18th and 19th
centuries when foods were often purposely
contaminated with additives to increase bulk,
attractiveness, disguise spoilage, and increase
profit. Effective regulation of food began in the
late 19th and 20th centuries.
 Cont.
• It involves the infusion of useless, harmful,
unnecessary substances to food which decreases
the quality of food.
• Problems of adulteration make food items used
in our daily life unsafe and unhygienic for use
due to poor handling. Adulteration in food items
can cause tremendous effects on health
 Cont.
• Food is any substance composed of
carbohydrates, water, fats and proteins, which
can be eaten or drunk by humans or animals for
nutrition
• Food products are often a target of adulteration
while supply chains usually deal with perishable
products that could be harmful to consumers if
they are not managed properly
 Conti.
• Food adulteration occurs globally and in many
facets and affects almost all food commodities.
Adulteration not only constitutes a considerable
economic problem but also may lead to serious
health issues for consumers.
• As the methods of adulterating foods have
become more sophisticated, very efficient and
reliable techniques for the detection of
fraudulent manipulations are required.
 Cont.

• Adulterated food omits a valuable constituent;

substitutes another substance, in whole or in
part, for a valuable constituent (for instance,
olive oil diluted with tea tree oil) conceals or
damages in any manner (fresh fruit with food
coloring on its surface to conceal defects.
 Cont.
• Can be categorized in two separate groups, namely,
incidental and intentional adulteration. Incidental occurs
when foreign substances are added to a food as a result
of ignorance, negligence, or improper facilities.
• Intentional involves the deliberate addition of inferior
materials to a food to heighten appearance qualities
and to gain greater profits. These inferior substances
include ground material (e.g., sawdust), leaves,
powdered products (e.g., starches), and other spice
species (ASTA, 2004).
 Cont.
• Such substances may cause serious damage to
human health. An example in this regard is the
adulteration of milk with synthetic milk that
contains harmful substances such as urea, caustic
soda, or vegetable oil. Although 180–400 mg/L
urea is present naturally in milk, the cutoff limit is
a concentration of 700 mg/L. The concentration of
urea beyond the cutoff limit may cause diseases
and disorders such as indigestion, acidity, ulcers,
cancer, and kidney malfunction.
Food Processing
 Food Processing (Preparation)

It covers three things

Preservation of foods by, a: Modern methods

such as refrigeration, canning and irradiation

b: Traditional methods such as drying, salting,

smoking and fermentation
 Preservatives

• Prevent food from spoiling due to mold, bacteria

and other microorganisms

• 3 natural preservatives are salt, sugar, and vinegar.

But there are many more artificial preservatives in
use today, such as nitrates and nitrites found in
meats
 Cont.

• Home baked bread goes stale after 36 hours,

and starts to develop mold within 4 days

• A loaf from the supermarket can be kept for

more than a week due to propionates which
prevent mold
 Preservatives

• Sweeteners: Sugar and high fructose corn syrup

(HFCS) are natural, whereas splenda and
sucralose are artificial and contain close to zero
calories, making them a possible solution for
weight watchers and diabetics
 Food Additives

•Defined as food manufacturing or processing is made by

adding natural or artificial chemicals
•Some have been used for centuries; With the advent of
processed foods in the second half of the 20th century, many
more have been introduced of both natural and artificial origin
 Cont.
• Acids: Added to make flavors "sharper", and also
act as preservatives and antioxidants; common
food acids include vinegar , citric acid, and
ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
• Anti-caking agents: Keep powders such as milk
powder from caking or sticking. A very popular
one is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
 Cont.
• Food coloring: Added to foods to replace colors
lost during preparation, or to make foods look
more attractive, natural or artificial, the latter
are cheaper to use

• Unfortunately, artificial food colors, such as

Yellow 5 have been linked to behavioral
problems in children
 Cont.

Emulsifiers: Allow water and oils to remain mixed

together in an emulsion, as in mayonnaise, ice
cream, and homogenized milk. On labels look for
sodium phosphates, lecithin, and diglycerides
Stabilizers/ gelling agents: Give foods a firmer
texture, and help to stabilize emulsions. Pectin and
agar are examples used in making jellies and jams
 Cont. (Thickeners)

• Similar to emulsifiers/ stabilizers; increase a

mixture's viscosity without modifying its other
properties. May be derived from starches or
from proteins. Xantham gum is commonly used
as a thickener
 Bulking agents

• Some food colors approved in US have been

banned in Europe and Japan

• Additives that increase the bulk of a food without

affecting its nutritional value, e.g., you'll often
find modified food starch or modified corn starch
on labels
 Flavors

• Natural and artificial; while natural sounds

healthier, this may not always be the case (see
poison mushrooms)

• Flavors are added to foods to enhance their aroma

and entice you to buy them and then eat them
Thank
You