Contents

Definition
When is food said to be adulterated ?
Who does this and why?
Objective
ACT 37 of 1954
Government measures
Theory
AGMARK
Precautions
Types of adulteration
Common food adulteration
Methods of food adulteration
Experimentation
Adulteration in food stuff and its harmful effects
Health hazards of food adulteration
Mitigation measures for addressing food adulteration
Objective

• To study some of the common food adulterants

present in different food stuffs.

• To study the types of Food Adulteration and

Mitigation Measures
Definition:
It is an act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by the mixture or
substitution of inferior substances or by removal of some valuable ingredients.
When is food said to be adulterated ?

• Inferior or cheap substance is substituted .

• Constituent is wholly or partly abstracted.

• Article is prepared , packed or kept under insanitary condition.

•
• If there is rotten , decomposed or insects in the material.

• If it contains poisonous ingredient or diseased animals

• Unprescribed colored substance.

• Any prohibited or excessive preservative.

• If the standard is not maintained.

Who does this and why?

• Merchants and traders to make quick profit.

• Shortage and increasing prices

• Consumer demands

• Lack of awareness

• Indifference and lethargy among consumers

• Enforcement of food laws.

• Food adulterated is dangerous as it affects the health,

it may be toxic and deprive from essential nutrients
ACT 37 of 1954
• 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

PFA-Prevention of Food Adulteration-1954 •

• This act prohibits manufacture , sales and distributions of not only adulterated food but also
food contaminated with microbes, toxicants and misbranded food. • There are standards
specified for pasteurized milk, milk powder infant milk food etc.
GOVERNMENT MEASURES
• To check the suppliers of food from doing so, the government has passed a stringent act
which is known as preservation of food Adulteration Act.

• They have been implemented with the objective of providing safety to human beings in the
supply of food.

• It covers safety from risks involved due to contamination of poisonous elements.

• The specification laid down of various foods under the provisions of PFA Act covers
minimum basic characteristics of the Products which it is deemed to be adulterated and also
covers the maximum limit of contaminant not considered being safe for human beings beyond
a certain level.
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 behavior 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, diarrhea, asthma, ulcers, etc.
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.

• 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.
Precautions
By taking a few precautions , we can escape from
consuming adulterated products
• Take only packed items of well-known companies.

• Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized

outlets.

• Check the ISI mark or Agmark.

• Buy products of only air tight popular brands.

• Avoid craziness for artificially colored sweets and

buy only from reputed shops.

• Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.

• Avoid buying things from street side vendors.

Types of Adulteration

• • Intentional : Added deliberately to increase the margin of profit.

• Incidental Intentional adulteration : Adulteration is because of negligence,

ignorance or lack of proper facilities.

• E.g. larvae in food, dropping of indents , pesticide residue .

• Prevention: Regular market surveys , Using safer pesticides like synthetic

pyrethroids , washing vegs before cooking, teaching farmers to use pesticides .
Common food adulteration

• Argemone seeds: mixed with mustard seeds.

• Toxic in form of oil and seeds

• As it contains 2 alkaloids obtained from poppy plants .

• Closely resembles mustard seeds but surface is rough and uneven and has tail at one
end.

• Found: Mumbai, Chennai, Bihar, West Bengal

• Disease: Beri-Beri ,gastro intestinal disturbance , fever, rashes, swelling feet and leg,
enlargement of liver, blindness, cancer , cardiac arrest.
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.
METHODS OF FOOD ADULTERATION
(Contd…)

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, colouring agents, etc.
EXPERIMENT I
Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.
Apparatus Required: Test-tube, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid, conc.
HNO3.

Procedure: Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are dyes and
argemone oil.
These are detected as follows:
(i) Adulteration of dyes in fat: Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture of 1m
1mL of conc. Sulphuric Acid and 4mL of Acetic Acid. Appearance of
pink or red color indicates presence of dye in
fat.
(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 it well. Appearance of red color in
the acid layer indicates presence of
argemone oil.
EXPERIMENT II
Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.

Apparatus Required: 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 HCl. Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the
presence of chalk powder

or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.

EXPERIMENT III
Aim : To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chili
powder, turmeric powder and pepper.
Apparatus Required : Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution.

Procedure : Common adulterants present in chili powder, turmeric

powder and pepper are red colored lead salts, yellow lead salts and
dried papaya seeds respectively. They are detected as follows:

(i) Adulteration of red lead salts in chili powder : To a sample of

chili powder, add dil. HNO3. Filter the dil. solution and add 2 drops
of Potassium Iodide solution to the filtrate. Yellow ppt. indicates the
presence of lead salts in chilli powder.
(ii) Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder : To a
sample of turmeric powder add conc. HCl. Appearance of magenta
color shows the presence of yellow oxides of lead in turmeric
powder.
(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red chili powder:
Add small amount of given red chili powder in beaker
containing water. Brick powder settles at the bottom
while pure chili powder floats over water.

(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper: Add

small amount of sample of pepper to beaker
containing water and stir with a glass rod. Dried
papaya seeds being lighter float over water while
pure pepper settles at the bottom.
Adulteration In Food Stuff And Its Harmful
Effects
FOOD ARTICLE ADULTERANT HARMFUL EFFECTS

Bengal Gram dhal & Thoor

Kesai dhal lahyrism cancer
Dhal

Used tea leaves processed and

Tea Liver Disorder
coloured

Tamarind seed, date seed

Coffee Powder Diarrhoea
powder

Stomach disorder, Giddiness

Chicory powder
and joint pain

Milk Unhygenic water & Starch Stomach disorder

 Adulteration In Food Stuff And Its Harmful
Effects (Contd…)
FOOD ARTICLE ADULTERANT HARMFUL EFFECTS

Sugar Chalk powder Stomach - Disorder

Black powder Papaya Seeds and light berrys Stomach, liver problems

Mustard powder Argemone seeds Epidemic dropsy & Glucoma

Loss of eyesight, heart diseases,

Edible oils Argemone oil
tumour

Damage to liver,carcinogenic
Mineral oil
effects

Karanja oil Heart problems, liver damage

Castor oil Stomach problem

Foreign resins galbanum,

Asafoetida dysentery
colophony resin
Adulteration In Food Stuff And Its Harmful
Effects (Contd…)
FOOD ARTICLE ADULTERANT HARMFUL EFFECTS

Turmeric powder Yellow aniline dyes Carcinogenic

Non-permitted colourants like

Highly Carcinogenic
metanil yellow

Tapioca starch Stomach disorder

Chilli powder Brick powder, saw dust Stomach problems

Artificial Colours Cancer

Non-permitted coaltar dye, Metanil yellow is toxic and

Sweets, Juices, Jam
(Metanil Yellow) carcinogenic

Jaggery Washing soda, chalkpowder vomiting, diarrhoea

Wheat and other food grains Ergot (a fungus containing

Poisonous
(Bajra) poisonous substance)
 Adulteration In Food Stuff And Its Harmful
Effects (Contd…)
FOOD ARTICLE ADULTERANT HARMFUL EFFECTS

Pulses (Green peas and dhal) coaltar dye stomach pain, ulcer

Suapari colour and saccharin cancer

Molasses sugar (sugar plus

Honey Stomach disorder
water)

Carbonator water beverages Aluminium leaves Stomach Disorder

Cloves from which volatile oil

Cloves cheating waste of money
has been extracted

Khoa Starch & Less Fat content Less - nutritive value

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.

• Lead added to water, natural and processed food can lead to lead poisoning, foot
drop, insomnia, constipation, anemia, and mental retardation.
HEALTH HAZARDS OF FOOD
ADULTERATION (Contd…)

• 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.
MITIGATION MEASURES FOR ADDRESSING
FOOD ADULTERATION (Contd…)

• 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.
Bibiliography

• https://www.slideshare.net/enigmisha/food-adulteration-52244831
• https://www.slideshare.net/RizwaanMohammed/food-adulteration
-52408347
• https://www.slideshare.net/rifatnaz61amc/food-adulteration-5484
6488
• https://www.slideshare.net/ElakkiyaThangaraju/adulteration-651
85398
• https://www.slideshare.net/moocsengine/adulteration-in-foods
• https://www.slideshare.net/esfaquel/food-adulteration
• https://myessaypoint.com/harmful-effects-food-adulteration
• https://technologytimes.pk/post.php?title=Hazards+of+food+adul
teration+in+human+health
Thank you