𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Shivi Forensics
Topic: Adulteration 

Written By 
Vikas Thakur 
Volunteer 
Shivi Forensics 

Introduction
Food adulteration refers intentionally adding substandard, harmful, or unauthorised substances to food products, with the aim of deceiving or misleading consumers, often for gaining economic value.

What are the parameters of adulteration?
1. If the product sold by vendor is not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser of which it purports to the nature.
2. If any inferior or cheaper substance has been substituted wholly or partly in the product or any natural constituent has been wholly and partially extracted from it, to affect its quality.
3. If the product offer contains any substance or if it is so processed injuriously effect its nature, substance, or quality.
4. If the container of the product is composed of any deleterious substance or inferior substitute or which renders its contents injurious to health.
5. If the product contains any colouring matter, preservatives or contains any permitted colouring matter or preservatives more than the prescribed limit.
6. If the quality of the purity of the product falls below the prescribed standards or its constituents are present in proportion other than those prescribed.

Types of Adulteration
1. Intentional adulteration
  • It is a type of an adulteration in which food items is deliberately adulterated.
  • It is inclusion of inferior substances having properties like foods in which they are added. Thus, they are difficult to detect.
  • The adulterant can be physical and biological in nature.
  • It is done to promote the level of essential nutrients after reduction of a given amount to increase their profit margin by several chemicals. For ex. Melamine is added to elevate protein content in dairy products. And substance like starch flour, cane sugar, vegetable oil chalk powder are added to increase the volume of food.


2. Incidental adulteration
  • Adulteration is due to lack of proper hygienic conditions of food products and drinks throughout production site to consumption table.
  • Incidental adulterants include pesticides residues, larva in foods, bodily secretion, and spoilage through microorganisms.
  • Most common pesticides are DDT. Maximum permissible limit of DDT is 3 which is over crossed most of the time.

3. Metallic adulteration
  • Addition of the metallic material like Arsenic, lead, Mercury, etc in the food item called as Metallic adulteration.
  • It can be incidental or Intentional.

4. Packaging Hazards
  • Conventional materials used for packing foods which are still prevalent like Tin, Aluminium containers, paper, etc
  • For ex. Paper contains inked matter, and ink contains lead which are found to disturb the intestinal and renal functioning if it is introduced in the body.

Methods of Adulteration
1. Substitution:- Some healthy constituents are replaced by cheaper and low quality ones which alter the nutritional value of the food and may even impose health hazard.
2. Using decomposed food: - This method indicates mixing decomposed food with healthy ones. Food that even conceal damage\inferiority of any manner is also considered to be adulterated.

3. Addition of toxic substances: - Food adulteration also involves the mixing of food with toxic substances to gain higher profit and increase sales.
For ex. Addition of colour, dyes or harmful not permitted items.


4. Misbranding: - Altering the manufacturing dates, expiry dates, list of ingredient or misleading ingredient derivatives and so on.
5. Artificial ripening: - Adding chemicals to the fruits and vegetables which speed up the process of ripening in them is also considered food adulteration.

Different types of adulterants used in Edible items



Physical test to detect some adulterant
1. Milk
Water is a common adulterant used to increase the quantity of milk.
A simple method to check whether milk is adulterated with water is to place a drop of milk on a slanting surface. If the milk flows freely, it has high water content. Purer milk will flow slowly.
Detergent test
Take 10 mL of sample and mix it with 10 mL of water. Shake the mixture. If the sample forms lather, then it has detergent.

2.Chilli powder
  • Often chilli powder is adulterated with brick powder.
  • Adulteration in chilli powder at home using simple techniques.
  • Add a teaspoon of red chilli powder for adulteration by adding it into water and observe how it settles.
  • Results
• Pure chilli powder firstly floats and then gradually settles at bottom without colouring the water.
• Adulterated chilli powder immediately settles at bottom or colours the water reddish brown or orange.

Situation of Food Adulteration in India



References 
1. Design & development of adulteration detection system by fumigation method & machine learning techniques
2.What is Food Adulteration, its Types & How to Detect?https://www.godigit.com/nutrition/food-adulteration

Thank You 

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