PODAR PEARL SCHOOL
(Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education,
Qatar)
ADULTRATION IN FOOD STUFFS
MOHAMMED ANAS AHMED
CLASS 12 MA
CHEMISTRY
PROJECT REPORT
Submitted by
Mohammed Anas Ahmed
SEPTEMBER 2023
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PODAR PEARL SCHOOL
(Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education,
Qatar)
BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project titled.
ADULTRATION IN FOOD
STUFFS
was prepared and presented
by
MOHAMMED ANAS AHMED
_____________________
of Class 12 MA for Chemistry (Subject Code: 043)
during the year 2023-2024
Ms. Divya Chandran Ms. Rathi Ramanujam
POJECT GUIDE COORDINATOR
Ms. Manjari Recriwal
PRINCIPLE
INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER
DATE:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my deep sense of thanks and gratitude to the Subject guide Ms. Divya
Chandran, for guiding me immensely through the course of my project.
The teacher had always evinced keen interest in my work. The constructive advice and
constant motivation provided, have been responsible for successful completion of this
project.
My sincere gratitude also goes to our Principal Ms. Manjari Recriwal, Coordinator Ms. Rathi
Ramanujam for extending every possible support.
I also thank my parents and my classmates for their timely help and support. Last, but not the
least, I would like to thank all those who had helped directly or indirectly towards the
completion of this project in fulfillment of my Course.
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ABSTRACT
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. These adulterations are quite indefinable and may look
exact like the original product.
As the methods of adulterating foods have become more sophisticated, very efficient and
reliable techniques for the detection of fraudulent manipulations are required.
Based mainly on relevant review articles, this project provides a brief overview of the history
of food adulteration and reviews select analytical methods that have been used for food
authentication, including chromatography, spectroscopy, stable isotope analysis,
metabolomics, proteomics, enzymatic methods, and DNA-based techniques. For each
method, recent applications in food authenticity control are presented.
As studies indicate that adulteration is even increasing, it is concluded that more research
efforts need to be made to protect consumers from health risks and honest producers from
economic loss.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.NO CONTENT Page No
1. INTRODUCTION 6
2. THEORY 7
3. EXPERIMENT-1 8
4. EXPERIMENT-2 9
5. EXPERIMENT-3 10
6. RESULT 11
7. CONCLUSION 12
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 13
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INTRODUCTION
Adulteration in food is normally present in its most crude form; prohibited substances are
either added or partly or wholly substituted.
Normally the contamination/adulteration in food is done either for financial gain or due to
carelessness and lack in proper hygienic condition of processing, storing, transportation and
marketing.
This ultimately results that the consumer is either cheated or often become victim of
diseases. Such types of adulteration are quite common in developing countries or backward
countries. It is equally important for the consumer to know the common adulterants and their
effect on health.
The Objective of this project is to study some of the common food adulterants present in
different food stuffs.
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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. Majority of fats, oils and butter are paraffin wax, castor oil and hydrocarbons.
Red chili 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. 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 commodities.
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EXPERIMENT 1
To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.
REQUIREMENTS
Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid, conc. HNO3.
PROCEDURE
Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are paraffin wax, hydrocarbons, dyes and argemone oil. These
are detected as follows:
(i)Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbon
in vegetable ghee:
Heat small amount of vegetable ghee with acetic anhydride.
Droplets of oil floating on the surface of unused acetic
anhydride indicates the presence of wax or hydrocarbons .
(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. Appearance of red color in the
acid layer indicates presence of argemone oil
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EXPERIMENT 2
To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tubes, dil. HCl.
PROCEDURE:
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other insoluble substances which are detected as
follows:
. 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.
Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in
sugar: To small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few
drops of dil. HCl. Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the
presence of chalk powder or washing soda in the given
sample of sugar.
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EXPERIMENT 3
To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chili powder, turmeric powder and
pepper
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution
PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in chili powder, turmeric powder and pepper are red coloured 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
solution and add 2 drops of potassium iodide solution to
the filtrate. Yellow ppt. indicates the presence of lead
salts in chili 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.
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RESULT:
EXPT EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE OBSERVATIONS
NO
1 Adulteration of Heat small amount of Appearance of oil
Paraffin wax and vegetable ghee floating on the surface
Hydrocarbon in With acetic anhydride.
Vegetable ghee Droplets of oil floating on the
surface of unused acetic
anhydride indicate the
presence of wax or
hydrocarbon
3 Adulteration of To small amount of oil in a test red colour observed
argemone oil in edible tube, add few drops of conc.
oils HNO3 & shake.
4 Adulteration of various Take small amount of sugar in Pure sugar dissolves
insoluble substances in a test tube and shake it with in water but insoluble
sugar little water impurities do not
dissolve.
5 Adulteration of chalk To small amount of sugar in a No brisk
powder, washing soda test tube, add a few drops of effervescence
in sugar dil. HCl. observed
6 Adulteration of yellow To sample of turmeric powder, Appearance of
lead salts to turmeric add conc. HCl. magenta color
powder
7 Adulteration of red To a sample of chili powder, No yellow ppt.
lead salts in chili add dil. HNO3. Filter the
powder solution and add 2 drops of KI
solution to the filtrate
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Conclusion:
Selection of wholesome and non-adulterated food is essential for daily life to make sure that
such foods do not cause any health hazard. It is not possible to ensure wholesome food only
on visual examination when the toxic contaminants are present in ppm level.
However, visual examination of the food before purchase makes sure to ensure absence of
insects, visual fungus, foreign matters, etc.
Therefore, due care taken by the consumer at the time of purchase of food after thoroughly
examining can be of great help.
Secondly, label declaration on packed food is very important for knowing the ingredients and
nutritional value. It also helps in checking the freshness of the food and the period of best
before use. The consumer should avoid taking food from an unhygienic place and food being
prepared under unhygienic conditions.
Such types of food may cause various diseases. Consumption of cut fruits being sold in
unhygienic conditions should be avoided. It is always better to buy certified food from
reputed shop.
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Bibliography
✓ ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA 2009
✓ www.wikipedia.com
✓ www.answers.com
✓ www.google.com
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