KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA R.R.C.

FATEHGARH

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

TOPIC: ADULTERANTS IN FOOD

SUBMITTED TO: MS. SHRADDHA SHUKLA

SUBMITTED BY: ABHINAV SRIVASTAVA
CLASS: 12TH A

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 S. No. Title
1. Acknowledgement
2. Certificate
3. Introduction
4. Hypothesis
5. Experiment
6. References

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to Ms. Shraddha Shukla,

Teacher of Department of Chemistry for her able guidance and useful
suggestions, which helped me in completing the project work, in time.
I would also like to thank all the teaching and non-teaching staff of Chemistry
department who helped me directly or indirectly in the completion of this
project.

Finally, yet importantly, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my

beloved parents for their blessings, my friends/classmates for their help and
wishes for the successful completion of this project.

ABHINAV SRIVASTAVA

12TH A

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Abhinav Srivastava, student of class 12th A, Kendriya

Vidyalaya RRC, Fatehgarh has completed the project titled “Adulterants in
Food ” during the academic year 2020 – 2021 towards partial fulfilment of
credit for the Chemistry practical evaluation of CBSE 2020, submitted
satisfactory report, as compiled in the following pages, under my supervision.

Miss Shraddha Shukla

P.G.T. (Chemistry)

INTRODUCTION

In our daily life there are so many unhygienic and contaminated things for our
health. Most of our things our contaminated. Even the food, which we eat, is
adulterated. Now a question arises that what is adulteration? The answer is that
the deliberate contamination of food material with low quality, cheap and non-
edible or toxic substances is called food adulteration.

The substance, which lowers or degrades the quality of food material, is called
an adulterant. Adulteration brings a lot of easy money for the traders, but it may
spoil many lives. Food adulteration can lead to slow poisoning and various
kinds of diseases, which can even result in death. Adulteration makes the food
items used in our daily life unsafe and unhygienic for use.

An easy example of food adulteration is vanaspati ghee in desi ghee. The traders
use it for their economic benefit without thinking about its effect on the
common population of our country, which consumes it. For preventing it our
government has made some certain commissions and laws. Still it prevails in
our country on large scale.

HYPOTHESIS

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.

In India, the most common type of food adulterations is of following types:

1. Milk:- It is adulterated by the addition of water, starch, skim milk powder
and removal of cream.
2. Ghee:- It is adulterated with vanaspati and animal fats such as pig's fat. In
order to improve the flavour of adulterated ghee tributyrin is added.
3. Cereals:- Rice and wheat are mixed with stones sand grit and mud to increase
the bulk.
4. Flour:- Wheat flour is mixed with soapstone and Bengal gram flour is
adulterated with Kesari dal or lathyrus flour.
5. Pulses:- They are adulterated with Kesari Dal stones are added to pulses such
as moti urad, and masoor. Toxic chemical such as metanil yellow are added to
old stocks of pulses to improve their colour appearance.
6. Edible Oil:- They are mixed with cheaper oil, toxic oil (e.g. argemone oil)
and mineral oil.
7. Honey:- It is adulterated with sugar and jaggery.

EXPERIMENT

Aim: Detection of adulterants in food items.

Materials Required: Test Tube, Beaker, Slides

Food Samples: Ghee, Milk, Oil, Pulses samples.

Chemicals Required: Conc. HCl., Conc. Nitric Acid.

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 behaviour 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, .diarrhoea., , .asthma., .ulcers., etc. 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.

Procedure:

Adulteration in the food material can be detected in the following ways:

1. Vanaspti in Ghee :- Took one tea spoon full of liquid ghee. Added equal
quantity of conc. HCl shook this mixture in a test tube. Now added a
pinch of common sugar. Shook it well for about one minute and then
allowed it to stand for 5 minute and observed the result.
 2. Metanil yellow in Dal :- Took 5 gms of sample. Add 5ml of water and a
few drops of dil. HCl and observed the result.

3. Agremone oil in edible oil :- Took some amount of edible oil in a test
tube. Poured 3-4 drops of conc nitric acid. Shook it well and observed the
result.

Observations:

Table-A:- Detection of vanaspati in ghee

Sr.No. Sample Observation

1. Ghee A Crimson colour in lower
layer of the mixture
(+ + +)
2. Ghee B Crimson colour in lower
layer of the mixture
(+ +)
3. Ghee C No change
(-)

Table-B:- Detection of metanil yellow in dal

Sr.No. Sample Observation

1. Pulse A Pink Colour appearance
(+ + +)
2. Pulse B No change
 (-)
3. Pulse C No change
(-)

Table-C:- Detection of Argemone oil in edible oil

Sr.No. Sample Observation

1. Edible Oil A Reddish brown colour
(+ + ++)
2. Edible Oil B Reddish brown colour
(+ +)
3. Edible Oil C Reddish brown colour
(+)

Conclusions:

Project Report Food Adulteration : Table A [Detection of Vanaspati in

Ghee]

Ghee A : It gives most positive test, hence is most adulterated.

Ghee B : It gives more positive test, hence is more adulterated.
Ghee C : It gives negative test, hence is not adulterated.

Project Report Food Adulteration : In Table B [Detection of Metanil

Yellow in Dal]

Pulse A : It gives positive test, hence is adulterated.

Pulse B : It gives most negative test, hence is not adulterated.
Pulse C : It gives more negative test, hence is not adulterated.

Project Report Food Adulteration : In Table C [Detection of Argemone Oil

in Edible Oil]

Edible Oil A : It gives most positive test, hence is most adulterated.

Edible Oil B : It gives more positive test, hence is more adulterated.
Edible Oil C : It gives positive test to small extent, hence is least adulterated.

REFERENCES

1. Chemistry NCERT class 12

2. www.wikipedia.org
3. www.icbse.com
4. www.google.com
5. www.ask.com