SARDAR PATEL PUBLIC SCHOOL

HOSHANGABAD ROAD, MISROD, BHOPAL

(SESSION 2019-2020)

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

PROJECT FILE

NAME OF PROJECT

‘’STUDY OF ADULTERANTS IN FOOD-STUFFS’’

SUBMITTED TO:

MISS ANJALI NAMDEO, ( PGT CHEMISTRY)

SUBMITTED BY:

PRABAL SONAKIYA

XII – A
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work is being presented in the project file on the
topic of ‘’Study of adulterants in food stuffs’’ in partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the subject of XII Class Chemistry, is an authentic record of
our own work carried out under the able guidance of Miss Anjali Namdeo.

The work has been carried out at SARDAR PATEL PUBLIC SCHOOL, BHOPAL.

I here declare that above statement is correct to the best of my knowledge.

Prabal Sonakiya

XII - A
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Master Prabal Sonakiya student of XII Class of Sardar
Patel Public School, Bhopal have successfully completed their project in
the topic “Study of adulterants in food stuffs” in partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the subject of XII Class, Chemistry in the session 2019-
20.

Anjali Namdeo Dr.Babita Jain

(PGT Chemistry) (Principal)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express our deep sense of gratitude to my respected and learned guide Miss
Anjali Namdeo, for their valuable help and guidance.

I am grateful to my respected Principal Dr. Babita Jain, Sardar Patel Public

School, Bhopal for permitting me to select this topic and utilize all the
necessary facilities of the institution.

I am also thankful to all the faculty & staff members of our School for their
kind co-operation and help.

Lastly, I would like to express my deep appreciation towards my classmates

and my indebtedness to my parents for providing us the moral support and
encouragement.

Prabal Sonakiya

XII - A

CONTENT
 INTRODUCTION
 THEORY
 ACTIVITY 1
 ACTIVITY 2
 ACTIVITY 3
 RESULT
 CONCLUSION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION
Food is one of the basic necessities for
sustenance of life. Pure, fresh and
healthy diet is most essential for the
health of the people. It is no wonder to
say that community health is national
wealth.

Adulteration of food-stuffs was so

rampant, widespread and persistent that
nothing short of a somewhat drastic
remedy in the form of a comprehensive
legislation became the need of the hour.

To check this kind of anti-social evil a

concerted and determined onslaught was
launched by the Government by
introduction of the Prevention of Food
Adulteration Bill in the Parliament to
herald an era of much needed hope and
relief for the consumers at large.
About the middle of the 19th century
chemical and microscopic knowledge
had reached the stage that food
substances could be analyzed, and the
subject of food adulteration began to be
studied from the standpoint of the rights
and welfare of the consumer.

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, 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.

THIS SITUATION IS LITERALLY AND

OUTRAGEOUS AND WE MUST FIGHT
UNANIMOUSLY AGAINST IT.
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 commode.

ACTIVITY-1
Aim : To detect the presence of adulterants in
fat, oil and butter.

APPARATUS REQUIRED : 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 dyes in fat:

Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture of 1mL of conc.
sulphuric acid and 4mL of acetic acid.
Appearance of pink or red colour indicates
presence of dye in fat.

(iii) 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 colour in the acid layer indicates presence of
argemone oil.
 ACTIVITY-2

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.

ACTIVITY-3

AIM: To detect the presence of adulterants in

samples of chilli powder, turmeric powder and
pepper.
APPARATUS REQUIRED: Test-tubes, conc.
HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution.

PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in chilli 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 chilli

powder:To a sample of chilli powder, add dil.
HNO3. Filter the dilute 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 colour shows
the presence of yellow oxides of lead in turmeric
powder.

(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red chilli

powder:
Add small amount of given red chilli powder in
beaker containing water. Brick powder settles at
the bottom while pure chilli powder floats over
water.

(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in

pepper:
Add small amount of sample of pepper to a
beaker containing water and stir with a glass rod.
Dried papaya seeds being lighter float over
water while pure pepper settles at the bottom.

RESULT
EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE RESULT
ADULTERATION OF HEAT SMALL PRESECE OF
PARAFFIN WAX AMT. OF GHEE HYDROCARBON/
ANDHYDROCARBON USING ACETIC WAX IS
IN VEGETABLE ANNHYDRIDE. CONFIRMED.
GHEE OIL STARTS
FLOATING ON
SURFACE
ADULTERATION OF HEAT 1 ML RED/PINK
DYES IN FATS FAT WITH 1ML COLOUR
CONC.H2SO4 CONFIRMS
AND 4ML PRSENCE OF
ACETIC ACID FATS
ADULTERATION OF TO OIL ADD RED COLOUR
ARGEMONE OIL IN FEW DROPS CONFIRMS
EDIBLE OILS OF PRESENCE OF
CONC.HNO3 ARGEMONE OIL
AND SHAKE
ADULTERATION OF TO SUGAR INSOLUBLE
VARIOUS ADD WATER IMPURITIES
INSOLUBLE AND SHAKE REMAIN
SUBSTANCES IN UNDISSOLVED.
SUGAR
ADULTERATION OF TO SMALL BRISK
CHALK POWDER AMOUNT OF EFFERVESCENCE
WASHING SODA IN SUGAR ADD OF CO2
SUGAR FEW DROPS CONFIRMS
OF DILUTE PRESENCE OF
HCL CHALK POWDER
 OR WASHING
SODA
ADULTERATION OF TO SAMPLE APPEARANCE OF
RED LEAD SALTS IN ADD DIL.HNO3 YELLOW PPT
CHILLI POWDER FILTER AND INDICATES
ADD 2 DROPS PRESESNCE OF
OF KI READ LEAD
SOLUTION SALTS
ADULTERATION OF TO SAMPLE MAGENTA
YELLOW LEAD ADD COLOUR
SALTS IN TURMERIC CONC.HCL CONFIRMS
POWDER PRESENCE OF
YELLOW LEAD
SALTS
ADULTERATION OF ADD POWDER BRICK POWDER
BRICK POWDER IN IN BEAKER SETTLES
CHILLI POWDER CONTAINING WWHILE CHILLI
WATER POWDER
FLOATS ON
WATER
ADULTERATION OF ADD PEPPER DRIED PAPAYA
DRIED PAPAYA TO BEAKER SEEDS FLOAT
SEEDS IN PEPPER CONTAINING ON TOP WHILE
WATER PURE PEPPER
SETTLES AT
BOTTOM.
 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.
 Bibliography
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/adulterated_food

www.vikasapedia.in/health/beware_of_adulteration

www.encyclopaedia.com/food_and_adulteration

www.yahoo.com