INDEX

S CONTENTS PAGE
NO. NUMBER
1. CERTIFICATE 5
2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 6
3. TITLE 7
4. INTRODUCTION 8
5. THEORY 9
6. COMMON FOOD 10
ADULTERANTS TABLE
7. EXPERIMENT 1 11-12
i) AIM
ii) APPARATUS
iii)
CHEMICALS REQUIRED
iv) PROCEDURE
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS
8. EXPERIMENT 2 13-16
i) AIM
ii) APPARATUS
iii)
CHEMICALS
REQUIRED
iv)
PROCEDURE
OBSERVATIONS &
RESULTS
9. CONCLUSION 17

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10. PRECAUTIONS 18
11. BIBLIOGRAGHY 19-20

CERTIFICATE
This is hereby to certify that the original and
genuine investigation about the subject
matter and the related data collection and
investigation has been completed solely,
sincerely and satisfactorily.

2
 The project title “Study of Adulterants
in Food Stuffs” is the record of student
work carried by him under supervision as
the part of chemistry project during
academic session 2024-25.
This is further to satisfy that he has
worked genuinely conducting the
experiment and the work put in by him is
original and the output of his own efforts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special
thanks of gratitude to my
Chemistry teacher for their able
guidance and support in
completing my project.
I would also like to extend my
gratitude to the Principal Mam
providing me with all the facility
3
that was required.

TITLE:
STUDY OF
COMMON FOOD
ADULTERANTS

4
IN FOOD-STUFFS

INTRODUCTION
Adulteration is the act of intentionally deba
sing the quality of food offered for sale either
by mixture or substitution of inferior
substances or by the removal of some
valuable ingredient. In past few decades
adulteration of food has become one of the
most serious problems.

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Consumption of adulterated food causes
diseases like cancer, asthma, ulcer, etc.
Majority of adulterants used by the
shopkeepers are cheap substitutes which are
easily available.
In order to prevent adulteration of food
products by dishonest traders,
the government has issued ‘The
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act’.
The Bureau of Indian Standards is the agency
in India that provides
the certificate of reliability to food
manufacturers in India.

THEORY
We are very fortunate to be born a country
which is blessed with rich soil, diversified climate,
many rivers and the great Himalayas where almost
all varieties of fruits, vegetables and cereals, etc.
can be grown. In ancient times, the land was in

6
abundance, the supply of food was more than the
demand and people used fresh food materials
in most natural form. The population spurt in our
country has given rise to unemployment
and poverty.
The demand for food has increased & our country
has to import
food grains, oil etc. from other countries. This short
age of food and ignorance of consumers is the
main cause for adulteration of foodstuffs by the
unscrupulous traders. It has become so common
that the consumers have to run from pillars to
pillars to get a foodstuff which is not adulterated.
The consumers are not aware of hazards of
adulteration and pay heavily for consuming
adulterated food. If the consumer knows the ways
and means to check the commodities of daily use,
they can save themselves and their families from
this mind-boggling problem.

SOME OF THE
COMMON FOOD
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ADULTERANTS IN
FOOD ITEMS ARE:
FOOD ADULTERANTS
ITEMS
Desi ghee & Vanaspati ghee
Butter
Vegetable ghee Paraffin wax

Mustard oil Argemone oil

Sugar Chalk powder, washing powder

Chilli Red lead, Brick powder

Turmeric Yellow salts of lead, yellow

powder chalk powder

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 EXPERIMENT 1:
AIM:
To test the presence of adulterant in
fats, butter & oils.

APPARATUS:
Test-tubes, beakers, test-tube stand,
filter paper, dropper etc.

CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
For desi ghee & butter – conc. HCl,
sugar, small amounts of vanaspati
ghee or butter.
For vegetable ghee – conc. acetic
anhydride, small amounts of
vegetable ghee.
For oil – conc. Nitric acid, small
amounts of edible oil.
PROCEDURE:

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In case of ordinary test for fats, butter
& oils, put a small amount of these
separately on a filter paper. Fold it &
press, then unfold it. The presence of
translucent spot indicates the
presence of oil or fat. Hold the filter
paper over flame, the spot grows
larger.
Test for oils:
Take 1 ml of mustard oil in a test tube
& add few drops of conc. HCl solution
to it. Shake the mixture well.
Appearance of red color in the acid
layer indicates the presence of
argemone oil in mustard oil.
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS:
S.No TYPES OF COMMON OBSERVATION INFERENCE
FOOD ADULTERANT
1 Desi Ghee & Vanaspati Brownish pink Presence of
Butter ghee starch & aqueous layer is vanaspati ghee
observed
Potato is confirmed.
i) Sample 1 Yes Yes
Sample 2 No No
ii)
Sample 3 No
iii) No

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iv) Sample 4 No No

2. Mustard oil Argemone oil Orange colored Presence of

solution is observed. Argemone oil is
i) Sample 1 confirmed.
Yes
ii) Sample 2 Yes
No
Sample 3 No
iii) No
Sample 4 No
iv) No No

EXPERIMENT 2:
AIM:
To test the presence of adulterants in
Sugar, Chilli powder, Turmeric
powder, salt & Pepper.

APPARATUS:
Test-tubes, beakers, test-tube stand,
dropper, glass rod etc.

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CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
For sugar – dil. H SO , water, sample
2 4

of sugar.
For chilli powder – dil. HNO , KI3

solution, sample of chilli powder.

For turmeric powder – conc. HCl,
sample of turmeric powder.
For pepper – water, sample of
pepper.
For salt- water.

PROCEDURE:
1)Tests for Sugar:
(a) Take a small amount of sugar in a
beaker & add some amount of water
to it. Stir the solution with a glass rod.
Pure sugar dissolves in the water
whereas the insoluble particles (chilli
powder, washing powder etc.) floats

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on the surface indicates the presence
of adulterants.
(b) Take 1 g of sugar in a test-tube &
add few drops of dil. HCl to it. A brisk
effervescence due to the formation of
CO indicates chalk powder or washing
2

soda in the given sample of sugar.

2) Tests for Chilli powder:
(a) Take a small amount of chilli
powder in a test-tube & add few drops
of dil. HNO to the test-tube. Shake the
3

mixture well & filter the solution. To

the filtrate, add 2-3 drops, of 10% KI
solution. The presence of yellow
coloured precipitate indicates the
presence of lead salts in chilli powder.
(b) Take a small amount of given red
chilli powder in a beaker & add water
to it. The pure chilli powder floats over
the surface of water whereas brick
powder settles at the bottom
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3) Tests for Turmeric powder:
Take a small amount of turmeric
powder in a test-tube & to this add
few drops of conc. HCl. The color
changes from yellow to violet or
magenta indicates the presence of
lead salts in turmeric powder.
4) Tests for Pepper:
Take a small amount of pepper in a
beaker & add water to it. Stir the
mixture with a glass rod. Dried papaya
seeds float over water & pepper
settles at the bottom. Add a little salt
to water. Chalk powder will settle
down.
5) Tests for Salt: Add a little salt to
water. Chalk powder will settle down.
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS:
S.No TYPES OF COMMON OBSERVATION INFERENCE
FOOD ADULTERANT
1. Salt Chalk powder No settled chalk No chalk
powder. powder is

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i) Sample 1 No present.
ii) Sample 2 No No
Sample 3 No No
iii)
Sample 4 No No
iv)
No
2. Red chilli Brick powder Settled red Presence of
powder or dyes powder and red brick powder
color is observed and colors is
in the solution observed.
i) Yes
ii) Sample 1 No Yes
Sample 2 No No
iii)
Sample 3 No No
iv)
Sample 4 No

3. Pepper Dried papaya Filter paper remains No seeds

seeds uncolored present.
No
i) Sample 1
No No
ii) Sample 2
No No
iii) Sample 3
Yes No
iv) Sample 4
Yes

4. Turmeric Yellow chalk No effervescence No yellow

powder powder. is observed. chalk powder
i) No is present.
ii) Sample 1 Yes No
Sample 2 No Yes
iii)
Sample 3 No No
iv)
Sample 4 No

CONCLUSION
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The increasing number of food producers
and the outstanding amounts of imported
food stuffs enables the producers to mislead
and cheat consumers. To differentiate of
those who take advantage of legal rules from
the once who commit food adulteration is
very difficult. The consciousness of consumers
has become very crucial.
However, how can we expect
consequent behavior from them regarding
controversial issues emerging day by day? In
addition, ignorance and unfair market
behaviors is endangering consumer health. So
we need sanctions and judicial penalties with
adequate restraining force to halt this
process.
We should take some precautions mentioned
below.

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 PRECAUTIONS
By taking a few precautions, we can escape from
consuming adulterated products:

1. Take only packed items of well-known

companies.
2. Buy items from reliable retail shops and
recognized outlets.
3. Check the ISI mark or Ag mark.
4. Buy products of only air tight popular brands.
5. Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets
and buy only from reputed shops.
6. Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.
7. Avoid buying things from street side vendors.

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