SIDDHARTHA CENTRAL SCHOOL
PALLIMON P O KOLLAM
(Affiliated To Central Board Of Secondary Education. New
Delhi)
CODE NO: 930720
PROJECT WORK – CHEMISTRY
TOPIC -STUDY OF COMMON FOOD
ADULTERANTS
Name of the student : ________________________________________
Class : ________________________________________
CBSE Roll No. : ________________________________________
CBSE Reg. No. : ________________________________________
Year of study : ________________________________________
EXAMINER TEACHER IN
CHARGE
CHEMISTRY PROJECT
adulterants in fat, oil, butter, sugar, turmeric powder, chilli powder and pepper
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that chemistry investigatory project on the topic
“Food Adulterants”, has been successfully completed by AKAS D
SUJITH of class XII under the guidance of Dr.JYOTHISH
KUMAR ,Mrs. RESHMA MOHAN and in particular fulfilment of
curriculum of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) leading to
Board of Annual Examination of year 2023-2024.
Dr. JYOTHISH KUMAR
Mrs. RESHMA MOHAN
Declaration
I hereby declare that the study titled under “Food Adulterants” has
been undertaken by me in partial fulfilment of Higher Secondary Course
of Central Board. I have completed the project under the guidance of
Dr.JYOTHISH KUMAR, Mrs RESHMA MOHAN chemistry teachers
in the science department of SIDDHARTHA CENTRAL SCHOOL,
PALLIMON. I also declare that I or any one has not submitted the work
before any purpose in this Higher Secondary school or any higher
education sector.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
At the outset, I express my gratitude to the Almighty Lord for the
divine guidance and wisdom showered on me to complete this project.
I express my sincere thanks to our beloved Principal Smt.SREE
REKHA PRASAD who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic, which also helped me in doing a lot of
research and I came to know about so many new things and I am really
thanks full to them .
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to My
teacher Dr.JYOTHISH KUMAR & Mrs RESHMA MOHAN, for
guidance and help to make this project a success.
Lastly I would like to thank my parents and my friends who helped
me a lot in finalizing this project within the limited time frame.
INDEX
➢ Certificate
➢ Acknowledgement
➢ Objective
➢ Introduction
➢ Food colourants
➢ Experiments
• Experiment No: 1
• Experiment No: 2
• Experiment No: 3
➢ Observations
➢ Harmful effects
➢ Precautions
➢ Conclusion
➢ Bibliography
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to study the food adulterants present in common food items
such as
• Fat
• Oil
• Butter
• Sugar
• Turmeric powder
• Chilli powder
• Pepper
Experiments are performed to check for the presence of food adulterants in these items. The
presence of food adulterants can cause severe effects on human health. Harmful effects as
well as preventive measures are also discussed.
INTRODUCTION
Food adulteration refers to the alteration of the food quality deliberately. It includes the
addition of ingredients to modify different properties of food such as colour, appearance,
taste, weight and shelf life for economic advantages. Food adulteration increases the quality of
food production and sales, maximises profit from food items by fewer investments, and deals
with the increased food demand for a rapidly growing population. Food is considered to be
adultered if it omits a valuable constituent or substitutes another substance in whole or in part
for a valuable constituent.
The types of food adulterations include
• Intentional adulteration -Done on purpose for economic gain
• Incidental adulteration -Due to negligence while handling food
• Packing hazard -Packing material in which the food is
contained may alter the food
Artificial ripening of fruits, adulteration with preservatives, colourants and artificial sweeteners
are common food adulteration techniques. The project aims to study the food adulterants
present in daily used products, their harmful effects and find preventive measures.
FOOD ADULTERANTS
The table given below showcases the food adulterants present in the given food items
Food items Adulterants
Fat Paraffin wax, castor oil and hydrocarbons
Oil Refined palm olein, argemone oil and
butter yellow
Butter Hydrogenated vegetable oils, banana
pulps, melted tallow
Sugar Chalk powder and washing soda
Turmeric powder Yellow lead salts and metanil yellow dye
Chilli powder Brick powder, sand and red lead oxide
Pepper Dry papaya seeds
EXPERIMENT NO: 1
AIM: To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter
REQUIREMENTS: Test tube, acetic anhydride, Conc H2SO4, acetic acid and Conc HNO3
PROCEDURE Common food 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 HYDROCARBONS IN VEGETABLE GHEE
Heat a small amount of vegetable ghee with acetic anhydride. Droplets of oil floating on
the surface of unused acetic anhydride indicated the presence of wax or hydrocarbons .
II. ADULTERATION OF DYES IN FAT
Heat 1 mL of fat with a mixture of 1 mL of concentrated sulphuric acid and 4 mL of
acetic acid. The appearance of pink or red colour indicates the presence of dye in fat.
III. ADULTERATION OF ARGEMONE OIL IN EDIBLE OILS
Add a small amount of oil in a test tube, add a few drops of Conc HNO3 and shake. The
appearance of a red colour in the acid layer indicates the presence of argemone oil.
Butter Oil
EXPERIMENT NO :2
AIM: To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar
REQUIREMENTS: Test tubes, diluted 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 a small amount of sugar in a test tube and shake it with a little water. Pure sugar
dissolves in water but insoluble impurities do not dissolve.
II. ADULTERATION OF CHALK POWDER, WASHING SODA IN SUGAR
To a small amount of sugar in a test tube, add a few drops of dil. HCl. Brisk
effervescence of CO2 shows the presence of chalk powder or washing powder in the
given sample of sugar.
EXPERIMENT NO :3
AIM: To detect the presence of adulterants in chilli powder, turmeric powder and
pepper
REQUIREMENTS: Test tubes, Conc HCl, dil HNO3, KI solution
PROCEDURE: Common adulterants present in chilli powder, pepper and turmeric powder
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 solution and add 2 drops of
potassium iodide solution to the filtrate. Yellow precipitate 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 concentrated HCl. The 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 a small amount of given red chilli powder in a 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 a small amount of a 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.
Chilli powder Turmeric
Pepper
OBSERVATIONS
Experiment Procedure Observations
Adulteration of paraffin wax Heat a small amount of Appearance of oil floating on
and hydrocarbon in vegetable vegetable ghee with acetic the surface
ghee anhydride. Droplets of oil
floating on the surface of
unused acetic anhydride
indicate the presence of wax or
hydrocarbon.
Adulteration of dyes in fat Heat 1 mL of fat with a mixture Appearance of pink colour
of 1mL of conc H2SO4 and 4 mL
of acetic acid
Adulteration of argemone To a small amount of oil in a No red colour observed
oil in edible oils test tube, add a few drops of
conc. HNO3 and shake
Adulteration of various Take a small amount of sugar in Pure sugar dissolves in water
insoluble substances in sugar a test tube and shake it with a but insoluble impurities do not
little water dissolve.
Adulteration of yellow lead To a sample of turmeric Appearance of magenta colour.
salts to turmeric powder powder, add conc HCl
Adulteration of red lead salts in To a sample of chilli powder, No yellow precipitate
chilli powder add dil. HNO3. Filter the solution
and add
2 drops of KI solution to filtrate.
Adulteration of brick powder in Add a small amount of given Brick powder settles at the
chilli powder red chilli powder in a beaker bottom while pure chilli powder
containing water floats over water
Adulteration of dried papaya Add small amounts of pepper Dried papaya seeds being
seeds in Pepper to a beaker containing water lighter float over water while
and stir with a glass rod pure pepper settles at the
bottom.
HARMFUL EFFECTS
Adulterated food products are responsible for severe health impacts and financial damage.
Diarrhoea, nausea, allergic reactions, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are frequently
observed illnesses due to the consumption of adulterated food. The harmful effects due to the
food items under study are:
Oil
• Loss of eyesight
• Damage to liver
• Heart problems
• Stomach infections
Fat
• Gall bladder cancer
• Anaemia
• Enlargement of
Chilli powder
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Stomach problems
TURMERIC POWDER
• Stomach disorders
• Joint pain
• Dizziness
• Liver problems
PRECUATIONS
Some of the methods of prevention of food adulteration are mentioned below:
✓ On the industry level, food adulteration can only be checked with strict and stringent
laws and government interventions and checks.
✓ Make sure that you do not buy deep or dark-coloured groceries.
✓ Stop consuming processed food.
✓ Wash or soak your fruits and vegetables well in water before consuming.
✓ Canned or tinned foods must be checked for any leakages or puffing before buying.
✓ In Indian markets, FSSAI is the government license number that stands for food safety.
Thus, always make sure to look for FSSAI, a list of ingredients, manufacturing and expiry
dates on the food packs.
CONCLUSION
Food adulteration risk – including food defence incidents, intended to harm or commit food
fraud motivated by economic gain – is growing in scope, scale, and threat. The adulteration
risks are direct, indirect, and technical. Public health vulnerability in each case is because the
production operation is probably not following good manufacturing practices. Selection of
wholesome and nonadulterated food is essential for daily life to make sure that such foods do
not cause any health hazards. It is not possible to ensure wholesome food only on visual
examination when the toxic contaminants are present in ppm. However, a visual examination
of the food before purchase makes sure to ensure the absence of insects, visual fungus, foreign
matter etc. Label declaration is important to know the nutritional quality, ingredients and
period of consumption. Food adulteration can be checked by individuals by taking some simple
precautions. Stringent rules and regulations by the government are necessary to prevent food
adulteration on a large scale.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://www.sciencedirect.com
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
• https://www.godigt.com
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org
• NCERT Class XII textbook
• Comprehensive lab manual
