CHEMISTRY PROJECT

FOOD ADULTERATION

Submitted by,
R. Jerish Alan
XII- A
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the outset, I express our gratitude to the

ALMIGHTY LORD for the divine guidance
and wisdom showered on me to undertake
this project.

I am immensely grateful to my beloved

PRINCIPAL MRS.FATHIMA
ELIZABETH for her involvement in this
project by providing useful inputs and timely
suggestions. I am also thankful, to my
CHEMISTRY TEACHER
MRS.M.NIRAIMATHI for her guidance
and help to make this project success.

My PARENTS also played a key pole in

shaping up this project nicely and I convey
my special thanks to them as well.
 CERTIFICATE
This is to convey that,
Reg.no …………..……………….of class
XII of VSR INTERNATIONAL
SCHOOL has successfully completed
her project report in chemistry on
the topic Food Adulteration for the
partial fulfillment of AICCES as
prescribed by the CBSE in the year
2025-2026.

REGISTRATION NO:

SIGNATURE OF THE TEACHER

SIGNATURE OF THE SIGNATURE OF THE

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER
CONTENTS:-
1. Certificate

2. Acknowledgement

3. Introduction

4. Theory

5. Activity

Aim

Apparatus required

Procedure

Result

Precautions

Conclusion
OBJECTIVE
The Objective of this project is to study some of the
common food adulterants present in different food
stuffs.
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 antisocial 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 microscopal 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. In 1860
the first food law framed in the interest of the
purchaser was passed.
That law, lacking sufficient means of enforcement,
remained largely ineffective until 1872, when
administrative officials were appointed
and penalties for violation provided.
In the United States the federal Food and Drug
Act of 1906 was the result of a long and stormy
campaign led by Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley.
This law defined food adulteration and the
misbranding of products; it provided regulations
covering the interstate movement of food and
penalties for violations. The 1906 act
was superseded in 1938 by the more rigorous
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act administered since
1940 by the Food and Drug Administration (now
within the Dept. of Health and Human
Services).The FDA is charged with enforcing
truthful and informative labeling of essential
commodities, maintaining staff laboratories, and
formulating definitions and standards promoting
fair dealing in the interests of the consumer. The
1938 act broadened the definitions of
adulteration, misbranding, and lack of informative
labeling; it provided for factory inspections; and it
increased the penalties for violations. It was
amended in 1958 and 1962 to define and regulate
food additives and food coloring. The federal law
controls traffic from one state to another and is
supplemented by local regulations that require
food handlers to be licensed, thereby
discouraging the spread of disease; it provides for
the inspection by health officers of meat and
other foods, of restaurants, and of dairies and
cold storage methods. Imported goods that
violate the provisions of the act may be denied
admittance to the United States and if not
removed within a given time may be destroyed.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND
REASON:

Laws existed in a number of States in India for the

prevention of adulteration of food- stuffs, but
they lacked uniformity having been passed at
different times without mutual consultation
between States. The need for Central legislation
for the whole country in this matter has been felt
since 1937 when a Committee appointed Central
Advisory Board of Health recommended this step.
‘Adulteration of food-stuffs and other goods’ is
now included in the Concurrent List (III) in the
Constitution of India. It has, therefore, become
possible for the Central Government to enact all
India legislation on this subject. The Bill replaces
all local food adulteration laws where they exist
and also applies to those States where there are
no local laws on the subject. Among others, it
provides for —
i.A Central Food Laboratory to which food
samples can be
referred to for final opinion in disputed cases
(clause 4),
ii.A Central Committee for Food Standards
consisting of
representatives of Central and State Governments
to advise on
matters arising from the administration of the Act
(clause 3),and
iii.The vesting in the Central Government of the
rule-making
power regarding standards of quality for the
articles of food
and certain other matters (clause 22).

ACT 37 OF 1954:

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill was

passed by both the house of Parliament and
received the assent of the President on 29th
September, 1954. It came into force on Ist June,
1955 as THE PREVENTION OF FOOD
ADULTERATION ACT, 1954 (37 of 1954).

LIST OF ADAPTATION ORDER AND

AMENDING ACT:

1. The Adaptation of Laws (No.3) Order, 1956.

2. The Prevention of Food Adulteration
(Amendment) Act, 1964 (49 of 1964).
3. The Prevention of Food Adulteration
(Amendment) Act, 1971 (41 of 1971).
4. The Prevention of Food Adulteration
(Amendment) Act, 1976 (34 of 1976).
5. The Prevention of Food Adulteration
(Amendment) Act, 1986 (70 of 1986).

GOVERNMENT MEASURES:

To check the suppliers of food from doing so, the

government has passed a stringent act which is
known as preservation of food Adulteration Act.
They have been implemented with the objective
of providing safety to human beings in
the supply of food. It covers safety from risks
involved due to contamination of poisonous
elements. The specification laid down of various
foods under the provisions of PFA Act covers
minimum basic characteristics Of the Products
Below which it is deemed to be adulterated and
also covers the maximum limit of contaminant not
considered being safe for human beings beyond a
certain level.
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 Agmark.
4.Buy products of only air tight popular brands.
5.Avoid craziness for artificially colored 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.
 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. 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.

EXPERIMENT I

Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in fat,

oil and butter.

Apparatus Required: Test-tube, conc. H2SO4,

acetic acid, conc.
HNO3.

Procedure: Common adulterants present in

ghee and oil are dyes
and argemone oil. These are detected as follows:
(i)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 color indicates
presence of dye in fat.
(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 it
well. Appearance of red color in the acid layer
indicates
presence of argemone oil.

EXPERIMENT II

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.

EXPERIMENT III

Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in

samples of chili
powder, turmeric powder and pepper.

Apparatus Required: Test-tubes, conc. HCl,

dil. HNO3, KI solution.

Procedure: Common adulterants present in

chili powder, turmeric
powder and pepper are red colored 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 dil. 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 color shows the presence
of yellow oxides of lead in turmeric powder.
(iii)Adulteration of brick powder in red

chili powder: Add small

amount of given red chili powder in beaker

containing
water. Brick powder settles at the bottom while
pure chili
powder floats over water.

(iv)Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in

pepper: Add small

amount of sample of pepper to beaker containing

water
and stir with a glass rod. Dried papaya seeds being
lighter
float over water while pure pepper settles at the
bottom.
OBSERVATIONS
RESULT:
The required analysis for adulterants in food stuffs
has been made.
 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 shops.