Army Public School

No.1 Jabalpur

CHEMISTRY PROJECT
Study of adulterants in common food
stuff

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mrs.Kavita Anand Jaskarandeep Singh
Chemistry Jugrah Class: XII
Teacher ‘B’
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Jaskarandeep Singh Jugrah,
student of class XII ‘B’ has successfully completed the
research on the below mentioned project as
prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary
Education under the guidance of Mrs Kavita Anand
during year 2023-24.

Principal's Sign Signature of Signature of

and school External
Internal examiner
stamp
examiner
 Acknowledgemen
t to sincerely thank our chemistry teacher
We would like
Mrs Kavita Anand for her valuable suggestions and
guidance in completing our project. We would like to
extend our gratitude to our principal for providing all the
facilities that were required in completing this project.

This project helped us a lot in gaining adequate

knowledge about the topic. We have completed this
project after proper analysis and research and we came
to know about so many new things.

We are really thankful to all or friends, co-partners and

also our lab attendant sir who have denoted their
precious time in completing our project. Secondly, we
would also like to thank our parents who have helped us
a lot I finishing this project.
 Conten
 Objective t
 Introduction
 Theory
 Experiment
1
 Experiment
2
 Experiment
3
 Result
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
 Objectiv
e
Objective of this file is to study common
food adulterants present in different food
stuff.
 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 analysed, 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
labelling 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 labelling; 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 colouring. 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 REASONS:

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 by the 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. 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 1st June, 1955 as THE PREVENTION OF FOOD
ADULTERATION ACT, 1954 (37 of 1954).

LIST OF ADAPTATION ORDER AND AMENDING ACTS:

i. The Adaptation of Laws (No.3) Order, 1956.
ii. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1964 (49 of 1964).
iii. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1971 (41 of 1971).
 iv. 4. The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1976 (34 of 1976).
v. 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 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.
 Theor
yfood producers and the outstanding
The increasing number of
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.
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 1
Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and Butter.

Requirements: Test tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4,

acetic acid, conc. HNO3,

Procedure: Common adulterants present in butter and oil

are paraffin wax, hydrocarbons, dyes and argemone oil.
These are detected as follows:

i. Adulteration of vegetable ghee in desi ghee(Bandouin test) :

Take small amount of desi ghee in a test tube and add to it
1 ml of HCl and 2-3 drops of 2% alcoholic solution of
furfural. Shake the content vigorously. Appearance of red
colour in the acid layer shows that vegetable ghee has been
mixed as an adulterant to desi ghee.

ii. Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbon in

vegetable ghee:
Heat small amount of vegetable butter with acetic
anhydride. Droplets of oil floating on the surface of
unused acetic anhydride indicate the presence of wax or
hydrocarbons.
iii. Adulteration of dyes in fat:
Heat 1ml of fat with a mixture of 1ml of concentrated
Sulphuric acid and 4ml of acetic acid. Appearance of pink
or red colour indicates presence of dye in fat.

iv. 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 acid
layer indicates presence of argemone oil.
 Experiment 2
Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.

Requirements: Test tube, dil. HCI,

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
dil. HCI. Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the
presence of chalk powder or Washing soda in the given
sample of sugar.
 Experiment 3
Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of
chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper.

Requirements: Test tubes, conc. HCI, dil. HNO3, KI solution.

Procedure: Common adulterants in chilli powder,
turmeric powder and pepper are red coloured 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 KI 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. HCI.
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 beaker
containing water and stir with a glass rod. Dried
papaya seeds being lighter float over water while
pure pepper settles at the bottom.
 Observation
Experiment
no.
sExperiment Procedure Observation

1. Adulteration Heat 1mL of Appearance

of
of dyes in fat fat with a
pink colour.
mixture of
1mL of
conc.
H2SO4 and
2. Adulteration 4mL of
To small No red colour
of acetic acid.of observed
amount
argemone oil in a test
oil in edible tube, add
oils few drops
of conc.
3. Adulteration HNO3
Adulteration & Pure sugar
of various shake.
of various dissolves in
insoluble insoluble water but
substances substances insoluble
in sugar in sugar impurities
do not
4. Adulteration To small No brisk
dissolve.
of chalk amount of effervescenc
powder, sugar in a e observed.
washing test tube,
soda in add a few
sugar drops of dil.
5. Adulteration To sample of Appearance
HCI of
of yellow turmeric
magent
lead salts to powder,
a
turmeric add conc.
colour
powder HCI.
6. Adulteration of To a sample of No yellow
red lead chilli precipitate.
salts in powder,
chilli add dil.
powder. HNO3. Filter
the solution
and add 2
drops of KI
solution to
the filtrate.
7. Adulteration of Add small Brick powder
brick powder amount of settles at
in chilli given red the bottom
powder chilli powder while pure
in a beaker chilli
containing powder
water floats over
water.
8. Adulteration of Add small Dried papaya
dried amount of seeds being
papaya sample of lighter float
seeds in pepper to over water
pepper. beaker while pure
Resul containing pepper
water and settles at
The required analysis fortadulterants in food
stir with a stuffs
the has
bottom.
been made. glass rod.
 Conclusio
n and non-adulterated food is
Selection of wholesome
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.
 Bibliograph
1.Website y
www.wikipedia.org

www.google.com

www.yahoo.com

2. BOOKS:
Comprehensive Practical Manual

Pradeep's New Course

Chemistry NCERT Class XII