CHEMISTRY

PROJECT

BY : Akshaya Ravichandran
Class : XII Science
Year : 2014 15
Board Roll No. :

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am very thankful to everyone who all have supported me,
for I have completed this project effectively and moreover on
time.
I would like to express my profound gratitude and deep
regards to my teacher Mr. Nimesh Ravalji for his exemplary
guidance , monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this project and our lab assistant
Dharmendra Sir who helped me in all the apparatus I needed
for the project .
I would also thank our Principal Mrs. Madhuri
Ravishankar who gave me this golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic STUDY OF ADULTERANTS IN
FOOD STUFFS which helped me in increasing my knowledge
about the topic .
I would like to thank my family for their constant
encouragement and support.
Akshaya
Ravichandran

INDEX
SR. NO.

CONTENTS

1)

OBJECTIVE

2)

INTRODUCTION

3)

EXPERIMENT 1

4)

EXPERIMENT 2

5)

EXPERIMENT 3

6)

OBSERVATIONS & RESULT

7)

CONCLUSION

8)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGE

AIM OF THE PROJECT

The main objective of this project is
to study some of the common food
adulterants in different food stuffs.

STUDY OF
ADULTERANTS
IN FOOD STUFFS

INTRODUCTION
Adulteration is the act of intentionally debasing
the quality of food offered for sale by either mixture
or substitution of inferior substances or removal of
some valuable ingredients . In past few decades ,
adulteration of food has become one of the most
serious problems.
Consumption of adulterated food causes diseases
like cancer, asthma , ulcer , etc. Majority of the
adulterants used by shopkeepers are cheap
substitutes which are easily available in the market.
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.

EXPERIMENT 1
AIM:

To detect the presence of

adulterants in fat ,oil and butter .

APPARATUS:
Test tube, conc. Hcl, furfural, acetic anhydride ,
conc. H2So4 , acetic acid , conc. HNO3.

PROCEDURE:
a) Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbons
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.

b) Adulteration of dyes in fat .

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

c) 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 the red colour in
the acid layer indicates the presence of argemone oil.

EXPERIMENT 2
AIM: To detect the presence of
adulterants in sugar .

APPARATUS:
Test tube, sugar , water , dil. Hcl.

PROCEDURE:
a) Adulteration of various insoluble substances in
sugar
Take small amount of sugar in test tube and shake it with
water. Pure sugar dissolves in water but insoluble
substances do not dissolve .

b) Adulteration of chalk powder , washing soda in sugar

To small amount of sugar in test tube , add few drops of
dil. Hcl, brisk effervescence of CO2 is produced
indicating presence of chalk powder and washing soda in
sugar .

EXPERIMENT 3
AIM:

To detect the presence of

adulterants in samples of chilli powder ,

turmeric powder and pepper .

APPARATUS:
Test tube, dil. HNO3, conc. Hcl., KI solution

PROCEDURE:
a) 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 ppt. indicates the presence of lead salts
in chilli powder.

b) Adulteration of brick powder in red chilli

powder
Add 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.

c) Adulteration of yellow lead salts in turmeric

powder
To a small amount of turmeric powder, add conc. Hcl.
Appearance of magenta colour indicates the presence of
yellow oxides of lead in turmeric powder.

d) 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 and pure pepper settles
at the bottom .

OBSERVATIONS
ADULTERANT

FOOD
NAME

PROCEDURE

OBSERVATIONS

PARAFFIN WAX AND

HYDROCARBONS

Heat small amount of

vegetable ghee with acetic
anhydride. Droplets of oil
floating on the surface of
unused acetic anhydride
indicate the presence of wax
or hydrocarbons.

Appearance of oil
floating on the
surface.

2 ) FAT

DYES

Heat 1mL of fat with a

mixture of 1mL of conc.
H2SO4 and 4mL of acetic
acid

Appearance of pink
colour.

3) OIL

ARGEMONE OIL

To small amount of oil in a

test tube, add few drops of
conc. HNO3 & shake

No red colour
observed

4)

INSOLUBLE SUBSTANCES

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.

CHALK POWDER AND

WASHING SODA

To small amount of sugar in

a test tube, add a few drops
of dil. HCl.

No brisk
effervescence
observed.

1 ) GHEE
(VEGETABLE)

SUGAR

FOOD
NAME

ADULTERANT

PROCEDURE

OBSERVATIONS

RED LEAD SALTS

To a sample of chilli powder,

add dil. HNO3. Filter the
solution and add 2 drops of
KI solution to the filtrate.

No yellow ppt.

BRICK POWDER

Add 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.

6)
TURMERIC
POWDER

YELLOW LEAD SALTS

To sample of turmeric
powder, add conc. HCl.

Appearance of
magenta colour

7) PEPPER

DRIED PAPAYA SEEDS

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.

5) CHILLI

POWDER

ADULTERANTS & DISEASES

SR.
NO.

FOOD
PRODUCT

ADULTERANT DISEASES

1)

BLACK PEPPER

DRIED PAPAYA
SEEDS

STOMACH
IRRITATION , LIVER
DAMAGE, CANCER

2)

BUTTER & PURE

DESI GHEE

STARCH,VANASPATI
GHEE

FOOD POISONING

3)

CHILLI POWDER

BRICK POWDER

LIVER
DAMAGE,STOMACH
IRRITATION

4)

SUGAR

FINE WHITE
SAND,CHALK
POWDER,RAVA

STOMACH
DISORDER

--

SOME OF THE COMMON FOOD

ADULTERANTS IN FOOD ITEMS
FOOD ITEMS

ADULTERANTS

DESI GHEE & BUTTER

VANASPATI GHEE

VEGETABLE GHEE

PARAFFIN WAX

MUSTARD OIL

ARGEMONE OIL

SUGAR

CHALK POWDER , WASHING

POWDER

CHILLI

RED LEAD , BRICK

POWDER

TURMERIC POWDER

YELLOW LEAD SALTS,

YELLOW CHALK POWDER

WHAT SHOULD WE DO AS
CONSUMERS ?
We need to take some precautions so that we do
not become victims of adulteration. The following
are the basic precautions we should take in order
to be safe from food adulteration. We can add
more depending on person to person. We cannot
always do chemical tests to check the quality of
food. So the minimum we can do is to take such
precautions which are as follows : Take only packed items of well known companies.
Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized
outlets.
Check the ISI mark or AGMARK.
Buy only products of air tight popular brands.
Avoid buying food prepared in unhygienic
conditions, as there are greater chances of
contamination.
Always buy food from a certified/registered shop.

 Make sure the shop from which you are

buying food follows required

hygienic conditions.
Go for ISO certified products as these
certifications indicate that all necessary
standard hygienic conditions are strictly
followed by the manufacturer.
Keep yourself updated about food standards,
laws by reading magazines, newsletters, etc.
Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in the open
Avoid eating from street side vendors .

WHAT IS ADULTERATION ?
An article of food shall be deemed to be adulterated:
If the article sold by vendor is not of the nature, substance or quality
demanded by the purchaser .
If the article has been prepared, packed or kept under unsanitary
conditions whereby it has become contaminated or injurious to
health
If the article contains any poisonous or other ingredient which
renders it injurious to health

If the article contains any prohibited preservative or permitted

preservative in excess of the prescribed limits

If the quality or purity of the Article falls below the prescribed limits
of variability which renders it injurious to health

If the quality or purity of the article falls below the prescribed

standard or its constituents are present in quantities not within the
prescribed limits of variability which renders it injurious to health

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
COMPREHENSIVE CHEMISTRY
LAB MANUAL CLASS XII

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