Army Public School No.

1
Jabalpur

CHEMISTRY PROJECT
Study of adulterants in common food stuff

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mrs.Kavita Anand Chowdhury Farath
Chemistry Teacher Class: XII ‘A’
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Chowdhury Farath, student of
class XII ‘A’ 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 and Signature of Signature of

school stamp External examiner
Internal examiner
 Acknowledgement
We would like to sincerely thank our chemistry teacher
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.
 Content
 Objective
 Introduction
 Theory
 Experiment 1
 Experiment 2
 Experiment 3
 Result
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
 Objective

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.
 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 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.
 Observations
Experiment Experiment Procedure Observation
no.
1. Adulteration Heat 1mL of Appearance of
of dyes in fat fat with a pink colour.
mixture of
1mL of conc.
H2SO4 and
4mL of acetic
acid.
2. Adulteration To small No red colour
of argemone amount of oil observed
oil in edible in a test tube,
oils add few drops
of conc. HNO3
& shake.
3. Adulteration Adulteration Pure sugar
of various of various dissolves in
insoluble insoluble water but
substances in substances in insoluble
sugar sugar impurities do
not dissolve.
4. Adulteration To small No brisk
of chalk amount of effervescence
powder, sugar in a test observed.
washing soda tube, add a
in sugar few drops of
dil. HCI
5. Adulteration To sample of Appearance of
of yellow lead turmeric magenta
salts to powder, add colour
turmeric conc. HCI.
powder
6. Adulteration of To a sample of No yellow
red lead salts chilli powder, precipitate.
in chilli add dil. HNO3.
powder. Filter the
solution and
add 2 drops of
KI solution to
the filtrate.
7. Adulteration of Add small Brick powder
brick powder in amount of settles at the
chilli powder given red chilli bottom while
powder in a pure chilli
beaker powder floats
containing over water.
water
8. Adulteration of Add small Dried papaya
dried papaya amount of seeds being
seeds in sample of lighter float
pepper. pepper to over water
beaker while pure
containing pepper settles
water and stir at the bottom.
with a glass
rod.

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.
 Bibliography
1. Website
www.wikipedia.org

www.google.com

www.yahoo.com

2. BOOKS:
Comprehensive Practical Manual

Pradeep's New Course Chemistry

NCERT Class XII