‘You Are What You Eat.’ Thus goes the saying. Man needs food to survive. In the same lines man needs medicines to save himself from ailments. As per an estimation an average a family spends approximately 50 percent of it’s income towards food and medicine costs.Its unfortunate, we believe the trader and lose on two counts. We will not get our money’s worth and become the victims of adulterated food and medicines. Its  not all. Spurious and fake medicines bring-in new diseases. And the chain of woes continue. 

If we want to buy food free from adulteration, we have to know how the adulterants are used to adulterate the food stuff in our day to day life. We should know the ill effects of food adulteration. And we should know how our rights can be used against the crime of food adulteration and its perpetrators.

A few examples

• Tea powder or dust is mixed with used tea dust ,saw dust and powdered and dried animal skin. And at times coal dust is also added to impart colour.
• Coriander seeds are adulterated with cow dung and husk.
• Black pepper is adulterated with papaya seeds.
• Cumin seeds are adulterated with grass seeds.
• Sugar is adulterated with lime.
• Jaggery is adulterated with colours.
• Coffee powder is   adulterated with powder of tamarind seeds.

And the list goes  on and on.

Culprit Colours.

Advertising psychology says colours play an important role in luring the Consumers especially food stuff. Traders use this trait of the consumers to their advantage.

While purchasing Chilli powder, a consumer shows inclination towards Chilli powder which has a vibrant red colour. The colors used by traders are not natural colours. These colours are synthetic colours made of hazardous chemicals. Though the usage of such artificial colours are banned, this harmful practice is going on unabated exposing the consumers to a plethora of ailments. 

Jaggery is mixed with sulfides to make it look white and pure. And the addition of Sulfides kill red blood cells.

A variety of diseases caused by food adulteration.

Adulterated food is the root cause for many diseases ranging from minor ailments like headache, lose motions, vomiting to life threatening diseases like cancer, heart related problems, loss  of eyesight ,  reproductive system related disorders and liver related ailments to name a few. And loss of life cannot be ruled out.

Simple ways to detect food adulteration.

With the help of simple and easily available materials, one can easily detect the purity of food used in day to day activities. There is no necessity of elaborate lab equipment. Most of the adulterated food can be identified with naked eye. 

Oil extracted cardamoms and cloves wear a jaded, pale and dried up look. This is a clue to know whether they are pure or impure.  Coriander seeds which are coloured with artificial colour, if rubbed between the palms, the artificial colour sticks to the palms . Similarly artificially coloured  cumin seeds leave their colour if rubbed between palms.

Black pepper mixed with papaya seeds if looked carefully, purity of Black pepper can be detected.

Visual inspection always will not be adequate to test the purity of food stuffs. Hence, with the help of  simple methods , adulteration in food stuffs can be detected.

Here are a few methods that can be carried out in your own home. 

Turmeric.

Metanil yellow and Kesari Dal are added to turmeric to enhance the yellow colour in turmeric. To test the purity of turmeric, dissolve half a spoonful of turmeric powder in 20 ml of lukewarm water. Add a few drops of lemon juice. If the water changes its colour to pink or purple, the presence of Metanil yellow is confirmed . Metanil yellow is highly carcinogenic and responsible or stomach disorders.

Green veggies 

To enhance the greenish colour in Green vegetables, Malachite Green is added to the Green vegetables. To test the presence of adulterant, put a small quantity of the vegetable on a wet blotting paper. Coloured marks on the blotting paper confirms the presence of Malachite Green. 

Malachite Green is a coloured dye which is carcinogenic , if consumed for a long time leads to a plethora of diseases.

Mustard seeds and Mustard oil.

Argemone seeds are added as an adulterant  to add bulk. To find out the presence of adulterant  , press the seeds. Argemone seeds have white colour inside, where as mustard seeds are yellow inside.

Epidemic dropsy and severe glaucoma are caused by the consumption of Argemone seeds. 

Milk

Starch is the adulterant added to milk . This imparts a thick look to the milk. To test its purity, take a small amount of milk in a test tube. Add 20 ml of water and boil. Then cool the mixture to room temperature. After this, add one or two drops of iodine. If the solution turns blue, the presence of starch us confirmed. 

The presence of starch and water that is unprocessed can cause stomach disorders. Starch reduces the nutritional value of milk.

Ice cream.

Washing powder is the adulterant added to impart a white shining appearance to ice cream. To test the presence of adulterant, add a few drops of lemon juice to the ice cream. If the ice cream starts bubbling the presence of washing powder in the ice cream is confirmed.

Washing powder can cause stomach and liver disorders.

 Black pepper.

To add bulk papaya seeds are added to black pepper as an adulterant . To test the presence of papaya seeds, take a small quantity of black pepper  and float the sample in alcohol. The real black pepper will sink and papaya seeds will float. Papaya seeds can lead to liver problems and stomach disorders.

Instant coffee.

Here the adulterants are tamarind seeds and chicory powder. They are added to enhance the bulk and colour to instant coffee. To test the purity of Instant coffee, sprinkle a small amount of it in a glass of water.  Coffee will float and chicory sinks. Owing to the presence of caramel . Chicory leaves a colour.

This can cause diarrhea, stomach disorders. The adulterant can lead to severe joint pains.

All varieties of adulterated food may not respond to the above tests. Hence what is the alternative for a consumer, once he suspects adulteration in food stuff? 

Depending upon the place you are living in, you can lodge a complaint to the Municipal health officer or Panchayat board executive officer or food inspector.  A food inspector is empowered to take action on all the written complaints pertaining to food adulteration. A food inspector is also empowered to collect the samples from the traders and send the samples for analysis. 

Adulteration is a punishable offence.

To curb the food adulteration, government framed an act, ‘prevention of food adulteration’ to thus effect. Any food adulteration be it harmful or otherwise is an offence. Those who are responsible for harmless adulteration are liable for imprisonment ranging from 3 three months to 6 months.

In the case of addition of harmful substances, there will be an imprisonment of maximum 6 years and a fine of minimum 2 thousand rupees. If there occurs a death due to food adulteration,  the perpetrator  is liable for life imprisonment  and a minimum fine of 5 thousand rupees. 

Central food laboratories and their jurisdiction.

• Central food laboratories, Mysore’s jurisdiction covers the states of AP, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. 
• Central food laboratories, Pune’s  jurisdiction covers the states of Gujarat, M.P, Kerala, Dadra nagar haveli, Goa, Daman and Diu.
• Central food laboratories, Ghaziabad’s jurisdiction covers the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Chandigarh and Delhi.
• Central food laboratories, Kolkata’s jurisdiction covers the states of Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Mizoram , Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tripura, West Bengal, Andaman  Nicobar islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

How to submit a sample for analysis.

Here is the procedure and the formalities to be fulfilled for submitting the sample to the analysis laboratories. First of all, the food inspector has to issue a notice to the trader. The sample to be sent for analysis should be divided in to three portions. And each portion has to be  sealed. The signature of the person from whom, the sample was collected has to be fixed on the seal. If the concerned person refuses to sign, the sealing of the sample has to be done in the presence of 2 or 3 persons and their signatures are to be obtained.

One of the 3 portions of the sample has to be sent to the public analyst and the remaining 2 portions are to be sent to the Health Authorities.  

Samples can be sent through registered post or through a courier. 

The public analyst has to send his analysis report to the local Health Authorities and to the person who has sent the sample within 45 days.

Your role.

Despite the presence of consumer protection laws, you have to be vigilant to save yourself from the clutches of food adulteration. The onus of safeguarding yourself and your family against adulteration of food ultimately falls on your shoulders. 

• Avoid the foods with alluring colours. As far as possible make your own domestic food needs. 
• Look for AGMARK, an acronym for agricultural marketing. It is a quality certification mark provided by the government of India. It confirms and assures the quality control and the hygienic conditions of the food. 
• Similarly, look for ISI mark.ISI, Indian Standards Institution. Like AGMARK, it is also a quality certification mark.
• Go for products which are sealed in packets or tins. 
• Discourage children from eating junk food from the street vendors.