| Food Article |
Adulterant |
Simple Method for Detecting the
Adulterant |
Health Problems |
| Milk |
Water
Urea |
Put a drop of milk on polished vertical surface. The drop of
pure milk either stops or flows slowly leaving a white trail
behind it. Whereas milk adulterated with water will flow
immediately without leaving a mark.
Take 5 ml of milk in a test tube and add 2 drops of
bromothymol blue soln. Development of blue colour after 10
minutes indicates presence of urea. |
|
|
Mustard Seeds |
Argemone Seeds |
Argemone seeds have rough surface and mustard seeds on
pressing is yellow inside while argemone seed is white. |
Loss of vision and
Heart diseases |
|
Ice Cream |
Washing Powder |
Put some lemon juice, bubbles are observed on the presence
of washing powder |
|
| Sugar |
Chalk |
Dissolve sugar in a glass of water, chalk will settle down
at the bottom, similarly for salt |
|
|
Silver Foil |
Aluminium Foil |
On ignition genuine silver foil burns away completely
leaving glistening white spherical ball of the same mass
while aluminum foil is reduced to ashes of black Grey colour. |
|
| Honey |
Water |
A cotton wick dipped in pure honey burns when ignited with a
match stick. If adulterated presence of water will not allow
the honey to burn, if it does will produce a cracking sound. |
|
|
Coffee |
Chicory |
Gently sprinkle the coffee powder on surface of water in a
glass. The coffee floats over the water but chicory begins
to sink down within few seconds. The falling chicory powder
particles leave behind them a trail of colour, due to large
amount of caramel they contain |
|
| Tea |
Coloured leaves
Used tea
Iron fillings |
Rub leaves on white paper, artificial colour comes out on
paper.
Tea leaves sprinkled on wet filter paper. Pink or red spots
on paper show colour
Move a magnet through the sample. Iron will stick to the
magnet. |
Appendicitis and
Small Intestine problems |
|
Red Chilli Powder |
Rodamine Culture
Brick
Powder |
Take 2gms sample in a test tube, add 5ml of acetone.
Immediate appearance of red colour indicates presence of
Rodamine.
Brick
powder settles fast chilli powder settles slowly when put in
water. |
Loss of vision and Respiratory diseases |
|
Turmeric Powder |
Metanil Yellow |
Add a few drops of HCl to the extract of turmeric from
water. Instant appearance of violet, when the colour
persists when diluted with water indicates the presence of
metanil yellow. |
Anaemia, Epilepsy and
loss of vision |
|
Dal arhar, moong, washed channa |
Metanil Yellow |
Extract the colour with Luke warm water from the sample of
pulses, add drops of HCl. A pink colour indicates presence
of metanil yellow. |
|
|
Green vegetables
like chilli |
Malachite green |
Take a small part of the sample and place it over a
moistened white blotting paper, the impression of the colour
on paper indicates the presence of malachite green |
|
|
Pure Ghee or Butter |
Vanaspathi |
Take one teaspoonful of melted ghee or butter with equal
quantity of Conc. Hydrochloric acid in a test tube and add
to it a pinch of cane sugar. Shake well for one minute and
let it stand for five minutes. Appearance of crimson colour
in lower layer shows the presence of vanaspathi. |
|
| Black Pepper |
Papaya Seeds |
Float the sample in alcohol. The mature
black pepper berries sink while papaya seeds and light black
pepper float. |
|
| Hing |
Soap Stone or earthy matter |
Shake a little portion of sample with water
and allow to settle. Soap stone or earthy matter will settle
down at the bottom. |
|
| Saffron |
Coloured dried tendrils of maize cob |
Pure saffron will not break easily like
artificial. Pure saffron when allowed to dissolved in water
will continue to give its colour so long as it lasts. |
|
| Common Salt |
White powdered stone |
Stir a spoonful of sample salt in water.
Chalk will make the solution white and other insoluble
impurities will setlle down. |
Appendicitis |
| Ground Nut Oil |
Argemone Oil |
|
Loss of vision and
Heart diseases |
| Coriander Powder |
|
|
Respiratory diseases |
