Table of Contents
Food is the basic necessity of life. We derive energy from the food we eat. Our body breaks down food, absorbing various nutrients from it. The food we eat must be wholesome and nutritious to ensure good health. Nowadays, most of the food we eat is adulterated. Food adulteration means mixing an adulterant with pure raw food. Adulterant is any organic or inorganic material mixed in pure food. This mixing of adulterants can be intentional or unintentional.
Different types of food adulteration are:
1. Intentional Adulteration:
Traders intentionally adulterate products to earn extra profits with small investments. Pulses mixed with clay, pebbles, stones, sand, etc. are an example of intentional adulteration. Adulterated food examples include milk mixed with water, soap water, chalk powder, starch, etc.
2. Incidental Adulteration:
During crop harvesting, dehusking, cleaning, packaging, and storage, some impurities are left in the crops. Examples include pesticide or insecticide remains, larvae, eggs of worms, feces or droppings of rodents, etc.
3. Metallic Adulteration:
During storage or packaging of food, metals like tin, lead, mercury, etc., get deposited in the food. These metals, if consumed, can pose serious health problems.
4. Packaging Adulteration:
Unsafe packaging material can pose packaging hazards. Packaging can infuse harmful chemicals or metals into the food under different temperatures and pressure conditions. Examples include tin containers that infuse tin in the food, food wrapped in newspapers infused with the ink of the paper, etc.
Read Also: Superfoods: The Healing Wonders of Nature
Simple Tests To Detect Common Adulterants In Food:
Food adulteration is a common practice that involves adding harmful substances to increase the bulk of food. It makes the food unsuitable for consumption. Food adulteration can lead to serious issues such as food poisoning, and food allergies, and, in some cases, even be fatal.
Let us explore various simple ways to detect adulterants in commonly consumed food items and spices.
1. Honey:
To reduce sugar consumption while still making food and beverages sweet, we often use honey as a replacement for sugar. It provides fewer calories and does not cause the negative health complications that sugar does. What happens if adulterers mix sugar into our honey, which we are trying to avoid? You can test the purity of your honey by applying a few simple tests as follows:
2. Red chili powder:
Red chilies are common in most Indian cooking. Manufacturers add it to make food spicy and to give it color. What benefit will you derive from it if it is adulterated? Let us gather some tips to detect adulteration in our red chili powder as follows easily:
3. Turmeric Powder:
Turmeric powder, also known as golden spice, provides many health benefits only if it is pure. How can you check whether your turmeric powder is pure? Let us go through a few simple tests to check the purity of our turmeric powder as follows:
4. Jaggery:
Jaggery, or gur is rich in iron, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and other nutrients and also aids digestion. You can harness all these benefits only if your jaggery is pure. How can you detect the purity of your jaggery? Follow these simple tips to check if your jaggery is adulterated.
5. Milk:
Milk is a whole meal. It is rich in many vitamins and minerals and is also an economical source of protein. These benefits can only be appreciated if your milk is free from any kind of adulterant. Let us know about some basic tests that you can perform to check for any adulterants in milk:
How To Avoid Adulterated Products?
- Always check the packaging of the food you are going to purchase. It must be a hard food-grade paper or a solid can without any paint at the surface in direct contact with the food.
- Don’t buy loose pulses, tamarind, or cereals. These may contain clay, pebbles, stones, etc. Choose the cleaned and packed ones.
- Ensure the packaging of any food item or beverage you purchase contains the FSSAI label, ingredients list, manufacturing date, and expiry date.
- Check the manufacturing and expiry dates of the food.
- Soak fruits and vegetables bought from the market in water for at least 15-20 minutes, then store them in a cool and dry place.
- Before buying any packed food or beverage, check its packaging seal. Do not buy the product if you find it tampered with or broken.
Conclusion:
While home tests can offer a preliminary assessment of food purity, their accuracy can be influenced by factors like the quantity of the sample and its origin. It’s crucial to conduct multiple tests to increase confidence in the results. Consuming adulterated food can have serious health consequences, including impacting weight management and overall well-being. Therefore, it’s essential to prioritize purchasing food from trusted sources and opting for organic or locally sourced options whenever possible.
Read Also:
- Top 10 Healthy Winter Foods For A Strong Immune System
- Superfoods: The Healing Wonders of Nature
- Best Foods And Essential Tips For Breastfeeding Mothers
- Choosing A Vegan Food Diet: Benefits, And Risks
- 6 Cancer-Causing Foods You Should Avoid To Stay Healthy
- 5 Foods to Lower Your Cancer Risk and Boost Your Health
- Top Immunity Boosting Foods: Strengthen Your Defense
- Foods for Healthy Kidney: Good and Bad Diet for Kidney
- Foods for Healthy Lungs: Good and Bad Diet for Lungs
- Foods for a Healthy Liver: Good and Bad Diet for Liver
- Foods For A Healthy Heart: Good and Bad Diet for Heart
