Food Adulteration in India
Recent raids
have found numerous instances of food adulteration and contamination across
India.From formalin in fish to sulfuric acid in paneer, the findings have
shocked the country and jolted authorities into action.Read on to know how to
keep yourself and your family safe from the dangers posed by toxic food.
India has
been battling food adulteration for a long time, but now it seems like things
have reached a tipping point. A recent series of raids across Punjab has
unearthed unprecedented amounts of spurious milk and dairy products in Patiala,
Amritsar and Mohali, and has led to a major shortage of paneer (cottage cheese)
in the city. The revelation that their beloved paneer might have ingredients
like detergent and urea came as a huge shock. Punjab’s misery is shared by
fish-loving Goa and Kerala, where the discovery of formalin (a preservative
made with formaldehyde) in preserved fish has spooked buyers and generated
massive controversy over the past couple of months.With incidents like these
adulteration is now firmly under the scanner of authorities, primarily the Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
India’s war
on food contamination
The
discovery of formalin in fish started a chain reaction that led to a series of
raids across the country. Large consignments of carbide-ripened mangoes were
seized from markets across Karnataka. Adulterated ghee manufacturing units were
discovered in Madurai where vanaspati diluted with cooking oil and ghee flavour
were packaged as genuine ghee. Expired raw material was found to be used in
Kashmir for making Eid sweets. Rumours of carcass meat of dogs and cats being
sold with packaged meat proved true in Kolkata. Even the popular snack pani
puri came under attack after surprise checks in Gujarat’s Vadodara and
Ahmedabad cities found that the puri, water and chutney did not meet food
standard guidelines.
Here are some of the common food adulterants in India
1. Milk
A 2012 study conducted by the FSSAI across 33
states found that milk in India was adulterated with diluted water, detergent,
fat and even urea.Some of the adulterants that are used in milk
are water, chalk, urea, caustic soda and skimmed milk, while Khoya is
adulterated with paper, refined oil and skimmed milk powder. The level of adulteration in milk is dangerous
to so many levels and has the highest chance of causing stomach disorders.
2. Tea/Coffee
Tea leaves are usually adulterated with
same coloured leaves, some might not even be edible. Several cases of liver infection
across the country have been reported due to consuming adulterated tea. Coffee seeds, on the other hand are adulterated
with tamarind seeds, mustard seeds and also chicori. These adulterants are the
main cause of diarrhoea.
Everybody knows that wheat is very commonly
adulterated with ergot, a fungus containing poisonous substances and is
extremely injurious to health.
4. Vegetables
Beware of the shiny vegetables! Yes,
adulteration of vegetables is in news for quite sometime now. Different
coloured and textured vegetables are often coloured with different dyes and
substances. These vegetables are mostly adulterated with malachite green, a
chemical dye which is known to have carcinogenic used as dying agent for paper,leather and silk. Common adulterants in fruits and vegetables are
oxytocin ,sachharin, wax, calcium carbide and copper sulphate.
malachite green
malachite green- Calcium carbide release arsenic and phosphorus
- peas,gourds,cucumber are dipped in copper sulphate which is blue in colour and used in book binding industries.
- malachite green petroleum derived wax components.
- Oxytocin, Sachharin-used in water melon
- Paraffin Wax hydrocarbon derivative.
5. Sweets
Do you get Indian sweets covered with a silver
foil during Diwali? According to Indian regulations, silver must be 99.9 per
cent pure if it is used as a food ingredient.
However, with silver becoming expensive many
sweet shop owners use silver vark that could contain aluminium. The most common
ingredients in making these sweets are khoya and chenna and they're often
adulterated with starch. But the good news is that you can test if the sweets
are adulterated by boiling a small sample in water, cool it then add a few
drops of iodine solution.
A blue color indicates the presence of starch.
Also, sugar used in making the sweets might be adulterated with tar dye which
only makes it worse.
6. Honey
There are so many varieties of honey available
in the market, but due to its steep price, honey is commonly adulterated with
molasses sugar to increase the bottle quantity.According to a study carried out by the Centre
for Science and Environment, most honey brands being sold in the country
contain varying amounts of antibiotics and their consumption over time could
induce resistance to antibiotics, lead to blood-related disorders and injury to
the liver.
7. Dal
The most commonly adulterated dal is arhar dal
and is usually adulterated with metanil yellow. Metanil yellow is a principal
non-permitted food colour used extensively in India. The effect of long-term
consumption of metanil yellow on the developing and adult brain causes neurotoxicity.Neurotoxicity occurs when the exposure to
natural or artificial toxic substances, alters the normal activity of the
nervous system in such a way as to cause damage to the nervous tissue.
Metanil yellow is used in dal as an adulterant
for colouring. Its presence can be tested in dal by adding a few drops of HCl
to a test sample, if the solution turns pink in colour, it indicates the
presence of metanil yellow.
8. Spices
Soap stone or other earthy material and foreign
resinare the common adulterant used in Asafoetida. Papaya seeds, black berries
are the common adulterant used in black pepper as they are almost similar in
size but tasteless (sometimes bitter).
The most expensive spice in the world. Saffron
is adulterated by coloured dried tendrils of maize cob.
Sudan Red Industrial dye used for colouring plastics ,damage DNA
Talc Powder Mg,Silicon,O2 ,contain Asbestos
9. Butter and cream
Butter can be diluted with water or partially
replaced with cheaper plant oils such as palm oil, sunflower oil and soybean
oil. This increases the profits derived from a given volume of milk.
10. Ice cream
Most common adulterants in ice cream are
pepperonil, ethylacetate,butraldehyde, emil acetate, nitrate, washing powder
etc are not less than poison. Pepperoil is used as a pesticide and ethyl
acetate causes terribble diseases affecting lungs, kidneys and heart.
Ice cream is manufactured in extremely cold chamber
where fat is hardened and several harmful substances are added. Also a kind of
gum is added which is sticky and slow melting. This gum is obtained by boiling
animal parts like tail,the nose,the udder etc.
In the wake
of these devastating discoveries, authorities and lawmakers sprang into action.
Across the country, state administrations have authorized raids on food
vendors. Officials are being instructed to conduct stringent checks and impose
fines on vendors selling low-quality or adulterated items.
A
parliamentary panel, criticizing the FSSAI over weak enforcement of food safety
laws, has, among other directives, recommended that the food regulator be
restructured, technically skilled people with domain expertise be hired on a
full-time basis, and food safety departments be set up in every state.
For its
part, the FSSAI, under pressure from the Supreme Court, proposed several
amendments to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, including potential life
imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10 lakh on those found indulging in food
adulteration. The regulator also launched an ‘Eat Right’ movement to encourage
citizens to make better choices around the food they buy and consume.
However the
problem of contaminated food won’t go away overnight. So how can you do your
bit to keep yourself and your family safe from adulteration?
While
ordinary consumers may not have the means to conduct complex purity tests on
food items, there are some basic precautions that we can all take to determine
what’s safe and what isn't.
1. Check for
FSSAI validation
You always
look for a Hallmark on your jewellery, then why not a validation of your food?
The next time you shop for food, look for an FSSAI license number, a detailed
list of ingredients and their percentages, and the expiration date on the
package.
Use your
discretion when buying non-certified, loose food items from local stores. These
may be cheaper, but can lead to hefty medical bills in the long run.
2. Don’t
fall for manufacturers' 'health food' claims
Don’t fall
in the marketing trap of the ‘healthier option’ or something that ‘tastes like
sugar but is not sugar’. Ingredients used to create healthier options have been
found to do more harm than the natural product. Look up the claims made by the
manufacturers before buying.
3. Check the
purity of your food
The FSSAI’s
guide outlines ways to test the purity of every day food items from oils to
grains, spices, fruits and vegetables and beverages right in your kitchen.
Simply access the Detect Adulteration With Rapid Test (DART) Book that covers
more than 50 tests that can be performed easily in any household.
Food
contamination is not a new issue: it’s been around for as long as one can
remember. However, even as criminals get smarter, consumers can stay one step
ahead simply by being more aware of what they are putting on their plates.
Contamination of Coconut oil in kerala
Palm Kernel
oil: It is very difficult to distinguish between coconut oil and palm kernel
oil as they have some similar texture. Palm oil and palm kernel oil is not good
for you neither for the planet.
Argemone oil
& Cotton seed oil: Argemone is a Mexican weed which contains toxic
alkaloids and produces an inedible oil. This does not deter many oil brands
from using this to adulter. Cotton seeds (GM) too account for almost 13 percent
of total oil consumed in India.
Paraffin: It
is widely used by many top companies until few years. Illegally it is still
used by many merchants as a substitute to coconut oil or mixed like palm oil.
It is highly hazardous to health.
Increase oil
by volume: Synthetic chemical is added where by 1 liter of oil increases it’s
body to 1.1 liter.
Hexane: This
is a popular solvent used to extract maximum oil from any oil seed. This is
also toxic to humans.
Bleach:
Traditionally, oil mills had a constant stream of customers. The modern day
industrial oil mills however create produce in excess and rely on packing and
shelf life to reduce cost. Small players lost their share of business as a
result. So oil started piling up at local ghanis and mills. Also for big
players cleaning the equipment’s is a loss of production hours. Why worry when
there are cheap alternates to clean oil? Old oil trapped in the machines become
rancid after a few days and then it mixes with new oil which too is spoiled.
So, bleaching, filtering and using chemical preservatives became part of the
process, small mills after producing oil sell it to middle man which ultimately
reach to big stockist.
Filtering:
Filtering is essential nowadays because oils are produced in unhygienic and
unsupervised places, oil is also stocked and mixed with other cheap alternates.
Filtering filters out everything. The good is lost on account of the bad.
Filtering takes away the nutritional value of the oil.
Deodorize:
This is again done because after the oil is filtered to the core like water,
there is nothing left in oil. It’s just grease. So it needs an infusion of
aroma and flavour. Approved chemical substitutes is the answer once again.
Fungus:
Molds (fungal growth) are one of the biggest problems with copra (dried
coconut) and peanut. Coconut is full of moisture if it doesn’t dry well; it
starts to have fungal growth. Most traditional oil mills would never use this
type of coconuts as the oil will be inferior and smell rancid. Nowadays since
there are modern cheap alternates like bleaching, filtering and pasteurization.
Mills accept this type of coconuts at dirt cheap rates and mix all nuts
together.
Engine oils:
Yes my dear friends, cheap dirty oil from any source can be (and is)
re-filtered, re-packed and re-sold. I assumed that this type of oil would
mostly be used for lighting lamps and other inedible needs. Nonetheless, these
type of oil too find their way into our food grade oil.
