With cases of adulterated food impacting thousands of people every year, The Pioneer’s
Tejal Sinha brings an overview of adulterants, keeping yourself safe from these adulterated foods, and more, as she connects with doctors and experts having insights on the same. Food adulteration is a serious issue that poses significant health hazards to the general public. It’s a big task to find out which of the foods or drinks we buy from the market, be it milk, fruits, or groceries, has been adulterated. In fact, to our shock, Hyderabad has ranked first in the country for food adulteration cases, according to the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). In 2022, a total of 291 cases of food adulteration were reported across 19 major cities in India.
Interestingly, 246 of these cases—a startling number—were reported in Hyderabad alone, indicating a worrying trend in the city’s food safety. The local police in the three commissionerates of Hyderabad, Rachakonda, and Cyberabad has taken a proactive stance against food adulteration and have made several noteworthy seizures. Ice creams, tea powder, and contaminated finger garlic paste are among the seized goods.
WHAT ARE ADULTERANTS?
Adulterant food comes in various forms that include chemicals, additives, or other unnatural substances—added intentionally to increase bulk, enhance appearance, or prolong shelf life—that compromise food negatively, which may affect both food and people who consume it.
“Adulterants in foods are intentionally added substances that go beyond the usual ingredients,” shares Dr. Basavaraj S. Kumbar, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Aster Whitefield Hospital. “They are usually added for economic gain as well as to enhance the appearance, taste, or shelf life of the food item. Food adulteration is the sneaky side of the food industry. It’s like someone messing with your favourite recipe to save money or make it look better. This could involve swapping saffron for turmeric in your biryani or using recycled oil for frying.”
Apart from chemical adulterants, there are microbiological adulterants, like bacteria such as Salmonella or E. coli, that can infiltrate food and cause bad foodborne illnesses. Then there are physical adulterants are foreign materials like sand or stones that accidentally end up in food, which obviously shouldn’t be there. Economic adulterants involve ways to save money, like watering down products or swapping expensive ingredients for cheaper ones. And then there’s food fraud, where people intentionally lie about what’s in the food or where it comes from, all for the sake of making more money. It’s important for regulators to keep an eye on things to make sure our food is safe and what it says it is on the label.
Impact of Adulterated Food
Dr. Pooja Pillai, Consultant Physician and Diabetologist, Sparsh Hospital, shares, “Adulterated food can also be deadly, triggering a wide range of health problems, from mild discomfort to serious illnesses. For example, lead in tomato paste, pesticides, or synthetic colourings in foods can easily poison consumers, especially if consumed over long periods of time. If you consume contaminated food and get sick, immediately see a doctor. Report the incident to the relevant health authorities. Take action to prevent further damage.”
Methods of Food Adulteration
There are various methods used for adding adulterants to food items. A common approach involves the addition of cheaper or inferior substances to food items, aimed at increasing their volume or weight. Water may be mixed with milk, or fillers may be added to spices. Additionally, high-quality ingredients are replaced with cheaper alternatives, often misleading consumers regarding the actual composition of the product. Dilution is another technique used where food is blended with cheap ingredients to cut expenses, thereby compromising it’s nutritional value and safety. Mislabelling and false advertising are also unethical, as manufacturers provide inaccurate information regarding ingredients and even the nutritional content. Consumers must be aware of adulteration methods so they can make wise decisions about the food they consume.
“When purchasing food such as meat and vegetables from local street markets, purchase from reliable sellers and from those with few sell-bys, clean, sealed packaging, and labelled products (whenever possible, with organic or locally sourced produce preferred). Furthermore, inspect fruits and vegetables for unusual appearances or odours, and grains for any evidence of infestation. After being repeatedly exposed to harmful chemicals and contaminants over time, the long-term health damage caused by eating contaminated products is several, varying from mild to severe life-threatening allergic reactions, digestive problems, and the risk of developing chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological disorders to even causing carcinogenic and genotoxic effects—that is the most pervasive and significant effect caused by the presence of adulterated food,” adds Dr. Pooja.
Meanwhile, looking at the crime angle, a senior police official on the condition of anonymity shared that regarding the seized goods, samples must be taken and sent for examination by the medical and health departments. If the samples didn’t pass the testing, they had to follow the Food Adulteration Act’s provisions.
FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS ACT, 2006
The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, received the assent of the President on August 23, 2006. It is an act to consolidate the laws relating to food and to establish the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for laying down science-based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import, to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
“The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act was first proposed in 1954. Regarding food adulteration, there are numerous other laws. Finally, the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 (FSS Act) was passed by Parliament to unify all laws. The operator of a food business is accountable under Section 26 of the act for the quality of the materials used in the food at all times during manufacturing, processing, import, distribution, and sale. Under the statute, no owner of a food business is allowed to store, sell, or distribute any food that is contaminated, improperly branded, of low quality, or that includes extraneous materials, among other things. He should not assign someone handling food material who is infected or has a communicable disease,” highlights Karuna Goud, a civil and criminal lawyer, adding that despite the act’s strength, it’s provisions are not being implemented as intended.
The Pioneer also gathered some exclusive insights from the FSSAI officials, who have come up with several initiatives in the last few years to check adulterants in food:
(i) Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test (DART) Book: Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test (DART) booklet is a compilation of common quick tests for detecting food adulterants in households by the citizens themselves to induce consumer awareness about food safety. It covers more than 50 tests that can be performed easily in households with the help of water and simple solutions like tincture of iodine for food products like milk & milk products, oils & fats, sugar, food grains & it’s products, spices & condiments, etc. These tests also include sensory evaluation tests for establishing the authentication of food products. It depicts the differences between pure and adulterated food products through pictorial representations.
(ii) Food Safety on Wheels: Mobile Food Testing Laboratory or “Food Safety on Wheels” (FSW), is a multi-purpose vehicle equipped with basic infrastructure for on-spot quick qualitative testing for the detection of the presence or absence of specific adulterants in various food commodities. It is being used for surveillance and creating awareness regarding food safety in remote areas in the States/UTs, large public congregations, schools and consumer organisations and provide on-the-spot test facilities for qualitative adulteration of common food items like ghee, milk, khoya, sweets, edible oil, non-permitted food colors in various foods like namkeens, spices, prepared foods, etc.
(iii) Food Safety Magic Box: It is a do-it-yourself food safety testing kit that aims to be a pedagogical tool to educate school children. It is a portable box that contains a few basic chemicals, small instruments and safety gadgets. It also has a companion guidance book that illustrates testing across various food products in a very simple way through pictures. It can perform tests to determine adulterants like water, urea, detergents, starch, pulverised soap, etc. in milk; starch and artificial colours in spices and condiments; mineral acid in beverages, adulteration in sugar and honey. In all, more than 100 super easy tests, including sensory tests, can be performed at schools using materials available readily.
