Sahara Q Shop products are of high quality ensured through stringent multilevel checks and quality assurance protocol followed throughout the cycle of the product, right from procurement of raw material to the final product.

1. JOIN THE FIGHT
AGAINST ADULTERATION
WITH SAHARA SHOP
Sahara Q Shop is a mega quality consumer merchandise retail business from
Sahara India Pariwar. Its aim is to provide adulteration-free quality products to
the esteemed citizens of the country.
Sahara Q Shop’s unbeatable advantages
 100% commitment to quality
 Right weight/quantity
 100% disclosure policy across all products
 State-of-the-art Quality Control labs in 7 different locations across India.
 Pan-India quality team of 500 people, comprising Quality Experts and
Associates, Quality Control Executives, Quality Assurance Managers and
Quality Advisors
This Tabloid is for free circulation only
and not to be sold at retail counters.
THE
TIMES
Take out 15 minutes of your precious time to read this shocking but true
information about how the food that we consume everyday is slowly
poisoning us and affecting our health...
- Sahara Q Shop
It is poisoning your life
Today, is anybody safe from the menace of adulteration? It simply cannot be.
THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY (SAHARA Q SHOP)
Sahara Q Shop products are of high quality ensured through stringent multilevel checks and quality assurance protocol followed throughout the cycle of
the product, right from procurement of raw material to the final product.
SQMS (Sahara Quality Management System)
To ensure that all our products are of good quality, we have put a special
Sahara Quality Management System in place. It is system design which is
based on principles / standards of HACCP, ISO 9001 (QMS), ISO 22000
(FSMS), BIS, & FSSAI norms. It covers Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP),
Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), OPRP (Operational Pre-Requisite Programs),
CCP (Critical Control Points). It has 100 point Vendor selection criteria to
assess Vendor facility based on FSSAI recommendations.
QC (Quality Control) and QA (Quality Assurance)
Quality Control (QC) focuses on adhering to on-line processing parameters
and product quality checks at manufacturing/packaging locations under the
following key points
 Raw Material Testing
 Online Process Monitoring
 Finished Product Testing
Quality Assurance (QA) focuses on the verification of quality systems in the
entire value chain by developing and verifying SQMS of all food categories
(staples, processed foods, beverages, water) and non-food categories
ensuring all types of hazards (physical, chemical and biological) are
eliminated during processing.
Sahara Q Shop’s Quality Promise
Every Sahara Q Shop product comes with a promise of quality , no matter
which part of the country you buy it in. At Sahara Q Shop, our quest for quality
dictates all that we do. Keeping this in mind, we have adopted the 'Sahara
Quality Management System' (SQMS). This approach towards managing
quality of our products consist of the following functions:
GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)
GMP or good manufacturing practices covers all the aspects of the
manufacturing process at Sahara Q Shop. These practices ensure that quality
is not a one off thing but it’s built into the product at every stage, right from
growing crops to delivering the final product to the consumers. This ensures
quality.
GHP (Good Hygiene Practices)
Hygiene is an integral part of good quality food. If food products are not
processed under hygienic conditions, not only do they become adulterated
but also become unsafe for consumption. Good Hygiene Practices lay down
stringent guidelines that govern each part of the process. This includes the
process itself as well as maintenance and sanitation, personal hygiene
benchmarks, transportation, raising consumer awareness, training and other
such processes which ensure that hygienic conditions are maintained
throughout the supply chain to completely eliminate cross contamination.
HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points)
HACCP ensures that all types of hazards, be it physical, chemical or microbial
are controlled and kept within safe limits. It covers all aspects for controlling
hazards including the process itself, food establishment and installation to
product storage and transportation.
100 point criteria for vendor selection
Sahara Q Shop has a “100 point criteria” for vendor packer selection which
covers areas related to regulatory requirements, quality control process,
sound infrastructure, good cleaning & sanitation practices, employee
hygiene, robust training and management as well as a quality assurance
system. Only vendor packers with an audit score 0f over 90% are endorsed
and certified. This helps us in keeping our quality in check and engage
businesses who follow best practices only, which in turn helps in maintaining
our quality and fulfilling our promise.
The main aim of adulteration in unregulated sector is to earn profit, and the adulterators are not concerned about the
health and life of the common man. It is for this very reason that adulterators are adulterating most of the basic
household items, such as wheat, rice, millet, corn, flour, arhar dal, chana dal, black and yellow mustard, sunflower oil,
sesame oil, safflower oil, mustard oil, groundnut oil, pure ghee, butter, honey, ketchup, coriander powder, turmeric
powder, chilli powder and refined flour. Even items such as tea, coffee, milk, baby milk powder, squashes, jams,
jellies, pickles, canned fruits and vegetables are also adulterated. Adulterators use dangerous adulterants, like fine
pebbles, mud, hay, droppings of rodents, talcum powder for polishing, tricreysl phosphate, a mix of inedible oils like
argemone oil, castor oil, rancid oil, margarine, detergent, lead chromate, oxytocin hormone injections, urea, caustic
soda, formalin, melamine, ashes of bones, lead, manure, sawdust, chalk powder, sand, sulfur, non-permitted colours
and such other dangerous items, to adulterate. Due to the presence of the above mentioned adulterants in
unregulated sector, one could suffer from many diseases and disorders, a few of which are listed below.
Urea mixed in milk can prove highly dangerous for the heart and kidneys. Caustic soda, which contains sodium, can
work to be a slow poison for those who suffer from hypertension and other coronary diseases. Formalin is even more
dangerous for the body—it can harm the liver. Inedible oils like argemone oil, castor oil, mineral oil and rancid oil can
alone or a mix of these can cause deficiency of vitamins A and E, paralysis, liver damage and also increase cholesterol,
which can prove fatal. Chalk powder can harm the stomach. Lead poisoning can have harmful effects on the central
nervous system. Adulteration can also cause danger of cancers, epidemic dropsy, glaucoma, hepatitis, skin diseases
and cardiac arrest. Children may also be afflicted with diseases, in addition to the above, such as anaemia, mental
retardation, brain and liver damage.
Today, using adulterated products in unregulated sector is costing people their lives. Not only is the lifespan of the
elders as well as the other members in the family reducing, but even their quality of life is being affected badly. Children
are being affected even more.
For this reason this menace of adulteration has to be strictly dealt with.
All information has been derived from the book Food Quality and Safety as well as from other specialists.
www.foodadulterationinfo.com, www.delhi.gov.in and http://agmarknet.nic.in.

2. SHOCKING, BUT TRUE !
Arhar Dal and Channa Dal may
contain cheap and low quality
Khesari dal (Lathyrus sativus) which
contains an ususual and harmful
amino acid. Consuming this dal in
appreciable quantities for a period of
2-3 months may cause severe
paralysis of lower limbs. Khesari dal
has very low cultivation cost, and is
therefore favoured by dishonest
market to earn high profit margins.
Mustard Oil contaminated with
Argemone seed oil causes epidemic
dropsy, which can cause vomiting,
diarrhea, nausea, fever, erythema,
bilateral pitting edema of the lower
limbs, breathlessness, tachycardia,
hepatomegaly, crepitations in the
lungs, gallop rhythm, and even
glaucoma, cardiac & respiratory
failure, and death. Mustard Oil may
also contain Butter yellow, which can
react with our genes and produce
hepatic & skin tumors, and cancer.
A CLOSE LOOK
AT WHAT
GOES INTO
OUR DAILY
SHOPPING BAG!
Red Chillies when
adulterated with
Sudan (I to IV), which
are cheaper and
easily accessible fat
soluble synthetic dyes, can damage
cellular DNA,resulting in mutations
or cancer. The use of these colouring
agents in edibles is prohibited by
most countries of the world.
Ghee may be mixed
with Animal Fat.
Coconut Oil may
be mixed with
cottonseed oil.
The butter may be
ad ulterated wi th
v e g e t a b l e
margarine.
Rice may contain
metanil yellow colour
for their golden
appearance.
Canned vegetables
and pickles may
contain excessive
preservatives.
Confectione
ry (cakes,
pastries,
bread) may
contain
harmful
colors.
The many shapes, colours & sizes of ADULTERATION,
each as deadly as the other.
CEREALS
Wheat, Rice, Bajra, Maize, Atta etc.
Common Adulterant
 Small stones, mud, straw, rodent & insect excreta
 Ergot seeds
 Inferior quality or infested food grains
 Atta sold after removing gluten (its protein)
 Mixing of inferior quality/cheaper grain flour
 Fungus infestation/Toxins in grains
 Insects larvae or weevils, rodent hair
 Metanil yellow colour as golden appearance of
Sela rice
Diseases or Health effects
 Stomach Disorder, Anaemia, Liver/other organ
damage & Cancer
 Ergotism (St. Anthony's fire burning sensation in
extremities, itching of skin, peripheral gangrene).
 Alimentary Toxic Aleukia (ATA)
 May cause health implications
DALS
Arhar, Channa, Urad, Moong dals etc. and their
powders/Besan etc.
Common Adulterant
 Infested food grains
 Small stones, mud, straw
 Mixing inferior quality dal
 Coating dal (yellow) with metanil yellow to make
it shiny
 Khesari dal to arhar and channa dal
 Khesari dal and maize flour in besan
 Talcum powder to polish dals (especially urad and
moong washed) to improve appearance
Diseases or Health effects
 Damage Digestive tract
 Lathyrism (Crippling Spastic Paraplegia)
 May cause health implications
EDIBLE OIL
Mustard, Sunflower, Til, Safflawer, Groundnut etc.
Common Adulterant
 Mixing of cheaper oil in high priced oil
 Mixing non-edible oil (mobil oil,tri cresyl
phosphate and rancid oil) in edible oil
 Non-permitted colour and pungency in simulated
mustard oil
 Mixing of Argemone oil, Mineral oil, Castor oil
 Use of BHA, BHT, TBHQ etc anti oxidant beyond
permissible limit
Diseases or Health effects
 Vomiting, Gastro enteritis, Oedema
 Epidemic dropsy, Glaucoma, Cardiac arrest
 Argemone oil depletes Vitamin A
and E
 Cancer, paralysis
 Liver damage, increase in serum cholesterol etc
 May become fatal & life-threatening
BUTTER
Common Adulterant
 Vanaspati, Margarine
 Mashed potatoes, Sweet potatoes & other
starches
 Artificial non-permitted colour
Diseases or Health effects
 Food poisoning
 Cancer and other toxic effects
 May cause health implications
PURE GHEE
Common Adulterant
 Vanaspati ,cheaper oils
 Margarine
 Mashed potatoes, Sweet potatoes & other
starches
 Animal lard/tallow
Diseases or Health effects
 Food poisoning
SUGAR
Common Adulterant
 Fine white sand
 Chalk powder
 Suji
Diseases or Health effects
 Chalk powder may cause stomach disorder
 Impaired digestion
TEA LEAVES
Common Adulterant
 Inferior quality tea leaves
 Exhausted tea or tur or gram dal husk with colour
 Leaves other than tea leaves
 Cashew nut endocarp, coffee husk ,Iron filings
 Addition of outer coat of black dals like urad
whole
Diseases or Health effects
 Iron fillings may damage alimentary canals
 Injurious to health
COFFEE
Common Adulterant
 Starch, roasted wheat powder
 Tamarind seeds powder, date seeds powder
 Used coffee powder, coloured and dried
 Powder of inferior quality beans mixed
 Mixing large portions of chicory without
indicating on packet
Diseases or Health effects
 May cause health implications
TURMERIC POWDER (HALDI)
Common Adulterant
 Coloured saw, chalk powder
 Coating whole turmeric or mixing metanil yellow
and lead chromate colour
 Maida, powdered rice, powdered dal, artificial
colours
Mixing curcumin extracted /depleted turmeric
powders
• Starch of maize, wheat, tapioca, rice
Diseases or Health effects
 Chalk powder may cause stomach disorders
 Lead poisoning, anemia, mental retardation, brain
damage etc
 May cause health implications
DHANIA POWDER & OTHER MASALA
Common Adulterant
 Clay (inorganic matter)
 Starch, chalk powder, yellow soap stone powder
 Common salt
 Mud, sand, straw
 Saw dust, Powered bran
 Dried dung
Diseases or Health effects
 Stomach disorder
 May cause health implications
CHILLI POWDER
Common Adulterant
 Salt & starch powder
 Brick powder, Grit, Sand, Dirt, Filth
 Artificial non-permitted colours (red)
Diseases or Health effects
 Stomach disorder, liver damage
 Toxic effects & cancer risk
 May cause health implications
MUSTARD SEEDS
Common Adulterant
 Unpermitted colours
 Argemone seeds
Diseases or Health effects
 Epidemic dropsy, Glaucoma, Cardiac arrest
 May become fatal & life-threatening
BLACK PEPPER SEEDS
Common Adulterant
 Seeds coated with mineral oil
 Dried papaya seeds
Diseases or Health effects
 May be Injurious to health
SQUASH, JAM, JELLY, PICKLE, CANNED FRUITS
AND VEGETABLES
 Common Adulterant
 Less % of fruit pulp addition in jam than declared
 Mixing of other cheaper fruit pulp & not declared.
Like papaya pulp in pineapple jam
 Non permitted colour
 Excessive colours & preservatives
 Use of inferior quality tin to pack these foods
Diseases or Health effects
 Deprived from nutritional value of declared fruit
 Acute irritation of the gastro – intestinal tracts etc
 May be Injurious to health

Source: www.foodadulterationinfo.com, www.delhi.gov.in, http://agmarknet.nic.in, Book on "Food Quality and Safety" by Prem Kumar Jaiswal