Manan Aggarwal, a class 12 student at Lord Mahavira Academy, conducted a chemistry project on studying common food adulterants under the guidance of his teacher Mr. Nitant Jain. The project involved experiments to test for common adulterants in foods like ghee, oil, sugar, chilli powder, turmeric powder, and salt. Tests were performed using various chemicals and observations were recorded. Adulterants like argemone oil in mustard oil and vanaspati ghee in desi ghee were detected. The conclusion highlighted the need for consumer awareness and legal actions to prevent adulteration for public health.

1. 1
CHEMISTRY PROJECT ON
“STUDY OF ADULTERANTS IN FOOD STUFF”
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for
the syllabus as prescribed by CBSE board of class
12th
.
submitted by: under the guidance of:
Manan Aggarwal Mr. Nitant Jain
CLASS 12TH
B (Chemistry Teacher)
Lord Mahavira Academy (10+2) affiliated to
CBSE, Chilkana Road, Saharanpur (247001)
Batch 2019-2020

2. 2
SUBMISSION
A project on “Study of Adulterants in
Food Stuffs” submitted for the
chemistry practical 2019-2020 of class
12th
for the fulfillment of the
requirement for the syllabus as
prescribed by CBSE board.
submitted by: under the guidance of:
Manan Aggarwal Mr. Nitant Jain
CLASS 12TH
B (Chemistry Teacher)

3. 3
1. CERTIFICATE 5
2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 6
3. TITLE 7
4. INTRODUCTION 8
5. THEORY 9
6. COMMON FOOD
ADULTERANTS TABLE
10
7.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
EXPERIMENT 1
AIM
APPARATUS
CHEMICALS REQUIRED
PROCEDURE
OBSERVATIONS &
RESULTS
11-12
8.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
EXPERIMENT 2
AIM
APPARATUS
CHEMICALS
REQUIRED
PROCEDURE
13-16

4. 4
OBSERVATIONS &
RESULTS
9. CONCLUSION 17
10. PRECAUTIONS 18
11. BIBLIOGRAGHY 19-20

5. 5
CERTIFICATE
This is hereby to certify that the original and
genuine investigation about the subject
matter and the related data collection and
investigation has been completed solely,
sincerely and satisfactorily.
The project title “Study of Adulterants in
Food Stuffs” submitted by –Manan
Aggarwal is the record of student work
carried by him under supervision as the part
of chemistry project during academic
session 2019-2020.
This is further to satisfy that he has worked
genuinely conducting the experiment and
the work put in by him is original and the
output of his own efforts.
SIGNATURE:
Mr. Nitant Jain Ms. Priya Jain
(Chemistry Teacher) (School Principal)
______________ ____________

6. 6
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special
thanks of gratitude to my
Chemistry teacher for their able
guidance and support in
completing my project.
I would also like to extend my
gratitude to the Principal Mam
“Ms. Priya Jain” providing me with
all the facility that was required.

7. 7
TITLE:
STUDY OF COMMON
FOOD
ADULTERANTS IN
FOOD-STUFFS

8. 8
INTRODUCTION
Adulteration is the act of intentionally debasing the
quality of food offered for sale either by mixture
or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal
of some valuable ingredient. In past few decades
adulteration of food has become one of the most serious
problems.
Consumption of adulterated food causes diseases like
cancer, asthma, ulcer, etc. Majority of adulterants
used by the shopkeepers are cheap substitutes which are
easily available.
In order to prevent adulteration of food products
by dishonest traders, the government has issued ‘The
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act’.
The Bureau of Indian Standards is the agency in India
that provides
the certificate of reliability to food manufacturers in
India.

9. 9
THEORY
We are very fortunate to be born a country which is blessed
with rich soil, diversified climate, many rivers and the great
Himalayas where almost all varieties of fruits, vegetables and
cereals, etc. can be grown. In ancient times, the land was in
abundance, the supply of food was more than the demand and
people used fresh food materials in most natural form. The
population spurt in our country has given rise to
unemployment and poverty.
The demand for food has increased & our country has to
import food grains, oil etc. from other countries. This shorta
ge of food and ignorance of consumers is the main cause for
adulteration of foodstuffs by the unscrupulous traders. It has
become so common that the consumers have to run from pillars
to pillars to get a foodstuff which is not adulterated. The
consumers are not aware of hazards of adulteration and pay
heavily for consuming adulterated food. If the consumer knows
the ways and means to check the commodities of daily use, they
can save themselves and their families from this mind-boggling
problem.

10. 10
SOME OF THE COMMON
FOOD ADULTERANTS IN
FOOD ITEMS ARE:
FOOD ITEMS ADULTERANTS
Desi ghee & Butter Vanaspati ghee
Vegetable ghee Paraffin wax
Mustard oil Argemone oil
Sugar Chalk powder, washing powder
Chilli Red lead, Brick powder
Turmeric powder Yellow salts of lead, yellow chalk powder

11. 11
EXPERIMENT 1 :
AIM:
To test the presence of adulterant in
fats, butter & oils.
APPARATUS:
Test-tubes, beakers, test-tube stand, filter
paper, dropper etc.
CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
For desi ghee & butter – conc. HCl, sugar,
small amounts of vanaspati ghee or butter.
For vegetable ghee – conc. acetic anhydride,
small amounts of vegetable ghee.
For oil – conc. Nitric acid, small amounts of
edible oil.
PROCEDURE:
In case of ordinary test for fats, butter & oils,
put a small amount of these separately on a
filter paper. Fold it & press, then unfold it. The

12. 12
presence of translucent spot indicates the
presence of oil or fat. Hold the filter paper over
flame, the spot grows larger.
Test for oils:
Take 1 ml of mustard oil in a test tube & add
few drops of conc. HCl solution to it. Shake the
mixture well. Appearance of red color in the
acid layer indicates the presence of argemone
oil in mustard oil.
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS:
S.No TYPES OF
FOOD
COMMON
ADULTERANT
OBSERVATION INFERENCE
1
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Desi Ghee &
Butter
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Vanaspati ghee
starch & Potato
Brownish pink
aqueous layer is
observed
Yes
No
No
No
Presence of
vanaspati ghee is
confirmed.
Yes
No
No
No
2.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Mustard oil
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Argemone oil Orange colored
solution is observed.
Yes
No
No
No
Presence of
Argemone oil is
confirmed.
Yes
No
No
No

13. 13
EXPERIMENT 2:
AIM:
To test the presence of adulterants in Sugar,
Chilli powder, Turmeric powder, salt & Pepper.
APPARATUS:
Test-tubes, beakers, test-tube stand, dropper,
glass rod etc.
CHEMICALS REQUIRED:
For sugar – dil. H2SO4, water, sample of sugar.
For chilli powder – dil. HNO3, KI solution,
sample of chilli powder.
For turmeric powder – conc. HCl, sample of
turmeric powder.

14. 14
For pepper – water, sample of pepper.
For salt- water.
PROCEDURE:
1)Tests for Sugar:
(a) Take a small amount of sugar in a beaker &
add some amount of water to it. Stir the
solution with a glass rod. Pure sugar dissolves
in the water whereas the insoluble particles
(chilli powder, washing powder etc.) floats on
the surface indicates the presence of
adulterants.
(b) Take 1 g of sugar in a test-tube & add few
drops of dil. HCl to it. A brisk effervescence due
to the formation of CO2 indicates chalk powder
or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.
2) Tests for Chilli powder:
(a) Take a small amount of chilli powder in a
test-tube & add few drops of dil. HNO3 to the
test-tube. Shake the mixture well & filter the
solution. To the filtrate, add 2-3 drops, of 10%

15. 15
KI solution. The presence of yellow coloured
precipitate indicates the presence of lead salts
in chilli powder.
(b) Take a small amount of given red chilli
powder in a beaker & add water to it. The pure
chilli powder floats over the surface of water
whereas brick powder settles at the bottom
3) Tests for Turmeric powder:
Take a small amount of turmeric powder in a
test-tube & to this add few drops of conc. HCl.
The color changes from yellow to violet or
magenta indicates the presence of lead salts in
turmeric powder.
4) Tests for Pepper:
Take a small amount of pepper in a beaker &
add water to it. Stir the mixture with a glass
rod. Dried papaya seeds float over water &
pepper settles at the bottom. Add a little salt to
water. Chalk powder will settle down.
5) Tests for Salt: Add a little salt to water.
Chalk powder will settle down.

16. 16
OBSERVATIONS & RESULTS:
S.No TYPES OF
FOOD
COMMON
ADULTERANT
OBSERVATION INFERENCE
1.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Salt
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Chalk powder No settled chalk
powder.
No
No
No
No
No chalk powder
is present.
No
No
No
No
2.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Red chilli powder
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Brick powder or
dyes
Settled red powder
and red color is
observed in the
solution
Yes
No
No
No
Presence of brick
powder and colors
is observed.
Yes
No
No
No
3.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Pepper
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Dried papaya
seeds
Filter paper remains
uncolored
No
No
No
Yes
No seeds present.
No
No
No
Yes
4.
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Turmeric powder
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Yellow chalk
powder.
No effervescence is
observed.
No
Yes
No
No
No yellow chalk
powder is present.
No
Yes
No
No

17. 17
CONCLUSION
The increasing number of food producers and the
outstanding amounts of imported food stuffs enables the
producers to mislead and cheat consumers. To
differentiate of those who take advantage of legal rules
from the once who commit food adulteration is very
difficult. The consciousness of consumers has become
very crucial.
However, how can we expect consequent behavior from
them regarding controversial issues emerging day by
day? In addition, ignorance and unfair market behaviors
is endangering consumer health. So we need sanctions
and judicial penalties with adequate restraining force to
halt this process.
We should take some precautions mentioned below.

18. 18
PRECAUTIONS
By taking a few precautions, we can escape from consuming
adulterated products:
1. Take only packed items of well-known companies.
2. Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized outlets.
3. Check the ISI mark or Ag mark.
4. Buy products of only air tight popular brands.
5. Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets and buy only
from reputed shops.
6. Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.
7. Avoid buying things from street side vendors.

19. 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Book’s Name: Laboratory Manual Chemistry,
Class XII
Author’s Name: B.Bhushan
Name of publication: Arya Publications
Year of Publication: 2018
Pages: 188,189,190,191,192.
Hyperlink To The Images:
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url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FLMASchool%2F
&psig=AOvVaw3ZB7vGfWdqZ5yB4qmJ60cJ&ust=1571677472
853584
2.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fw
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