Impact of food adulteration on human health

1. IMPACT OF ADULTERATED FOOD ON
HUMAN HEALTH
Dr. Dinesh Panwar
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology
Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut

2. FOOD
• A substance consisting essentially of
carbohydrates, protein, fats and other
nutrients used in the body of an
organisms to sustain growth and vital
processes and to furnish energy.

3. FOOD AND HEALTH
• “WHEN DIET IS WRONG,
MEDICINE IS OF NO USE. WHEN
DIET IS CORRECT, MEDICINE IS OF
NO NEED.”

4. • “SORRY, THERE’S NO MAGIC
BULLET. YOU GOTTA EAT HEALTHY
AND LIVE HEALTHY TO BE
HEALTHY AND LOOK HEALTHY.
END OF STORY.”

5. जैसा अन्न वैसा मन

6. FOOD ADULTERATION
• The intentional addition of non-permitted
foreign matter.
• Mixing something impure with something
genuine product or Inferior article with a
superior one
• Removal of a vital element.

7. DEFINITION
• Food adulteration takes into account not only the
intentional addition or substitution or abstraction of
substances which adversely affects the nature,
substance and quality of foods but also their
incidental contamination during the period of
growth, harvesting, storage, processing,
transportation and distribution.

8. FOOD QUALITY
Defined as that which makes a thing what
it is, its nature, kind, property, status, grade
of goodness and excellence.

9. FOOD STANDARDS
Food standards are something that are set
up by experts or an authority for
measuring quantity, weight, extent, value
and quality of a substance .

10. ADDITIVES v/s ADULTERATION
Additives Adulteration
Preservation of food Economic gain
Added to maintain safety,
freshness, taste, texture or
appearance
Degrade the food quality
Improve the quality Lowered the quality
Beneficial Risky for health
Permissible within limits Unethical

11. TYPES OF ADULTERATION
• Intentional Adulteration
• Incidental Adulteration
• Accidental Adulteration

12. INTENTIONAL ADULTERATION
• The adulterants are added as a deliberate
act with intention to increase profit.

13. EXAMPLES
• Milk with water and removal of cream
• Butter with lard
• Cheese made from skim milk or cottonseed oil
• Addition of starch

14. INCIDENTAL ADULTERATION
• Adulterants are found in food due to
negligence, ignorance or lack of proper
facilities e.g. packaging hazards like
larvae of insects, droppings, pesticide
residues, etc.

15. ACCIDENTAL ADULTERATION
• Adulterants added unintentionally or
accidently but no care taken by man.

16. METHODS OF ADULTERATION
• Mixing
• Substitution
• Concealing quality
• Decomposed food
• Misbranding/ False labels
• Addition of toxicants

17. IMPACT
• 600 million, almost 1 in 10 people in the world fall ill
after eating contaminated food and 4,20,000 death
every year.
• 40% Children under 5 years of age carry the disease
burden, with 1,25,000 deaths every year.
• Diet-related death India (1,573,595) at second place,
only after China (3,128,516).

18. • US$110 billion is lost each year in productivity and
medical expenses.
• Percentage of adulterated food has increased from
12.8% in 2011-12 to 28% in 2018-19 in India and still
rising…

20. COMMON ADULTERANTS
Food Products Adulterant Harmful Effects
Milk and Curd Water and starch powder. Stomach disorders
Ghee, Cheese and Butter
Mashed potatoes,
Vanaspati and starch powder.
Gastro-intestinal disturbances
and other stomach disorders
Grains
Dust, Pebbles, Stones, Straw,
weed seeds, damaged grain,
etc.
Liver disorders, Toxicity in the
body
Pulses
Dyes, chemical and Lead
Chromate.
Stomach disorders
Coffee powder
Chicory, tamarind seeds
powder.
Diarrhoea
Tea Artificial colouring agents. Liver disorders

21. Food Products Adulterant Harmful Effects
Pepper Dried papaya seeds and blackberries.
Severe allergic reactions
including stomach and skin
irritations
Mustard seeds Argemone seeds.
Abdominal contractions,
sluggishness and increased
excretion
Edible Oils
Mineral oil, Karanja oil, castor oil and
artificial colours.
Gallbladder cancer, allergies,
paralysis, cardiac arrest, and
increased LDL cholesterol
Turmeric
Powder
Pesticide residues, sawdust, chalk dust,
industrial dyes, metanil yellow dye,
arsenic, lead metal etc.
Cancer and Stomach
disorders
Sugar Chalk powder, Washing soda, Urea, etc.
Stomach disorders and
kidney failure

22. Food Products Adulterant Harmful Effects
Chilli and
Coriander
powder
Redbrick powder, Rhodamine B dye, Red
lead, dung powder, soluble salts, water-
soluble synthetic colours and other
common salts.
Metal toxicity, Cancer, lead poisoning,
tumour, variations in blood pressure
and other stomach related disorders
Cinnamon
sticks
Cassia bark.
Liver Damage, Low Blood Sugar,
Mouth Sores and increased risk of
cancer
Cumin seeds
Coloured grass seeds, sawdust and charcoal
dust
Stomach disorders
Jam, Juice and
Candies
Non-permitted dyes including metanil
yellow and other artificial food dyes.
These dyes are highly carcinogenic
that have the potential to cause
different types of cancer
Tomato sauces
Pumpkin pulp, non-edible artificial colours
and flavours.
Gastritis and inflammation of vital
organs

23. Food Products Adulterant Harmful Effects
Jaggery Washing soda, chalk powder
Vomiting and other Stomach
disorders
Honey
Molasses, dextrose, sugar and corn
syrups
Stomach disorders
Fruits and
Vegetables
Chemical dyes, Malachite green,
calcium carbide, copper sulphate and
oxytocin saccharin wax.
Stomach disorders, vomiting,
and dyes used are highly
carcinogenic
Ice Cream
Pepper oil, ethyl acetate,
butyraldehyde, nitrate, washing
powder. The kind of gum is added
which is prepared by boiling different
animal parts including the tail, udder,
nose, etc.
Dreadful diseases that affect
organs including lungs, kidneys,
and heart

24. WHY
• More profit
• Increase the quantity
• Increase volume of trade
• Meet the high demand
• Negligence of manufacturers
• Lack of awareness of consumers

25. ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
• PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT, 1954,
It came into force on 1st June 1955 as THE
PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT, 1954
(4 amendments).
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI). An autonomous body established under
the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

26. Prevention is the best cure

27. MITIGATION MEASURES
• Proper surveillance of the implementation food laws.
• Periodic monitoring.
• Periodical training programmes for food safety.
• Certification
• Strictest punishment
• Consumer Awareness Programmes

28. DART BOOK
• Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test (DART)
• https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/knowledge_h
ub/1878035b34b558a3b48DART%20Book.pdf

29. HOW CAN WE GET RID OF?
• Buy local
• Grind the easy
• Use kitchen garden
• Hygiene and sanitation
• Consumer Awareness

30. Avoid dark colored, junk and other processed foods.
Make sure to clean and store all the grains, pulses and other food
products.
Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly in running water before
they are used.
Check if the seal is valid or not, before buying food products like
milk, oil and other pouches.
Always make sure to check and buy products having an Quality
control-validated label, along with the license number, list of
ingredients, manufactured date, and its expiration.