KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA

MAITHON DAM

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

FOR CBSE EXAMINATION 2022-2023
TOPIC: FOOD ADULTERANTS IN DIFFERENT
FOOD STUFFS

SUBMITTED BY:
NAME: DIPIKA KUMARI

CLASS: XII ‘B’

ROLL NO:
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Dipika Kumari of class:
XII-‘B’ has successfully completed
Chemistry Investigatory project on the topic
“Study of common food adulterants in fat, oil,
butter, sugar, turmeric powder, chilli powder
and
pepper” under the guidance of Mr. Indresh
Choudhary(Chemistry Teacher) as prescribed
by the Central Board of Secondary
Education(CBSE) during the academic
session 2022-2023.

(Signature) (Signature)
Teacher In Charge External Examiner
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special gratitude to my
Chemistry Teacher Mr. Indresh Choudhary as well
as our Principal, Mr. Navendu Parashar who gave
me the golden opportunity and supported me to do
this project on the topic Study of common food
adulterants in fat, oil, butter, sugar, turmeric
powder, chilli powder and pepper. This project
also helped me in doing a lot of research and I
came to know about so many new things. I am
really thankful to them.
I would also like to thank my parents and my
friends for helping me in doing this project .

Signature of candidate
 -:CONTENTS:-
 CERTIFICATE
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 OBJECTIVE
 INTRODUCTION
 THEORY
 EXPERIMENT-1
 EXPERIMENT-2
 EXPERIMENT-3
 OBSERVATION
 PRECAUTIONS
 CONCLUSION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 OBJECTIVE
Study of common food
adulterants in fat, oil, butter,
sugar, turmeric powder,
chilli powder and pepper.
 INTRODUCTION
Food is one of the basic necessities for
sustenance of life. Pure, fresh and healthy
diet is most essential for the health of the
people. It is no wonder to say that
community health is national wealth.
Adulteration of food-stuffs was so
rampant, widespread and persistent that
nothing short of a somewhat drastic
remedy in the form of a comprehensive
legislation became the need of the hour.
To check this kind of antisocial evil a
concerted and determined onslaught was
launched by the Government by
introduction of the Prevention of Food
Adulteration Bill in the Parliament to
herald an era of much needed hope and
relief for the consumers at large.
‘Adulteration of food-stuffs and other
goods’ is now included in the Concurrent
List (III) in the Constitution of India. It
has, therefore, become possible for the
Central Government to enact all India
legislation on this subject. The Bill
replaces all local food adulteration laws
where they exist and also applies to those
States where there are no local laws on the
subject. Among others, it provides for —
 A Central Food Laboratory to which
food samples can be referred to for
final opinion in disputed cases (clause
4),
 A Central Committee for Food
Standards consisting of representatives
of Central and State Governments to
advise on matters arising from the
administration of the Act (clause 3),
and
 The vesting in the Central Government
of the rule-making power regarding
standards of quality for the articles of
food and certain other matters (clause
22).
 THEORY
The increasing number of food producers
and the outstanding amount of import
foodstuffs enables the producers to
mislead and cheat consumers. To
differentiate those who take advantage of
legal rules from the ones who commit food
adulteration is very difficult. The
consciousness of consumers would be
crucial. Ignorance and unfair market
behavior may endanger consumer health
and misleading can lead to poisoning. So
we need simple screening tests for their
detection. In the past few decades,
adulteration of food has become one of the
serious problems. Consumption of
adulterated food causes serious diseases
like cancer, diarrhoea, asthma, ulcers, etc.
Majority of fats, oils and butter are
paraffin wax, castor oil and hydrocarbons.
Red chilli powder is mixed with brick
powder and pepper is mixed with dried
papaya seeds. These adulterants can be
easily identified by simple chemical tests.
Several agencies have been set up by the
Government of India to remove
adulterants from food stuffs. AGMARK:
Acronym for agricultural marketing....this
organization certifies food products for
their quality. Its objective is to promote the
Grading and Standardization of
agricultural and allied commode.
 EXPERIMENT-1
AIM:
To detect the presence of adulterants in
fat, oil and butter.
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4,
acetic acid, conc. HNO3.
PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in oil are
paraffin wax, hydrocarbons, dyes and
argemone oil. These are detected as
follows:
(i) Adulteration of dyes in fat-
Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture of 1mL of
conc. sulphuric acid and 4mL of acetic
acid. Appearance of pink or red colour
indicates presence of dye in fat.
(ii) Adulteration of argemone oil in
edible oils-
To small amount of oil in a test-tube, add
few drops of conc. HNO3 and shake.
Appearance of red colour in the acid layer
indicates presence of argemone oil.
 EXPERIMENT-2
AIM:
To detect the presence of adulterants in
sugar.
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tubes, dil. HCl.
PROCEDURE:
Sugar is usually contaminated with
washing soda and other insoluble
substances which are detected as follows :
(i) Adulteration of various insoluble
substances in sugar
Take small amount of sugar in a test-tube
and shake it with little water. Pure sugar
dissolves in water but insoluble impurities
do not dissolve.
(ii) Adulteration of chalk powder, washing
soda in sugar
To small amount of sugar in a test-tube,
add few drops of dil. HCl. Brisk
effervescence of CO2 shows the presence
of chalk powder or washing soda in the
given sample of sugar.
To detect the presence of adulterants in
samples of chilli powder, turmeric powder.
 EXPERIMENT-3
AIM:
To detect the presence of adulterants in
chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper.
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI
solution
PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in chilli
powder, turmeric powder and pepper are
red coloured lead salts, yellow lead salts
and dried papaya seeds respectively.
They are detected as follows:
(i) Adulteration of red lead salts in
chilli powder
To a sample of chilli powder, add dil.
HNO3. Filter the solution and add 2 drops
of potassium iodide solution to the
filtrate. Yellow ppt. indicates the presence
of lead salts in chilli powder.
(ii) Adulteration of yellow lead salts
to turmeric powder
To a sample of turmeric powder add conc.
HCl. Appearance of magenta colour shows
the presence of yellow oxides of lead in
turmeric powder.
(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red
chilli powder
Add small amount of given red chilli
powder in beaker containing water. Brick
powder settles at the bottom while pure
chilli powder floats over water.
(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in
pepper
Add small amount of sample of pepper to
a beaker containing water and stir with a
glass rod. Dried papaya seeds being lighter
float over water while pure pepper settles
at the bottom.
 OBSERVATION TABLE:
Experimen Experiment Procedure Observation
t no.
1. Adulteration Heat 1mL of Appearance
of dyes in fat fat with a of pink
mixture of colour.
1mL of
conc.H2SO4
and 4mL of
acetic acid.
2. Adulteration To small No red colour
of amount of observed.
argemone oil in a test
oil in edible tube, add
oils few drops of
conc. HNO3
& shake.
3. Adulteration Take small Pure sugar
of various amount of dissolves in
insoluble sugar in a water but
substances in test tube and insoluble
sugar shake it impurities do
with not dissolve.
little water.
4. Adulteration To small No brisk
of chalk amount of effervescence
powder, sugar in a observed.
washing soda test tube,
in sugar. add
a few drops
of dil. HCl.
5. Adulteration To sample of Appearance
of yellow turmeric of magenta
lead salts to powder, colour.
turmeri
c add conc.
powder. HCl.
6. Adulteration To a sample No yellow
of red lead of chilli precipitate.
salts in chilli powder, add
powder. dil. HNO3.
Filter the
solution and
add 2 drops
of
KI solution
to
the filtrate.

7. Adulteration Add small Brick powder

of brick amount of settles at the
powder in bottom while
 chilli powder given red pure chilli
chilli powder floats
powder in a over water.
beaker
containing
water

8. Adulteration Add small Dried

of dried amount of papaya
papaya seeds sample of seeds being
in pepper pepper to lighter float
beaker over water
containing while pure
water and pepper
stir settles
with a glass at the
rod. bottom.
RESULT:
The required analyses for adulterants in food
stuffs has been made.
 CONCLUSION
Selection of wholesome and non-adulterated
food is essential for daily life to make sure
that such foods do not cause any health
hazard. It is not possible to ensure wholesome
food only on visual examination when the
toxic contaminants are present in ppm level.
However, visual examination of the food
before purchase makes sure to ensure absence
of insects, visual fungus, foreign matters, etc.
Therefore, due care taken by the consumer at
the time of purchase of food after thoroughly
examining can be of great help. Secondly,
label declaration on packed food is very
important for knowing the ingredients and
nutritional value. It also helps in checking the
freshness of the food and the period of best
before use. The consumer should avoid taking
food from an unhygienic place and food being
prepared under unhygienic conditions. Such
types of food may cause various diseases.
Consumption of cut fruits being sold in
unhygienic conditions should be avoided. It is
always better to buy certified food from
reputed shops.
 BIBLOGRAPHY
1. WEBSITES
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.google.com
 www.yahoo.com
2. APPLICATIONS
 Google
 YouTube
3. BOOKS
 Comprehensive Practical Manual
 NCERT Textbook Class-
12(Chemistry Part-1)