15 Home Tests to Find Adulteration in our daily Edible Food Items
Apple:
Adulterant:
Wax
Test:
To see if your apple isn’t wax covered, take a knife and slowly scrape the skin of your apple. If the knife extracts white, then that’s wax.
To see if your apple isn’t wax covered, take a knife and slowly scrape the skin of your apple. If the knife extracts white, then that’s wax.
Salt and Sugar:
Adulterant:
Chalk Powder, Urea
Test:
Stir in a spoonful of the Salt or Sugar in a glass of water for a few minutes. If the solution turns white and the residue settles at the bottom, it indicates the presence of chalk. A clear solution indicates purity.
Used/processed tea leaves that have been artificially coloured
Test:
Test:
Stir in a spoonful of the Salt or Sugar in a glass of water for a few minutes. If the solution turns white and the residue settles at the bottom, it indicates the presence of chalk. A clear solution indicates purity.
Tea Powder:
Adulterant:Used/processed tea leaves that have been artificially coloured
Test:
Sprinkle a teaspoon of tea powder on a moist blotting paper. If the colour of the blotting paper changes to something similar to yellow, orange or red, it indicates the presence of artificial colour in the tea powder. Pure tea leaves release colour only when they are added to hot water.
Test 1:
Take a cotton wick and dip it in honey. Then try to burn it. If the wick burns readily then the honey is pure, and if it crackles then it’s not.
Honey:
Adulterant:
Sugar
Take a cotton wick and dip it in honey. Then try to burn it. If the wick burns readily then the honey is pure, and if it crackles then it’s not.
Test 2:
Add a spoonful of honey to a glass of water. If the honey disperses instantly, it indicates the presence of glucose/sugar syrup. Pure honey is denser and will instead sink to the bottom instead of dissolving instantaneously.
Test 3:
Another test involves mixing a tablespoon of honey, a little water and about 2-3 drops of vinegar together. If the mixture results in foaming, it indicates possible adulteration in the honey.
Coconut Oil:
Adulterant:
Other low grade Oils
Test:
Keep coconut oil in fridge for 6 hours continuously.If it gets solid completely, it's pure. If adulterated it wouldn't solidify.
Milk:
Adulterant:
Detergent, Synthetic milk
Test:
Mix 10 ml of water and milk in the same proportion. If you notice foam or lather, then the milk contains detergent. To detect synthetic milk, boil the milk. If a yellowish lather forms, then the milk is synthetic milk
Test:
Keep coconut oil in fridge for 6 hours continuously.If it gets solid completely, it's pure. If adulterated it wouldn't solidify.
Adulterant:
Detergent, Synthetic milk
Test:
Mix 10 ml of water and milk in the same proportion. If you notice foam or lather, then the milk contains detergent. To detect synthetic milk, boil the milk. If a yellowish lather forms, then the milk is synthetic milk
Turmeric Powder:
Adulterant:
Metanil yellow, lead chromate, chalk powder
Test:
Test:
Touch the top of the mithai gently with your finger. If the foil comes onto your finger, it is fake.
Malachite Green (To accentuate the bright, glowing green colour of the vegetable)
Test:
Take a small portion of the sample and place it over a moistened white blotting paper. Coloured impressions on the blotting paper indicate the presence of Malachite green.
Papaya seeds (used to add bulk)
Test
Float the sample in alcohol. Mature black pepper corns will sink where as papaya seeds will float to the surface.
Tamarind seeds, chicory powder (used to add bulk and colour)
Test
Gently sprinkle coffee powder on the surface of water in a glass. The coffee will float whereas chicory will start to sink within a few seconds. Also, the falling chicory powder will leave a trail of colour behind due to the large amounts of caramel it contains.
Washing powder (used to add a bright white sheen and lightness of flavour)
Test
Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on the ice cream. If it starts to froth and bubble, it marks the presence of washing powder.
Dissolve half a spoon full of besan or turmeric powder in 20 ml of lukewarm water. Add a few drops of hydrochloric acid or any commonly available acid at home. If the water turns pink, violet or purple, it shows the presence of Metanil yellow. If you find bubbles, it shows the presence of Chalk powder.
Red Chilli Powder:
Adulterant:
Artificial colour, brick powder
Test:
Test:
Add a teaspoon of chilli powder to a glass of water and stir it. A swirl of bright red colour indicates the presence of artificial colour while the settling of gritty sediment at the bottom of glass indicates the presence of saw dust/brick powder.
Cumin Seeds:
Adulterant:
Charcoal
Test:
Crush the seeds in your palm, if your palm turns black then they contain charcoal.Vark (the silver foil on mithai):
Adulterant:
Aluminium foil.
Test:
Touch the top of the mithai gently with your finger. If the foil comes onto your finger, it is fake.
Green chillies, green peas and other vegetables
Adulterant:Malachite Green (To accentuate the bright, glowing green colour of the vegetable)
Test:
Take a small portion of the sample and place it over a moistened white blotting paper. Coloured impressions on the blotting paper indicate the presence of Malachite green.
Black pepper
AdulterantPapaya seeds (used to add bulk)
Test
Float the sample in alcohol. Mature black pepper corns will sink where as papaya seeds will float to the surface.
Coffee powder
AdulterantTamarind seeds, chicory powder (used to add bulk and colour)
Test
Gently sprinkle coffee powder on the surface of water in a glass. The coffee will float whereas chicory will start to sink within a few seconds. Also, the falling chicory powder will leave a trail of colour behind due to the large amounts of caramel it contains.
Ice cream:
AdulterantWashing powder (used to add a bright white sheen and lightness of flavour)
Test
Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on the ice cream. If it starts to froth and bubble, it marks the presence of washing powder.
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