Food adulteration test: Buying food from reliable sources is essential to our short-term and long-term health and well-being. This is especially important as instances of adulteration are becoming almost ubiquitous these days. It is important to protect yourself against its wrong influences. Wondering how to verify if your store-bought foods have been tampered with? To raise public awareness, FSSAI (Food and Safety Standards Authority of India) often shares simple adulteration tests that people can do at home. Here are five of them you need to check out:
Also read: Is the milk you are drinking safe? Check for adulteration with these simple tests
5 easy food adulteration tests you can perform at home, shown by FSSAI
1. Saffron
Spices can be quite expensive. Therefore, apart from health concerns, adulteration of spices also results in wastage of significant amount of money. Saffron is considered one of the most popular spices. Thus, it is no surprise that it is often the target of manipulation. FSSAI has shared a hack to check if saffron has been mixed with dried tendrils of maize cob. All you need is a glass of water that has been heated to about 70-80 degrees Celsius. Add a few strands of saffron to the glass and see what happens. If they release color slowly, it means the saffron is unripe. If the release is faster and more intense, you should be careful. Watch the full demo video here to learn more.
2. black pepper
Food adulteration test: Black pepper can be mixed with blackberries. Photo Credit: Pixabay
Another spice adulteration test you can do at home is for black peppercorns, which are often mixed with blackberries. There’s a very simple way to check if the peppercorns you have at home are the real deal. Spread a small amount of them on a flat surface like a table. Then use your thumb to press down on the peppercorn. If the sample is adulterated, it will break easily – because it contains blackberries. Real peppercorns are very hard to crack using your bare hands. Watch the full video here.
3. sweet potatoes
Apart from spices, vegetables are another basic ingredient category that form a regular part of our diet. The external appearance of vegetables can be ‘enhanced’ by using artificial colors to make them more attractive to consumers. For example, sweet potatoes may be laced with rhodamine B, a chemical dye used for industrial purposes. If you want to test whether potatoes are safe to consume, first dip a cotton ball in water or vegetable oil. Then rub it on the outer surface of the sweet potato. If the cotton ball gets a red-violet tinge after rubbing, it indicates the presence of rhodamine B. Watch the full video here.
4. tea leaves
Tea leaves may be mixed with artificial colors and other contaminants.
Tea leaves may often be adulterated to improve their color. To verify if your leaves have been combined with strained tea leaves, you need filter paper and water. Spread tea leaves on paper and sprinkle water on it. Then wash the paper under water until all the leaves have been removed. Now take a look at the paper, against the light. Do you see black-brown spots on it? If yes, then your tea leaves are adulterated. Find out more here.
5. cooking oil
Cooking oil may be contaminated with tri-ortho-cresyl-phosphate, a compound that can result in poisoning. You can use another everyday ingredient to check for this specific type of adulteration. First of all, take a small amount of oil in a bowl or glass. Add one spoon yellow butter to the oil. If the color of the solution changes, it indicates that the oil is impure. Watch the full video here.
Also read: Avoid using newspaper to wrap, serve food: Food authority highlights health risks
Food security is an individual as well as a collective responsibility. Knowing these tips and tricks can not only help you protect your health, but also become a better consumer.
