Analysis of Food Adulterants in Selected Food Items Purchased From Local Grocery Stores

Abstract

Food is one among the basic needs for every living being. Food for human consumption should be in its possible purest form without adulterants and contaminants.  The present study focuses on analyzing few selected food items purchased from local grocery stores located in the twin cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad, Telangana. The extent of different adulterant present in the food items were, edible oil samples, argemone oil (30%), prohibited color (15%), mineral oil (20%), dyes in fat (15%) and castor oil (0%).  20% of ghee samples tested positive for vanaspathi and were negative for mashed potatoes and paraffin wax (0%).  Coconut oil tested negative both for any other oil (0%) and turbidity (0%). None of the honey samples tested positive for water (0%). All the jaggery samples tested were negative for sodium bicarbonate (0%). Similar results were obtained in case of curd samples (negative for dalda (0%)). 55% of the common salt samples tested positive for the presence of impurities.