Food adulteration refers to the practice of secretly adding extra substances, known as

adulterant An adulterant is a substance secretly added to another that may compromise the safety or effectiveness. Typical substances that are adulterated include food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or fuels. Definition Adulteration is the practice of secre ...

s, to food. Primarily, the deliberate altering of food is done for economic advantage. Lower legal standards and improper law enforcement are among other reasons.

Causes

Food adulteration arises from various factors, but one of the major primary cause being the dishonest practices of traders striving for quick and easy profits. Powdered food products are particularly vulnerable due to their complicated supply chain and slowly decline in nutritional and quality over time. Furthermore, unethical measures are frequently employed to retained the freshness of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

and reduce financial losses generated by spoilage during transportation and sales. These practices involve the addition of adulterants to boast volume, the use of

thickening agent A thickening agent or thickener is a substance which can increase the viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and puddings without altering their ...

s to avoid dilution and upgrade solids content, the alternative of missing

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specif ...

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, the delay of

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

, improvement of the food's visual appeal, and the generation of a more genuine appearance.

Research

According to researchers, food adulteration has existed from historical times and is still prevalent. Several modern analytical methods have been developed and are used to detect food adulteration. Detection methods in Europe and others - * Vibrational spectroscopies - near-infrared and mid-infrared * NMR spectroscopy * A range of mass spectrometry (MS) techniques, amongst others. * DNA-based, sensory, physicochemical and chromatographic methods

Impact

Despite the known harms caused by consumption of adulterated food, it is a global phenomenon. It also includes widely known regulated adulterations like addition of

melamine Melamine is an organic compound with the formula C3H6N6. This white solid is a trimer (chemistry), trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-Triazine, 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass, and its derivatives ha ...

in milk and spraying on vegetables.

2008 Chinese milk scandal The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a significant food safety incident in China. The scandal involved Sanlu Group's milk and infant formula along with other food materials and components being adulterated with the chemical melamine, which resu ...

is among the few known events about the harm caused by addition of melamine in milk. In

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, food fraud and adulteration is a rising concern. According to

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, economically motivated food fraud and adulteration causes damage of €8 to 12 billion every year.

Types of adulteration

The

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body under the administration of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. It regulates the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of f ...

identifies three general types of adulteration: # Intentional adulteration: refers to the addition of substances that have similar properties to the food in which it is mix. This type of adulteration is difficult to detect due to similar properties # Incidental adulteration: refers to accidental addition of substances due to the negligence of proper hygiene in food during processing # Metallic adulteration: refers to the addition of metallic substances accidentally or intentionally.

References

Adulteration Food and drink {{Food-stub