Adulteration test kits are available that you can use in your home.
Food adulteration is a negligent, abusive criminal practice. It occurs when a manufacturer or producer introduces a material into food product that should not be there. The motive for this activity is generally to increase the yield of the product so that the producer can make and/or save more money. Some forms of chemical experiments can determine if a food has been adulterated. Many of these experiments can be done in your home kitchen with the right tools.
Tools & Process
Test kits consist of a variety of different chemicals, each designated for revealing a specific set of possible adulterants. Additionally, the kits contain testing vials or test tubes, droppers and at times supplies such as sterile gloves. The process will naturally be different for different food/adulterant combinations. However, it usually entails placing a small amount of the suspect food product into a test tube. It may require heating with equipment like a spirit lamp. The chemical is added and, through whatever the instructions relevant to a particular test may be, the mixture is observed for indications of adulteration such as color changes.
Coffee & Cereal Starch
One example of food adulteration is the use of cereal starch in ground coffee to thin out the actual coffee content. The tester puts one 1/4 teaspoon of the suspected coffee in a test tube with 3 ml of distilled water, then heats the test tube with a spirit lamp until colorized. The tester then adds 33 milliliters of potassium pomegranate muriatic acid and observes to see if the solution turns blueish with the addition of 1 percent aqueous solution.
Milk & Glucose
Glucose is one of many adulterants that may be found in milk; it is added to augment the milk's lactometer reading. The test project consists of taking 1 teaspoon of milk and introducing it to the test tube, then submerging a diastix strip in that milk for 30 seconds. If the color of the new solution turns a bluish or greenish color, the product is adulterated with glucose.
Ghee & Dalda
In the first decades of the 21st century, food adulteration has become rampant throughout India, and tests have been developed to detect this adulteration. Ghee, one of Indian cuisine's most important cooking bases, can be adulterated with Dalda-- a hydrogenated vegetable oil. Testing involves putting 3 teaspoons of the ghee in a tube and adding 10 drops of either muratic or hydrochloric acid, then adding 1/4 tablespoon of regular sugar, shaking it up and checking for a color change after 5 minutes. If the solution turns a reddish color, it indicates the presence of Dalda.
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