PM SHRI KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA NO.

1 BHUBANESWAR

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

NAME- Aditya Narayan Sahoo

ROLL NO.- 20
CLASS- XII B

Guided by- Ms. Garima Ghanghas

Acknowledgement
I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt thanks towards al
those who have helped me in making this project. Without their
 active guidance, help, cooperation and encouragement, I would
not have been able to present the project on time. I extend my
sincere gratitude to my Principal Mr A K Panda sir and my
Chemistry teacher Ms. Garima Ghanghas for their moral support
and guidance during the tenure of my project.
I also acknowledge with a deep sense of reverence, my gratitude
towards my parents and other faculty members of the school for
their valuable suggestions given to me in completing the project.

Date:

NAME- Aditya Narayan Sahoo Signature of the student

 Certificate
This is to certify that Aditya Narayan Sahoo, student of class XII
has successfully completed the research on the project climate
change and its impact, under the guidance of Ms. Garima
Ghanghas (Chemistry teacher) during the year 2023-24.

Sign of Internal ______________________

Sign of Principal ______________________

Sign of External _______________________

 Statement of Problem
It has been seen that many companies, traders & Shopkeepers mix food
adulterants in their products, so they can make more profit out of them.
This causes many health issues like food poisoning to poor immunity system
to failure of organs and much more.
Even many news come about busting of adulteration units
& deaths caused by unfit foodstuffs.
Two of the recent ones are;
i. Spices adulteration unit busted in Cuttack’s Malgodown.
-Dated back – 21 July 2023
-source Otv (Odishatv.in)
The owner was allegedly mixing rice powder and colours to the chilli
powder.
In the investigation, it was found that the unit was preparing adulterated
red chilli powder, turmeric and other spices.

ii. Adulterated Sauce, Pickle Manufacturing Unit Busted In Bhubaneswar

i Dated back - 06 April 2021
ii source Otv (Odishatv.in)
In another major crackdown on food adulteration units in the State, a joint squad of
Odisha Police and Food Safety officials busted an adulterated sauce and pickle
manufacturing unit at Pahal on the outskirts of the Capital City.

Now, you might be thinking why people do such things just for money,
but the bigger question is how? And if the adulterants are really mixed
in the foodstuffs, then how to detect them? And if someone has
consumed some adulterants then how to cure him?
 Objectives
The project mainly focuses on the following things;

Ethical Objectives:

•To know why adulteration of foodstuffs is done.

•To make the consumers aware of this.

•To put a stop to the use of adulterants.

Experimental Objectives:

•To do some tests on a few samples to know if they contain adulterants or

not.

•To know how to cure a victim of adulteration.

Theoretical objectives:

•To get to know about different adulterants and their usage.

 INTRODUCTION
WHY ADULTRATION IS DONE?
Adulteration refers to the act of adding impurities or inferior substances to goods,
often with the intent to deceive consumers or increase profits for the seller. There
are several reasons why adulteration occurs, and they can vary across different
industries and regions. Some common motivations for adulteration include:

 Increased Profit Margins: One of the primary reasons for adulteration is

financial gain. By adding cheaper or inferior substances to a product,
producers can reduce their production costs and increase their profit margins.
 Supply and Demand Imbalances: When there is a shortage of raw materials or
a high demand for a particular product, producers may resort to adulteration
as a way to meet the demand and maintain or increase their sales.
 Competition: In highly competitive markets, businesses may resort to
adulteration to offer lower prices than their competitors. This can attract cost-
sensitive consumers but may compromise the quality of the product.
 Lack of Regulatory Enforcement: In some cases, weak regulatory oversight or
inadequate enforcement of regulations can create an environment where
producers feel they can get away with adulteration without facing legal
consequences.
 Ignorance or Lack of Awareness: Some producers may not fully understand
the consequences of adulteration or may be unaware of the potential harm it
can cause to consumers. This lack of awareness can lead to unethical
practices.
 Preservation and Shelf Life: Adulterants are sometimes added to extend the
shelf life of products or to prevent spoilage. While this may not always be
harmful, it can mislead consumers about the freshness and quality of the
product.
 Consumer Preferences: Adulteration may be driven by a desire to meet
specific consumer preferences, such as enhancing the color, flavor, or texture
of a product. This is often done to cater to market trends and consumer
expectations.
 It's important to note that adulteration is generally illegal and unethical.
Governments and regulatory bodies around the world implement measures to
detect and prevent adulteration to protect consumer health and ensure fair
business practices. Consumers can play a role by being informed, supporting
reputable brands, and reporting suspicious products to authorities.
 EXEPERI
MENT
To know how much adulteration is being done on the ground level, we will need
to conduct a few tests.

Experiment 1

Aim: To Detect the Presence of Adulterants in Fat, Oil and Butter.

Apparatus Required: Test-tube, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid, conc. HNO3.

Procedure:

Common Adulterants present in ghee and oil dyes and argemone oil.

These are detected as follows:

i)Adulteration of dyes in fat:

1ml of Fat was heated with a mixture of 1ml of conc. H2SO4 and 4ml of Acetic Acid.

The Appearance of Pink or red colour indicated the presence of dye in the fat.

ii)Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oils:

To a small amount of oil in a test-tube, a few drops of conc. HNO3 was added and
shaken well.

The Appearance of red colour in the acid layer indicated the presence of argemone
oil.
Experiment-2
Aim: To detect the presence of Adulterants in sugar.

Apparatus Required: Test-tubes, dil. HCl.

Procedure:
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing Soda and other insoluble
substances which are detected as follows:
i)Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar:
Take a small amount of sugar in a test-tube and shake it with little
water. Pure sugar dissolves in water but insoluble impurities do not
dissolve.
ii)Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar:
To small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few drops of HCl, brisk
effervescence of CO2 shows the presence of chalk powder or washing
soda in the given sample of sugar
Experiment-3

Aim: To detect the presence of Adulterants in samples of chill powder,

turmeric powder and pepper.

Apparatus Required: Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution.

Procedure:
Common adulterants present in chili powder, turmeric powder and
pepper are red coloured lead salts, yellow lead salts and dried papaya
seeds respectively. They are detected as follows;
i)Adulteration of red lead salts in chili powder;
To the sample of chili powder, add dil. HNO3. Filter the diluted Solution
and add 2 drops of potassium Iodide solution to the filtrate. Yellow ppt.
indicates the presence of lead salts in the chili powder.
ii)Adulteration of Yellow lead salts to the turmeric powder;
To a sample of turmeric powder add conc. HCl. The appearance of
magenta colour shows the presence of yellow oxides Lead in the
Turmeric Powder.
iii)Adulteration of brick powder in red chili powder;
Add small amount of the given red chili powder in the beaker containing
water. Brick powder settles at the bottom while pure chili powder floats
over water.
 OBSERVATIONS
In Experiment 1,
i)
Sl.No. Brand name Observation
1 Aashirvaad Svasti Pure Cow Ghee No change in colour.
2 Local product A (Unbranded) Pink colour appeared
3 Amul No change in color
4 Local product B (Unbranded) Pink color aarance
but with less
intensity

ii)
Sl No Brand Name Observation
1 Fortune Kachi Ghani No change in colour.

2 Patanjali No change in colour.

3 An unbranded oil bought from a No change in colour.
street hawker
4 An unknown brand’s oil from a Red colour appears
small local shop.
1.

In experiment 2,
I)

Sl.no Brand Name Observation

1 Bajaj Hindusthan All the sugar

Sugar dissolved.
2 Local sugar All the sugar
dissolved.
 ii)
Sl.no Brand name Observation

1 Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar No sign of brisk effervescence

2 Local sugar Appearance of brisk
effervescence

In experiment 3,
i)
Sl.no Brand name Observation
1 Everest Red chili powder No Yellow ppt
formed.
2 Local red chili powder bought No Yellow ppt
from a famous local trader formed

ii)
Sl.no Brand Name Observation
1 Everest Turmeric No colour appeared.
powder

iii)
Sl. No Brand Name Observation
1. Everest Red chili powder All the chili powder
floated on the water.
2. Local red chili powder bought All the chili powder
from a reputed local trader floated on the water.
 Analysis of
Data and
Discussion
It’s found that most of the branded products don’t have
of The
adulterants while some of the products bought from
Result and
local traders have such things (and in some at a
Conclusion
disastrous amount).
Conclusion
So, it’s advisable to buy mostly from a reputable brand
or trader.
If any person finds such malpractices going on, he/she
should immediately report to the authorities.
Limitations of the project
It was done at a small scale, so the detection of
adulterants was also less.
Lack of much knowledge about this field like a
professional food safety officer would have.