PRODUCTION

&
MANAGEMENT

Module Objectives
Definition of Food management
Food Adulteration
Common adulterants found in food & its effects

on human beings
Detection of food adulterants
Adulterants are injurious to health
Adulteration and law
A few precautions to be taken by general public
regarding food adulteration
Exercise

What is Food Management?

Food management is a broad process that

involves the proper oversight of food

selection, preparation, presentation, and
preservation.

Steps involved in food management

The movement of food
from the producer
to the consumer
involves:
Transportation
Storage
Processing
Packaging
Marketing and
Distribution.

Food adulteration
The process of lowering the nutritive value of

food either by removing a vital component or

by adding substances of inferior quality, is
called food adulteration. The substance that is
used to lower the quality is known as
adulterant.

Common adulterants found in food

Food grains and grams- marble pieces, sand particles, clay gilts,

soap stone pieces.

Pulses- kesari dhal Colours
Wheat flow Maida-powdered lime
talcum powder
Turmeric powder (Haldi)- metanil
yellow
Pepper- dry papaya seeds
Chilli powder- coloured saw dust
Sweets- colours not permitted
Honey- jaggery sugar
Tea- coloured tea leaves after
removing the essence

Effects of adulteration
on humans
Symptoms like headache, gastro-intestinal

disorders, muscular pain, drowsiness etc.,

appear, if adulterated food substances are
used regularly.

Detection of food adulteration

Tea powder and Soji (rava) : Adulterants : Iron

filings: Spread the tea leaves or soji on a

paper. Draw a magnet over it. The iron filings
if present, are attracted by the magnet.
Rice and wheat : Adulterants : Sand grit,
marble pieces, soap stone pieces. These are
visually detected and removed by sorting,
handpicking and washing.

Common Salt, Soji : Adulterants- sand and grit

A tea spoon of salt is added to a glass tumbler

containing water. Salt dissolves. Sand and grit
settle at the bottom. About 5 gms of soji is
sprinkled on water. The sand particles sink
and soji floats.
Coffee powder : Adulterant- Tamarind seed
powder: Two teaspoons of coffee powder is
added to water in a tumbler. Coffee powder
floats and the adulterants sink.

Cooking oil : Adulterant- Argemone oil: About

5 ml of cooking oil is taken in a test tube and

5 ml of concentrated nitric acid is added to it.
A reddish brown colour appears if argemone
oil is present in it.

Milk: Adulterant-

Water: A few drops of milk is

dropped on a slanting glass plate. Pure milk will flow
slowly leaving a white trail behind. Milk mixed with
water will flow quickly leaving no trail. Greens and
Vegetables must be cleaned well before using. They
must be soaked in water to which a little salt is
added for ten minutes. The chemical layer of
pesticides and sticky dirt that contaminate will be
removed. Subsequently they are to be washed
thoroughly in water.64 This test will not hold good for
skimmed milk supplied by the government dairy. An
instrument called lactometer is used to measure the
density of milk. Unadulterated milk
should give a reading of 1.026 in the
lactometer.

Ghee and butter : Adulterants- Vanaspathi:

tea spoon full of butter or ghee is taken in a

test tube. Concentrated hydrochloric acid and
a pinch of sugar is added to it. It is stirred well
and allowed to settle for five minutes. Crimson
red colour appears in the lower layer if
vanaspathi is present in the sample.

How dangerous are these

adulterants??
The argemone oil used to adulterate ghee and

butter
is highly toxic. It causes a disease known as
dropsy.
Watery fluid collecting in some
parts of the body is the main symptom. It
affects the normal functioning
of the body. It may also paralyse the limbs.
Metanil yellow used to brighten the colour of
pulses, turmeric powder and sweet meats, is a
coal-tar dye. It may cause cancer.

Washing soda often added to powdered sugar

and other food items, may cause intestinal

disorders.
Food items prepared under unhygienic
conditions and stale foods cause food
poisoning.

Adulteration and law

The Government of India has promulgated an Act called

the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act in the year 1954.

The Act has been periodically amended to check dishonest
practices of traders. If the traders violate the standards
mentioned in the Act, they are punishable under law.
The quality controlling agencies like Indian Standards
Institution (ISI) and Directorate of Marketing and
Inspection (AGMARK) test the food products for their
quality periodically.
FPO - Food Processing Organisation and the local health65
departments in the Corporation also conduct periodic
surveys and issue certificates. All the packets containing
food products must carry ISI, AGMARK or FPO stamp.

Precaution to be taken by the public

regarding adulteration
It is better to avoid adulterated cool drinks , instead

you can have any fresh fruit juice and tender coconut.
Parents should be concerned about the quality and
freshness of these food articles like chocolates, sweets
that children usually like.
Take the help of food adulteration testing centres.
Lodge complaints to the concerned authorities, if
adulteration is detected.
Make sure that food packets carry ISI,
AGMARK or FPO labels, before buying.
Do not buy food articles, if expiry date is
crossed.

Activities
Collect the labels containing the date, weight, components etc. on

milk,
cooking oil packets and observe the details.
Visit food testing centers and find out how they test the food for
adulterants.
66
Collect articles on food adulteration in newspapers and magazines
and make
an album.
Visit CFTRI - Mysore, and find out how they conduct tests for nutrients
in various food samples and note down the details.
Collect information about the steps taken in processed food carried
by
astronauts, soldiers and mountaineers.

Exercises
Choose the correct answer and fill in the blanks
1. Dehydration and freezing are two methods used
in ....................
a) packaging b) processing c) transporting d) marketing
2. The adulterant used in turmeric powder is ....................
a) Tamarind seed powder b) yellow saw dust c) talcum
powder d) Metanil yellow
3. The instrument used to test the density of milk is .............
a) Lactometer b) thermometer c) hydrometer d)
manometer
4. Jaggery and sugar are used as adulterants in .....................
a) sweet meats b) tea powder c) honey d) coffee powder

Answer the following questions

1. What is meant by processing of food?

2. List the stages of spoilage as the food moves from the producer to
consumer.
3. What is food adulteration?
4. Mention the common adulterants used in the following food items.
a) Tea powder b) Black pepper c) Honey d) Cooking
5. How is adulterant detected in cooking oil?
6. What is food poisoning? How is it caused?
7. Mention simple tests to detect adulterants in the following.
a) Dairy skimmed milk b) Ghee and butter
8. What is the role of consumers in preventing adulteration?
9. How can wastage of food be prevent