Detection of Adulterant in Dal

Detection of Adulterant in Dal :-
Food adulteration is the process in which the quality of food is lowered either by the addition of inferior quality material or by extraction of valuable ingredient. . Adulterants are those substances which are used for making the food products unsafe for human consumption. It is also responsible for the lowering or degradation of the quality of food products. Food adulteration may be done intentionally or unintentionally. Those traders or manufacturers who want to make a quick economic profit sell adulterated food intentionally. Unintentional adulteration happens when people are not aware of the rules, regulations and methods of preparing wholesome food.

Metanil yellow is a dye which is added to yellow dals, such as arhar and chana, as adulterant. It improves the appearance of inferior quality dals. Metanil yellow can cause paralysis, brain damage, anaemia and abortion. The presence of metanil yellow in a food item can be detected by treating the extract of the food item with Test for Starch and Metanil Yellow in Food Items 15 conc. hydrochloric acid. In the presence of metanil yellow the colour of the extract changes from yellow to pink (or magenta).

This video explains how to test the presence of ‘Metanil Yellow’ in dal.