research paper on food adulteration in india

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Food Adultration in India: Issue of Policy or Social System

Related Papers

Mangalsing Pawar

India has modernized its food laws system from multilevel, multidepartment to the single, strong food law system. It is in 2006 by the establishment of FSSA 2006. Keeping in view the present food adulteration in India the task force had been set up to recommend changes in the Food Safety and Standards Act. The poor implementation of the existing Food Safety and Standards Act was also a problem, especially in state governments. Testing and analytical capacity among India's official food safety monitoring units is inadequate to manage a supply system that feeds nearly 1.3 billion people. Effective appropriation of resources to regulatory units, institutional strengthening and capacity building, tighter strategic and operational coordination among agencies, involvement of students in the fight against adulteration by adding the adulteration types and simple measures to find it out in their syllabus. Using student power to train adulterants about the ill effects of it and making them part of vigilance with total confidentiality to uproot the adulteration and problem associated with it from India.

International Journal of Biological Innovations

Adulteration is a very serious problem posing serious health risks in India. In every product there is adulteration. Starting from our daily groceries, it moves on to our life saving medicines. The sinners have not spared even infants' milk products. India has revamped its system of food law, from multi-level, multi-department to one strong food law system. It was created in 2006 by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Taking the current adulteration of the foodstuffs in India into account, the task force was set up to propose amendments to the Food Safety and Standards Act. Poor implementation of the current Food Safety and Standards Act, particularly in governments, was also a problem. Testing and analytical capability in India's official food security units is insufficient to handle a distribution system that feeds close to 1.3 trillion people. Efficient resource appropriation for regulatory units, institutional enhancement and capacity building, improved strategic and organisational coordination between institutions, student commitment to address adulteration by including adult forms, and easy steps to locate them in their curriculum. Using student power to train adulterants on the harm of adultery and to ensure that they are completely confidential in order to eliminate from India adulteration and the related problems.

INDIAN JOURNAL OF EXTENSION EDUCATION

Madhurima Maiti

Food adulteration originated several decades ago and has become more prevalent day by day. The study was conducted in Kharagpur I block of West Medinipur district of West Bengal in 2017 and 2018 among 100 respondents to measure the level of awareness of adulteration through structured interview schedule. The study found that most of respondents, both in urban and rural areas of the study faced the problems of food adulteration. They lacked appropriate knowledge, tendencies and practices relating to food adulteration. Very few of them checked proper information in the packaging before buying. Based on the research this paper suggested that, to avoid the harmful consequences of adulteration, consumers must continuously develop a habit of upgrading their awareness level, develop a habit of checking the information printed in the package and try to adopt the best buying practices in order to keep themselves away from the hazardous consequences of food adulteration.

Indian Journal of Community Health

Shaili Vyas

Background : Adulteration of food items is common phenomenon in India. It includes both willful adulteration to improve texture and quality of food items and supply of substandard food items. The usual outcomes is outbreak of food borne illness. Aims & Objectives : i) To estimate the prevalence of food adulteration in selected food items ii) the awareness of subjects regarding food adulteration act and iii) their buying practices. Material and Methods : Samplesize:150 households was sampled, based on prevalence of adulteration to be around 50%, with 95% confidence interval and absolute allowable error of 10%. Sample household were drawn from the selected villages randomly. Pre-designed and pretested questionnaires was administered to fulfill the objectives and food items were tested using NICE food adulteration kit. Data were analyzed by numeral with percentage, Pearson’s correlation test and F test. Results: In 59.3% households, housewives purchased the food items for the house. Th...

Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU

A cross sectional survey was under taken among 75 families using structured knowledge questionnaire and observation technique. The collected data was analysed using SPSS version 16. The study findings showed that majority (60%)of the subjects had moderate knowledge on food adulteration. Out of 75 samples tested, 2.7% chili powder samples were adulterated with artificial color and 10.7% of the common salt samples were adulterated with insoluble impurities. In tea powder 12 % were adulterated with iron fillings and 2.7% 2 were adulterated with artificial color. There was significant association of knowledge score on food adulteration with age (X2 (2) =8.627 p= (2), 2 0.013) and educational status (X2 (4) =9.876, p= 0.043) of the respondents. The study concludes that the food adulteration even though (4) low, still it is existing. However awareness of the public in relation to food adulteration should be ongoing especially to the general public with lower level of education.

JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY LEGAL AFFAIRS (ISSN - 2518-8798)

Harshit Singh

This research paper focuses on food laws in India and working mechanisms of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Current scenario in the food industry and executive actions in this field has received legitimate attention in this paper. Petty food business operators and regulations dealing with them have been reviewed to analyse the efficacy of these regulations. The lower stratum of the food industry serves a large section of the society and food safety procedures for such food business operators are of paramount importance hence these safety procedures have been deciphered to justify the objectives of the research. Reports issued by the Food Safety Authorities and Centre for Science and Environment have also received the lime light. These reports have been reviewed thoroughly as they indicate towards the contemporary issues in the food industry and methodologies adopted by food corporations. Statistical data has been incorporated in the research to ratify the facts and infer the implementation procedures adopted by Food Safety Authorities.

Food Science and Quality Management

Asrat A . Wakaso

Food is any substance composed of carbohydrates, water, fats and proteins, which can be eaten or drunk by humans or animals for nutrition or very important aspect for life. Food products are often a target of adulteration while supply chains usually deal with perishable products that could be harmful to consumers if they are not managed properly. There are two types of food adulteration; namely intentional/deliberate adulteration done by dishonest producers, retailers and processors for financial up liftmen and incidental/unintentional which may be done at the time of producing, handling and/or storing, etc. Different food items and drinks prone for adulteration include: dairy products, cereals grains, fats and oils, and others like honey, juice, peppers, etc. Food adulteration has a great impact on producers/farmers, consumers, enterprises and government. The main challenges are public health problem, lack of acceptance in the market due to lack of originality, decrease in consumer...

Paroma Arefin

Combating food adulteration is a great challenge in Bangladesh. The customer is the leading economic community and the focus of all commercial activities. The price, availability, variety, and attractiveness of consumer products have increased with the rise in people’s incomes. The business sector is practically bursting with complex technology-based new products. Regardless of misleading advertising, unsuitable media coverage, and food adulteration, it is challenging for the customer to select a particular foodstuff. The primary victim is a customer who casually takes adulterated food and pays the price of such corrupt practices. Bangladesh Government has enacted the Food Safety Act, 2013 to ensure food safety. But, consumer awareness is one of the most important steps towards reducing the adulteration of foods. Consumer faces different kinds of challenges to ensure food safety for them. To effectively face these challenges, consumers need to prepare themselves against these issues...

The changing food safety standards, stricter sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements and improved global product norms trigger the necessity to improve legislative network of a country based on codex Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). Due to multiplicity of laws in a majority of developing nations processed food industry is facing a major threat for survival and growth. In India nine different ministries were involved in controlling this area. Food Safety and Standards Act was established to integrate the food safety laws in India, in-order-to systematically and scientifically reorient food processing and manufacturing industry from regulation to self-compliance. In this study, authors' focuses on issues related to the food legislation enforced time to time based on international scenario and trade. This study brings out the fact that more holistic approach is seen in new scientific standard development and covers a wider variety of products including functional food, novel food and beverages. The basic requirements of food hygiene and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) practices as described by codex are important for any national food safety control. However, the study concludes that there exists a gap in infrastructure and risk-based approach in the both implementation and enforcement. The study also provides the SWOT analysis of Indian legislative model and recommendation for improvement.

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology IJSRST

In India, food contamination has become a serious problem now-a-days. Consumer education and awareness is considered as the need of the hour. Adulteration like corruption has become rampant with alarming rate. The government knows that most of the spices, dal, ghee, milk sugar, tea etc are adulterated. The nature of contaminants is often impure, unhygienic, harmful, and detrimental to public health like adding the urea to milk, duplicate products often sold for the products of reputed brand, cold drinks like Pepsi, Coca cola etc and unhygienic substances, dal with stone bits, tea garnished by saw dust, turmeric mixed with chromate powder, chilly powder mixed with red colour and even fruits vegetables and cereals sold in market often having high level of toxic metals like lead, nickel, cadmium etc. Adulteration of food stuffs is commonly practised in India by traders due to consumers’ behaviour. They want to buy the food stuffs at lower price as possible as lower. The sellers now try to meet the needs of the buyers and their purchasing habit/tendency. This tendency of purchasing the stuffs motivates the sellers and traders to sell the adulterated food stuffs in the markets. Despite of ISI or Agmark certification mandatory for all edible items and food adulteration laws, food contamination has been rising at alarming rate especially in India. To encounter this ticklish situation, consumer awareness may play a vital role to combat the prevailing adulteration from a right perspective with the help of mass media and educational activities in school or colleges.

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Status of food colorants in India: conflicts and prospects

Ressin varghese.

School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632014 India

Siva Ramamoorthy

Food colorants are imperative ingredients for attracting consumers and in deciding their preferences. Here we discuss the current status of natural colorants and synthetic food colorants on the Indian market by appraising the growth of the food colorant market both globally and nationally, based on published case studies on synthetic food colorants (SFCs), rules, and regulations implemented by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on natural food colorants and SFCs. The substantial lacunae in the research on the impacts of SFCs in the Indian population identified through our literature survey signify the scope and need for appraisal of the issues prevailing in the Indian food colorant market as well as the necessity of renewing the food colorant policies. The illegal use of banned food colorants, the adulteration of natural food colorants, mislabelling of SFCs as natural colorants, and the permitted use of internationally banned food colorants, as well as the unawareness among consumers are serious issues recognized. Appropriate labelling to denote natural food colorants' presence, renewed standards of policy to determine the permitted use of food colorants, comprehensive regulations for the production and use of natural food colorants, stringent rules to constrain the production of toxic SFCs are obligatory to breakdown the dilemma on the Indian food market. Most importantly, awareness and responsiveness should be generated among consumers regarding the illegal use and adulteration of colorants and the need to use natural colorants. We also recommend a logo to designate the presence of natural colorants which will aid the consumers to make the right choice.

Introduction

Any food product is instinctively scrutinized from a visual sense before deciding on purchasing or consumption. Color remains one of the most prominent visual cues contributing to the sensory aspect of foodstuff. There is significant research underscoring that the color of the food psychologically manipulates impelling the expectation of flavor generated in our brain before tasting the food (Velasco et al. 2015 , 2016 ). Consumers’ inclination to a particular food item is primarily visual specific to the color of the food which aids the consumers to predict the flavor and taste of the food. Interestingly, the perception of colour is deep-rooted and comes intuitively to human beings. For ages, the colour of fruits, vegetables, and meat has remained a determinant factor to distinguish raw from ripe and fresh from old or spoilt.

The implication attached to colour to the food impacted the decision of worldwide food manufacturers to add in a variety of colour additives. The natural colorants derived from natural sources including plants and microbes were used to impart colour to food which was later replaced by synthetic colorants. Natural colorants are of two categories: organic (derived from living sources) and inorganic (gold, silver). Synthetic food colorants are chemicals processed from coal tar compounds and most of them contain dyes from the azo group (Dey and Nagababu 2022 ). Moreover, natural identical man-made colours like riboflavin are also available (Sezgin and Ayyildiz 2018 ).

A considerable hike in demand for packaged food fostered the massive use of food colorants. Henceforth, food colorants are added to every packaged and processed food product sold on the markets and almost every food item sold or manufactured by a food industry or a food selling outlet. Additionally, prepared food, e.g. in restaurants and other small food-selling outlets, contains food colouring agents to enhance their visual appeal to entice consumers. However, health hazards reported predominantly in children triggered by these fascinating synthetic colours need to be addressed (Arnold et al. 2012 ). The colossal use of permitted and non-permitted food colorants, their toxicities, and associated adulterations are global concerns with varying gravity in different countries.

India is considered a hub of food diversity in terms of the taste, smell, and colour of foods. The Indian food industry is gaining copious profit by marketing different geographical food styles. Bright attractive colours are the distinctiveness of Indian cuisines which aid the growth of the synthetic food colorant (SFC) industry (CATR 2019 ). Additionally, the market for natural food colorants is on the rise due to an increase in health awareness among consumers (The Hindu 2022 ). Besides the potential adverse health effects of SFCs, this hike led to another serious misbranding of natural colorants as synthetic. The misuse of the label ‘natural’ to attract consumers, the adulteration of natural colorants, and the lack of proper legal regulations in the processing of natural colours are serious issues demanding the imperative attention of authorities. There is a pressing need for proper labelling to distinguish the presence of natural colorants as well as to implement systematic standards on the processing and use of natural colorants. We have proposed a label for distinguishing the incorporation of natural colorants in food. Even though India is known for its multi-hued foods and natural resources of colours (Ramamoorthy 2010 ), hardly a few studies have been published regarding the status of SFCs and natural colorants.

Here we discuss the rapid growth of the Indian food colorant market, the reports on side effects, and the associated regulations in a comprehensive manner. Stringent regulations and government-funded research initiatives are required to tackle together this growing menace.

Rapid growth of the Indian food colorant market

Initially, food manufacturing industries utilized SFCs as additives, and nowadays most of them are not used in the U.S. and Europe, but available in India (The Indian Express 2022 ; Ramamoorthy 2014 ). The rationale for rather using synthetic colorants rather than natural colorants is more stability, less sensitivity to heat, light, and pH, lesser quantities producing higher intensities, and a cheaper mode of synthesis. Examples of prohibited colorants being sold and still in use in other countries include Patent Blue V, Quinoline Yellow, Ponceau 4R, Amaranth, Rhodamine B, and Azorubin (Sachan 2013 ). In 2023, the expected worldwide market size of the food colorant industry will be around $ 3.2 bn. and the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is expected above 7% (Fig.  1 ). As per reports, developing countries like India, and China is extensively contributing to this surge (MRF 2018 ).

Expected CAGR food colourant market growth rate globally and in India (GMI 2022 ; MRF 2018 ). The coloured countries in world map denotes the major colour producers. (Synthetic colours-North America; Annatto-Brazil, Peru; Carotenoids and Anthocyanins-European countries; Safflower-Kazakhstan; Curcumin-India) (Color figure online)

Indian foods are well known for their versatile flavours and uniqueness depending on the country’s region. India’s rich culinary heritage could be seen in provincial cuisines which are a blend of herbs and spices. Unfortunately, the increased demand for packaged foods and competition on the food market has largely promoted the use of SFCs in Indian cuisines. The Indian food colorant market will achieve a CAGR of 5.3% by 2027, which is majorly impacted by synthetic colorants (CATR 2019 ). Further, India’s exports of food colours to the U.S., China, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, and Italy are increasing. These export market sizes have increased from $ 203 M to $ 263 M from 2014 to 2019 (CATR 2019 ). The market for natural food colorants is also growing steeply and is expected to reach $ 92.96 M by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.90% (EI 2018 ). Colorants like tartrazine, sunset yellow, quinoline yellow, indigo carmine, and amaranth are widely used to enhance the visual aesthetic of Indian food. There are hundreds of companies in India manufacturing these chemicals as food colours  (CATR 2019 ). At the same time, the natural food colorant market is on the rise due to an increase in health awareness among Indian consumers and reports on the harmful side effects of synthetic colorants (Satyanarayana 2022 ).

Indian case studies on toxic effects of SFCs

Previous studies have shown the perilous impact of colorants of health. Feingold ( 1975 ) first proposed the parallel link of hyperactivity and increased intake of SFCs in children (Weiss 2012 ). The stemmed investigations, clinical studies, evidences are ongoing. It has been shown by Arnold et al. ( 2012 ) that young children respond to synthetic colorants exceedingly and symptoms included irritability, sleep issues, lack of attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity [a clinical condition called “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (ADHD)]. Using mixtures of Erythrosine, Ponceau 4R, Allura Red, Sunset Yellow, Tartrazine, Amaranth, Brilliant Blue, Azorubine, and Indigotine on female rats and their offspring showed a lessening spatial working memory and sex-specific anti-depressive, anxiolytic behaviors (Doguc et al. 2015 ). In addition, there are also reports on the synergism between colorants and increased incidence of asthma and allergies (Amchova et al. 2015 ). Incidences of cancer associated with SFCs Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 were also published (Dey and Nagababu 2022 ). Concerns for genotoxicity after intake of colorants like titanium dioxide, erythrosine, and brilliant black (Silva et al. 2022 ) should be corroborated in in vivo studies. Numerous organic dyes are also regarded as micro pollutants in aquatic environments owing to their toxic effects on aquatic life forms and their subsequent consumers in the food chain (Tkaczyk et al. 2020 ).

Several synthetic food colorants banned in developed countries are regularly used as food ingredient in India, e.g. azo dyes (Pratt et al. 2013 ). Azo dyes possess one or more azo groups (–N=N–) in their chemical structures and are toxic. Tartrazine is one of the widely used azo dyes which is reported to have toxic impacts on the liver, renal function, lipid profiles, and behaviour (Amin and Al-Shehri 2018 ). Likewise, in vitro studies of sunset yellow in rodents resulted in decreased testicle size and deformed lipid profile (Mathur et al. 2005a ; b ). And indigo carmine has been shown to have atrioventricular blocking capacity (Takeyama et al. 2014 ). Regardless, many of these banned dyes are permitted to use in India within certain limits, irrespective of the discrepancies regarding the health impacts of long-term use, the perception of food vendors about the permitted level of use, and the flow of non-permitted food colours on black markets.

Extensive use of non-permitted carcinogenic, neurotoxic colorants is a common practice observed in different parts of India (Nandakumar 2015 ). Melanil yellow, a potent carcinogenic dye banned by the Government of India was found in turmeric, ladoo, and besan at high levels in unorganized food sectors of West Bengal corroborating the lack of quality control and ignorance of food regulations (Nath et al. 2015 ). An analytical study performed to investigate synthetic food colorant usage in different states of India revealed that candyfloss, sugar toys, beverages, mouth fresheners, ice candy, and bakery product samples contain exceeded the limit of colourants. Practices of blending colorants with non-permitted colours (e.g. azo dyes sunset yellow, tartrazine) in mass amounts are also highly prevalent (Dixit et al. 2011 ). Likewise, the exceeding limits of the above SFCs have been detected in samples of coloured crushed ice with 8–20% higher than permitted levels. Non-permitted colorants like rhodamine B, metanil yellow, orange II, malachite green, auramine, quinoline yellow, amaranth, and Sudan dyes was also detected in a variety of foods (Tripathi et al. 2007 ). An extensive survey conducted in bakeries, supermarkets, street food shops, and fast food joints in urban and rural areas of Hyderabad with different age groups of pre-school (1–5 years) and school kids (6–18 years), adult individuals (19–44 years and > 45 years of age) from high-, middle- and low-income groups showed an intake of tartrazine, erythrosine, and sunset yellow higher than the permitted limits of 100 ppm (Rao and Sudershan 2008 ).

The literature shows very few case studies and investigations on the SFCs used in India in the last decade. Rapidly changing lifestyles, high inclination toward packaged foods, and rampant modernization with hectic daily schedules are likely leading to an analogous growth of food colorant levels intake and subsequently, a surge of health disorders. All these factors underline the necessity of utilizing safe natural sources of food colorants.

Forging food and natural colorants with synthetic colorants

The growth of the natural colorant industry is due to an increased consciousness of serious health effects caused by the colossal use of synthetic dyes. However, the factor restraining the prompt growth of the industry is the high cost of natural colorants when compared to synthetic counterparts. Red is the most demanded food colorant followed by green on the Indian market (EI 2018 ). Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the Indian organic market reflecting in 40% increased growth (EI 2018 ). Ironically, consumers who are asserting natural colorants didn’t know what is natural or chemical.

Natural pigments are extracted from both edible as well as non-edible constituents of plants such as flowers, seeds, leaves, fruits, roots, etc. Other major sources apart from plant constituents include marine fungi, insects, and microalgae. Anthocyanins, betalains from grapes, blue berries (Albuquerque et al. 2021 ), and beta-carotenes from carrots include pigments extracted from edible matter. Pigments like crocin from Crocus sativus , bixin from Bixa orellana (Rodriguez-Amaya 2015 ), and lutein from the marigold flower (Adeel et al. 2017 ), carminic acid from cochineal insect (Cooksey 2019 ) are derived from non-edible matter. Natural pigments are often combined with carriers, emulsifiers, and antioxidants to maintain colour stability since they are highly sensitive to air, light, and temperature. Besides, the impeccable curative properties of natural colorants make them apt candidates for chemo preventive therapy through diets (Saini et al. 2020 ).

Natural pigments like carotenoids are often water-insoluble, and organic solvents are employed for the extraction of pigments, leading to the selective separation of the pigment alone, without the minerals or carbohydrates and proteins of the overall natural pigment source. Although the extraction process does not contribute to any structural or chemical change in the pigment, how suitable the highly purified pigment remains for direct intake is a subject of investigation. Antioxidants such as ascorbyl palmitate are added to prevent oxidative degradation of pigments. Water insoluble pigments are altered to water-soluble substances by means of polysorbates, fatty acid sucrose esters, and additional encapsulation through polysaccharides and plant extracts. In India, safety of these additives should be regulated more stringently.

These extraction procedures and the lacunae of abundant raw materials trigger forging. For instance, the anthocyanin level in grapes is 30–750 mg per 100 g. Henceforth, synthetic counterparts of pigments are now accessible. These colorants have a higher market value compared to natural colorants. For consumed carotenoids this means that 76% are synthetic (Leepica and Siva 2021 ). The high cost of naturally derived pigments, the seasonal production (anthocyanins can only be produced during the fruiting season), and the acceptable coloration provided in fewer amounts by SFCs (Beate et al. 2020 ) also subsidize adulteration.

One of the challenges in largely populated developing nations such as India is vigilant and comprehensive monitoring of every small food selling outlet like street food vendors, where detection of illegal and prohibited ingredients, colorants, and several other additives becomes arduous to keep track of and eliminate. Each Indian state having separate procedures for registration and licensing prevents the coordination and regulation of food laws between the states. This leads to a whole heap of ambiguities in the food safety system, and quality regulation fuelled by a disagreeable practice of adulterating natural colorants and marketing synthetic colorants labelled as “natural”.

All natural?

An adulteration is the addition of non-permitted food colour additives to a food product. The accumulation of permitted food colours in exceeding levels is also an adulteration that results in severe health hazards (Gizaw 2019 ). Adulterated milk with chalk or diluted water, coffee seeds spiked with tamarind or mustard seeds), ice cream with pepperoni or washing powder etc. are examples of food fraud in order to make more profit (India today 2018 ). Synthetic colorants emerged in order to deceive consumers regarding food freshness, and to increase the visual attractiveness of food, e.g. malachite is green in vegetables, Metanil yellow in dal, Sudan red in red chili powder (India today 2018 ). Nevertheless, recent strategies are trying to promote the ‘naturalistic fallacy’: Around 490 food samples and 62 samples of natural, herbal colours were collected by the Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) from places like Dehradun, Vikas Nagar, Sahaspur, Doiwala, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Rajpur, Mussoorie were adulterated with toxic chemical synthetic dyes (The Tribune 2016 ). One of the world’s most demanded spice and food colorant saffron was found to be adulterated with Sudan dyes (Petrakis et al. 2017 ), and the food colours anthocyanin and betalain with the textile dye ‘Reactive 95’ (Müller-Maatsch et al. 2016 ). Turmeric labelled as natural and organic was highly adulterated with lead chromate (Erasmus et al. 2021 ). Many “organic” labelled foodstuffs like tea powder, jaggery, and edible oils were also reported to contain non-permitted colorants (Pradeshi 2019 ).

Some of the used analytical techniques in the quality assessments of food colorants include spectrometry, thin layer chromatography, ion chromatography, coupled plasma mass spectrometry, gravimetric analysis, and the more sensitive and robust reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (Martins et al. 2016 ). Although a broad range of food colorants used in foods are keenly inspected and certified by food regulatory boards for health safety, still the presence of prohibited colorants and additives cannot be excluded. Therefore, stricter regulations are obligatory to endorse natural colorants and natural food products without their synthetic counterparts.

Safety of natural colorants

The use of natural colorants in India is good within the permitted limits and in permitted foods (Table  2 ). Unfortunately, cases of adding natural food colorants unrestrained manner have been reported in India, e.g. the addition of annatto to cow milk for a yellowish appearance to resemble buffalo milk (Singh and Gandhi 2015 ). Above and beyond, the label “natural” may not mean that the used pigment for the food colorant has undergone numerous clinical trials without any reports of allergies and carcinogenic effects. Reports of urticaria, angioedema, hypotension, anaphylaxis in hypersensitive individuals on the use of plant pigment pressures for broad systematic clinic-level research on natural pigments (Singh and Gandhi 2015 ). Extensive studies are still necessitated to regulate the admissible levels of pigments although it is natural.

FSSAI approved natural colours and their specifications

The need for more stringent regulations

Authorities.

The global organizations that govern international food standards include Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), an inter-governmental body established by FAO and WHO that devises the global food standards of which developing countries like India. Starting with the industrial revolution, the use of synthetic colorants became widespread. The United States first published the list of approved food colours in 1906 to curb the use of toxic chemical dyes. In 1957, the UK published legally approved colorants. In the early 1950s, a joint committee under the leadership of FAO and WHO was established to assess the safety of food additives including colorants (Lehto et al. 2017 ). In India, the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006) prescribes food regulations that are implemented by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), which is authorized and functions under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India. As per FSSAI regulations, the final concentration of synthetic food colorants should not exceed 100 ppm in foods and beverages (FSSAI 2009 ).

FSSAI has published the list of natural and synthetic colorants with permitted limits in 2 regulations (2009, 2011). Table  1 provides details of FSSAI-approved synthetic colorants. The non-permitted colours are Fast red, Rhodamine B, Metanil yellow, Bromo-cresol purple, Green S, Sudan 1, Sudan 2, Sudan 3, and Sudan 4, as well as the overuse of permitted colours (Deva 2007). Table  2 shows FSSAI approved natural colorants in India. However, the regulations do not provide a proper definition to define artificial colouring substances. There is no distinction between natural colours and the synthetically produced natural colours. As per FSSAI, food products are sold under the label ‘contains permitted natural colours/permitted synthetic colours/contains permitted natural and synthetic colours’ without any depiction of the used colorant (FSSAI 2011 ). There are also no rules regarding the labelling of the colorant amount added to the food. Only the synthetic food colorant package should indicate the total dye content (FSSAI 2009 ).

FSSAI approved synthetic colorants, their chemical name, structure along with colour index (FSSAI 2009 ; 2011 )

The international identification number of colours needs to be listed on the label. The presence of annatto colour in oils is labelled as ‘annatto colour in oil’. But there is no specification about other colorants. The readability of these terms for consumers is also questionable. The manufacturing and sale of synthetic colours should be under license and their packaging labelled as ‘food colours’. There are certain specifications regarding the diluents, filler materials for the preparation of synthetic colours. Around 29 diluents including sugar, salt, ethanol, lactose can be used for the preparation of colorants (FSSAI 2009 ). There are permitted levels of synthetic food colorants as well as natural food colorants. But, is there any limit for a maximum daily uptake of permitted food colours in India? Are there any reports on the cumulative effects of these pigments accumulating in our bodies?

Regulatory standards with a proper HACCP system implemented by the industry are the most appropriate means to ensure the industrial production of natural food colorants. In the context of natural colorants production, proper quality checking throughout the supply chain is mandatory, starting from the collection of raw materials to sales, to ensure adulterant-free natural colours. The minimum amounts of toxic metals, pesticides, contaminants, solvent residues, and adulterants should be the benchmark for the quality and approval of natural colorants. Chemicals will stabilize the natural colorants that underwent multiple processing to enhance their colouring. A crystal image of regulations limiting the additional chemicals added to natural colorants should also lessen the adulteration in colorants.

The unrestrained use of colorants in Indian street food markets urgently needs to be appraised. Analysis studies on street food vendors in Chennai underpin that 94% are unaware of even the hygiene practices, and 74% believe that applying for a license is an arduous task (Abraham and Krishnan 2017 ). The conditions are even worse in other metropolitan and rural areas of India, where tourists are largely attracted by street foods (Gupta et al. 2020 ). There should be initiatives from the regional level itself to curtail the sources of banned pigments and to conduct awareness programs for street vendors about the hazards. With the collective effort strengthened by officials at the regional and national level, street food vendors will undoubtedly alter the fortune of Indian cuisines and magnetize more foreigners.

Most of all, the food monitoring frequency should also be renewed on par with the bourgeoning number of small-scale as well as large-scale outlets. Regular updates of legal regulations, and redefining the rationale for permitted food colorants considering the increased dependency on fast food is also desirable. The negligible scientific reports on the use of natural, and synthetic food colorants purpose the requisite of large-scale funded research to understand the current scenario of Indian food colorants, as well to frame solutions considering primarily the health of consumers.

Consumers are impelling factors in the progress of SFC safety and the natural colorant market. A consumer perception investigation performed in Switzerland revealed that consumers prefer natural colour additives based on the risk and regulation factors (Bearth et al. 2014 ). In Germany, people prefer natural colorants derived from plants and not animal sources (Müller-Maatsch et al. 2018 ). A survey conducted in Ethiopia showed that 64.15% of people are not aware of the possible adverse consequences of food additives, and 70.96% would continue to consume them even after discerning the effects Moreover, a large part of consumers was not interested in checking the labels to determine food safety and quality (Getasew et al. 2016 ). This accentuates the need of presenting labelling with good readability and logos to specify the use of natural colorants for consumers to differentiate synthetic from natural colorants (Fig.  2 ). Moreover, awareness programs at regional and national levels will generate the active, knowledgeable, discriminative consumers.

Proposed logo for denoting natural permitted food colorants in food packages. Pigments extracted from plants are used to colour candies. The candy package is labelled with a proposed logo

Future perspectives

Meeting the rising demands of natural colorants is challenging owing to the tedious extraction procedures, low raw material availability, and high cost. Fruitful strategies such as gene editing technologies like CRISPR/cas 9, optimization of tissue culture techniques, utilization of stress factors like sonication, ultrasound, and magnetic field, and recognition of molecular markers for breeding should be employed for augmenting colorant production. For instance, lipases and carotenogenic genes were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to induce production of β-carotene (Fathi et al. 2021 ). Production of another natural colourant annatto have been enhanced through application of abiotic elicitors like methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, paclobutrazol (Parimalan et al. 2011 ). However, research is still going on for the replacement of natural with synthetic substitutes, with studies on natural pigments being at substandard levels and their original function uncertain. Instead, more focus should be given to elucidating promising natural sources for pigments. For instance, beta-carotenes from microalgae such as Chlorella vulgaris and Dunaliella salina (Damergi et al. 2017 ; Xu et al. 2018 ) Additionally, research in exploring the likelihood to produce pigments from endophytic microbial sources (Sujithra and Ramamoorthy 2022 ; Sujithra et al. 2021 ) and large-scale production in bioreactors are providing possibilities for safer food colorant production.

More profound knowledge of natural pigments could help the progress and expansion of healthier, safety-specific functional food products. Besides, the intake of natural colourants in food also provides several health benefits including cardioprotective activity (Varghese et al. 2022 ). There needs to be a focus on scientific innovations and upgradation in the processing and storing conditions of the food such that it would reduce or eliminate the inclusion of food additives and also assist in the contribution of risk-free, secure food products to consumers without compromising on their catch factors and demands. Due to this demand and change in consumer expectations, food industries have been collaborating with top food research institutions to apply scientific knowledge to produce high valued nutrient-enriched food products (Garnweidner-Holme et al. 2021 ). The collaboration also aids the industries to stay updated on the latest progress in food science research to make possible the commercialization of safe, natural, healthy, and functional ingredients and foods in industrial food products. Currently, microparticles are used to enhance the solubility of pigments by a 100-fold, encapsulation inside emulsion system and polymers is used for stability of pigments over longer storage periods. Gamma irradiations have also remained a reliable technique to extend shelf life and stability (Martins et al. 2016 ).

Considering the regulatory and societal aspects of food colorants in India, a regularly updated list of permitted and non-permitted food colorants is needed. There should be an unbiased, unambiguous standard founded on the toxicity levels for permitting the colorants and their use. A delegated apprehensible description of the norms in production and sources of natural colorants is obligatory. Most of all, proper labelling defining the colorant should be provided esteeming the rights of consumers to know the ingredients of the food they intake.

According to Hippocrates, ‘leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal the patient with food’. Paradoxically, we are in the state of consuming medicines because of the food we intake. The extensive use of synthetic colorants without any constraints is the causative factor of many health disorders. Some consumers are making informed choices and opting for natural and organic food products and also have become very specific towards their inclination for natural food colorants and flavorings, mainly because of the reports on health and environmental threats that synthetic colorants potentially have. However, the misbranding of “natural” and adulteration of natural colorants are also issues to combat. Collective efforts of authorities, traders, and consumers are required to promote the use of natural colorants without any adulteration.

Acknowlegment

The authors are thankful for the VIT managment for their constant support in the work.

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Conceptualisation, writing-original draft: RV; writing-review, and editing; supervision: SR.

Not applicable.

Declarations

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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India needs to ‘Grow Safe Food’, curb adulteration

After India witnessed in 2023 the lowest rainfall in five years, as the El Nino weather pattern made August the driest in more than a century....

After India witnessed in 2023 the lowest rainfall in five years, as the El Nino weather pattern made August the driest in more than a century. Agricultural production has been hit in the country. For a few years, India has been experiencing cereal shortages, fuelling a persistent surge in food inflation, despite the government placing curbs on some exports.

As if that is not enough, there has been rampant adulteration of food items, especially spices. The situation has been so concerning that a parliamentary panel has mooted that at least six year jail be awarded for food adulteration. At present, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 272 in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the offence of “sale of noxious food and drinks” is punishable with a term extending to six months, or with a fine extending to Rs 1,000, or with both. The punishment is considered quite inadequate given the serious health issues such as food poisoning, cancer, nutritional deficiencies, increased disease risk, allergic reactions, respiratory issues, toxicity, infertility, brain damage, even paralysis.

Another disconcerting news for the Indians is increasing presence of residues of pesticides and insecticides in the food items. Pesticide residues can be found in significant amounts in many foods, including fruits, vegetables, cereals, pulses, grains, wheat flour, oils, eggs, meat, fish, poultry, bovine milk, butter, and cheese. According to ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 95.6% of fresh fruit and vegetable samples contain multiple pesticide residues, with the most common being organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, dithiocarbamates, and neonicotinoids. Such residues, when consumed regularly, are found to cause serious health risks, including: food poisoning; neurological disorders, hormonal imbalances, reproductive issues, birth defects, genetic changes, skin conditions, miscarriage, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer, too.

At a time when India is registering increasing food exports to Europe, the European Union (EU) has flagged over 400 export quality products from India for being highly contaminated. As many as 14 of the products are known to damage various organs and use dangerous elements like mercury and cadmium in fish among other products, while, 21 products including octopus and squid had cadmium, which is a toxic heavy metal, and poses serious health risks when ingested or inhaled.

Already, the Gulf countries are wary of pesticide residues in our rice exports and cut back on them. Hong Kong food regulator banned certain spice mix of two leading Indian brands MDH and Everest over presence of pesticide Ethylene Oxide in their samples.

India, which has just signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), an important bloc in Europe, the other two being the EU and UK. The EFTA is made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It has potential to bring in about $100 billion investments and create 1 million direct jobs over the next 15 years.

The report on quality of Indian food exports should not be brushed aside. The authorities must wake up and address this disturbing phenomenon. For their part, the countrymen, too, who have been silently consuming adulterated food items and those with residues must mount pressure on governments to remedy the situation at once. The Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act must not only be strengthened but must be implemented in letter and spirit. Staff shortage is a major lacuna. Merely asserting that India has one of the most stringent norms for pesticides residues in food items cuts no ice with food inspection regulators abroad. Integrated Pest Management is obviously found wanting. “Grow Safe food” Campaign must be ramped up across the country.

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Disposable paper-based sensor array for detection of orange juice adulteration

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• Published: 19 May 2024

Cite this article

• Debasmita Mondal   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4505-9383 1 ,
• Md. Zeeshan Equbal 2 ,
• Akshat Jain 2 &
• Vaibhav Mishra 2  

An array of filter paper based disposable sensors was developed for identification of orange juice adulteration. Small strips of Whatman filter papers (5 mm × 6 mm) were coated with conducting polymers i.e., polyaniline and polypyrrole (both in chloride doped and de-doped form) to develop the sensors. Silver electrodes were deposited on the polymer-coated sensor substrate using conducting silver paste. The sensors were exposed to various adulterations of orange juice with water dilution and sucrose addition. Impedance measurements from the sensor were monitored over a frequency range of 0.01–10 kHz using a Frequency Response Analyzer. The adulteration of fresh orange juice using water dilution could be detected in the range of 1–30% by volume (in steps of ~ 5–10%) with minimum detection of 1% whereas sucrose (30% w/w) addition was successfully identified from 10 to 60% by volume (in steps of ~ 10%) with minimum detection of 10%. Owing to the non-specific response of the sensors, statistical analysis using Principal Component Analysis, Linear Discriminant Analysis, t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding, and k-Means clustering algorithm were utilized to identify the trend in the impedance response shift for various levels of adulterations in orange juice. Among the different classification methods, LDA provided the best results in differentiating between different levels of adulterations followed by k-Means clustering algorithm. The developed sensor is a proof-of-concept for development of disposable electronic tongue with potential applications in beverage quality monitoring.

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The authors are thankful to the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay for providing the facilities to carry out the experimental work.

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Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab, 147004, India

Debasmita Mondal

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 835215, India

Md. Zeeshan Equbal, Akshat Jain & Vaibhav Mishra

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Conceptualization: Debasmita Mondal; Methodology: Debasmita Mondal; Formal analysis and investigation: Debasmita Mondal, Md. Zeeshan Equbal, Akshat Jain and Vaibhav Mishra; Writing—original draft preparation: Debasmita Mondal, Md. Zeeshan Equbal, Akshat Jain and Vaibhav Mishra; Writing—review and editing: Debasmita Mondal, Md. Zeeshan Equbal, Akshat Jain and Vaibhav Mishra.

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Mondal, D., Equbal, M.Z., Jain, A. et al. Disposable paper-based sensor array for detection of orange juice adulteration. Food Measure (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-024-02608-5

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6 Myths about dairy debunked

M ilk has been a food staple for ages and remains an excellent source of nourishment. We've believed several food-related rumours since we were children. There are numerous factors influencing public perceptions of milk's health advantages. While some argue that drinking milk at night can harm the digestive system, others believe it can induce acne.

But have you ever questioned if all of these milk-related claims are factual or myths? Read on to learn more about these prevalent beliefs and the facts behind them. It's time to dispel these myths and clarify five entirely false milk-related claims:

• Myth: Drinking milk promotes weight gain

This misconception about milk is likewise false because the minerals found in milk are vital for overall health. Weight gain is largely attributed to the FAT found in milk. It is important to note that FAT in milk is an essential component of a balanced diet, providing crucial nutrients like vitamins A, D, E, and K.

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Contrary to popular belief, the act of boiling milk does not substantially diminish its nutritional content. While some may worry about repeated boiling reducing its nutritional value, it's important to recognise that this process primarily serves to eliminate harmful bacteria, ensuring milk's safety for consumption. Essential nutrients like calcium, protein, and vitamins A and D remain largely unaffected by boiling.

To maintain optimal nutritional benefits, it's recommended to adhere to scientific practices, such as allowing the milk to cool after boiling. In commercial pasteurisation processes, milk is heated to 75 degrees Celsius and then rapidly cooled to less than 4 degrees Celsius to eradicate bacteria while preserving its nutritional integrity.

• Myth: Milk removes calcium from bones

The idea that milk leaches calcium from bones is not supported by scientific research. In actuality, milk is a good source of calcium, which is essential for bone health. Regular dairy consumption has been linked to stronger bones and a lower incidence of osteoporosis.

• Myth: Drinking milk makes mucus

Some individuals believe that drinking milk causes mucus. Multiple journals and published papers from notable institutes have not found scientific evidence linking milk consumption to increased mucus production. Studies have shown that milk does not stimulate mucus production in the respiratory tract. Therefore, for most people, drinking milk should not exacerbate mucus-related issues.

• Myth: milk causes acne

The misconception that milk causes acne has persisted. While individual reactions may differ, empirical data does not consistently indicate a direct causal link between milk consumption and acne. Genetics, hormones, and diet have a larger impact on skin health. Dairy products contain essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and protein, which are beneficial for overall health and skin function.

• Myth: Dairy foods are unhealthy for the intestines

Gut health has grown in popularity, and with good reason: there is so much data to back up the health and well-being advantages of a healthy gut. Unfortunately, many people are misled into believing that eliminating dairy from their diet is necessary to attain good gut health. Looking at science, there is no data or studies to suggest that dairy has a harmful influence on the gut.

On the contrary, evidence suggests that moderate consumption of fermented dairy products such as yogurt, kefir, and some cheeses may benefit the gut flora.

The prevalence of myths surrounding milk and dairy products often stems from personal experiences with adulterated or low-quality products. Adulteration in the dairy industry is a widespread issue, with unethical practices compromising the purity and nutritional value of these essential foods.

Consumers who have unknowingly consumed adulterated milk or dairy products may have experienced adverse reactions, leading them to attribute negative effects to all dairy consumption. As a result, misconceptions and myths about the supposed drawbacks of dairy have proliferated.

Addressing the root cause of these myths requires a concerted effort to combat adulteration and ensure the availability of high-quality, unadulterated dairy products.

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