The intentional or unintentional addition of useless, dangerous, or unnecessary ingredients to food, lowering the food's quality, is known as food adulteration. Food adulteration has been a source of concern since the dawn of civilisation, as it not only degrades food quality but also has a range of adverse health consequences. If we look at the problem of food adulteration, we find it mainly in three forms in our country. Firstly, we see intentional adulteration done by adding a similar-looking thing or a chemical to a food item. This adulteration is done for some extra volume or life and extra profit. Various health hazards are associated with such an act. Water, for example, is added to milk deliberately. Secondly, we find incidental adulteration, which involves an improper way of processing, handling, storing, transporting or marketing a food item. At times, the residues of pesticides and insecticides, for instance, are found present in a food item. The ingestion of such residues puts our health at risk in a number of ways. Finally, we notice the metallic contamination that affects a food item seriously. As for fruits and vegetables that grow near the soil surface, they may be contaminated by exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium or mercury. The poisonous effects of metallic contamination are frequently lethal to our health. In short, food adulteration, in whatever form it takes, tells upon our health, and may even result in death.
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