The ‘Eat Proper Mela’ held at Nature Remedy Hospital in Hyderabad on Monday (April 6, 2026) juxtaposed adulterated and adulterated meals as an example how visible inspection can assist detect meals adulteration. Photograph credit score: Siddharth Kumar Singh
Guests to the ‘Eat Proper Mela’ held at Nature Remedy Hospital in Hyderabad on Monday (April 6, 2026) have been drawn to 2 interactive stalls arrange by the Telangana Meals Security Authority, the place officers demonstrated how frequent meals merchandise are sometimes adulterated with overseas substances and the way customers can detect them in easy methods.
The stalls targeted on two essential areas of concern: the usage of synthetic colours in meals and the adulteration of milk and dairy merchandise.
Stalls displaying artificially coloured meals displayed a wide range of generally consumed merchandise, together with candy potatoes with unnaturally vibrant skins, brightly coloured dried kiwi slices, inexperienced peas, fennel seeds (saunf), and colourful sweets. The exhibit highlighted how extreme and unauthorized colorants are used to reinforce visible attraction and mislead customers.
Detection of overseas materials contamination by visible inspection
Officers from the Telangana State Meals Testing Laboratory, the state’s solely meals testing facility in Nacharam, mentioned that whereas laboratory testing entails chemical reagents and exact evaluation, customers can detect adulteration in some meals merchandise by cautious visible inspection. Objects which might be too vibrant, uniformly coloured, or unnaturally coloured, comparable to fluorescent inexperienced peas or darkish orange slices, might have been made with artificial dyes. In some instances, the colour might fade when touched or washed, which serves as a transparent warning signal, he defined.
The second sales space targeted on milk and dairy merchandise. For instance, the presence of starch in milk could be detected by including an iodine answer that turns blue-black when starch is current. Equally, impurities in ghee and butter could be recognized by adjustments in texture, odor, and response to warmth and chemical compounds. Guests have been additionally proven how diluted milk could be detected by its viscosity and layering when left undisturbed.
The demonstration included a sensible setup utilizing droppers and small containers, permitting individuals to watch how completely different samples reacted underneath check situations. Officers mentioned this consciousness is essential as a result of milk and dairy merchandise are in excessive demand and are among the many mostly adulterated meals.
They famous that whereas laboratory affirmation stays the gold commonplace, rising client consciousness can function the primary line of protection towards meals adulteration. They mentioned the aim of the stall is just not solely to teach, but additionally to assist folks make safer meals decisions of their every day lives.
