How to identify adulteration in Diwali sweets..!?

Sowmiya Sriram
How to identify adulteration in diwali sweets..!?

Food adulteration is harmful to health and it is necessary to ensure the quality of food sold in shops. During festivals like diwali, people buy lots of sweets and gift them to each other. Thus there is a good chance of making a profit for the sellers of sweets. Greed for high demand and high profits leads to the sale of fake and adulterated sweets. All starches, sugar, and oil are suspected of being adulterated.

What is adulteration?
It is the addition of any other substance or the removal of a necessary substance instead of certain substances that should be used in the food we eat. For example, water in milk, molasses in honey, and tamarind powder in coffee powder can be said as additives. This adulteration affects the quality of the food we naturally get in food. Additions in sweets and snacks can cause huge health setbacks. Therefore, during the festival season including diwali, police and food management organizations conduct raids on business establishments and confiscate a large number of adulterants. Eating adulterated foods can lead to malnutrition. Substandard ingredients like rotted dry fruits, sawdust, and corn flour are added to sweets, while ingredients like flour and vegetable ghee are added during the preparation of dry fruits.
Especially in the sweets prepared for diwali, aluminum is used instead of silver sheets for decoration. Similarly, detergents, urea, adulterated oil, used oil, etc. are also added to sweeteners. Eating such prepared sweets can lead to many health problems. Apart from stomach aches, and vomiting, problems like allergies will occur. The government is taking strict measures to avoid these problems. Milk is the most commonly adulterated product in india and most sweets are made from milk. State food safety officials inspect shops, collect samples, and check quality. Action is taken against those who do not follow the grading norms. Notably, FSSAI has increased the number of surveillance samples to 1 lakh this year.

Ways to detect adulteration in sweets:

Identification of adulterants in flours is essential. Similarly, add 2-3 drops of iodine to sweet treats. A change in the color of the sweet may be a sign of adulteration. If buying mawa or goya for dessert, make sure it is soft and not too sticky. Goya with a grainy or dry texture may be adulterated.
Detection of artificially colored sweeteners:
To identify artificially colored sweets, take a piece of sweet and hold it in your hand for a few minutes. If the color of the candy gets on your hands, don't buy that candy.

Adulteration in sweets:

Don't taste sweets before you buy them. If the dessert is too old, its taste may have changed. Similarly, older sweets tend to be dry.

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