View source for Chemistry:Adulterant

{{Short description|Practice of a substance within other substances caused by adulteration}}
An '''adulterant''' is caused by the act of '''adulteration''', a practice of secretly mixing a substance with another. Typical substances that are adulterated include but are not limited to food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fuel, or other chemicals, that compromise the safety or effectiveness of the said substance.

==Definition==
Adulteration is the a practice of secretly mixing a substance with another.<ref>{{cite web |title=Difference Between Adulteration and Contamination |url=https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-adulteration-and-vs-contamination/ |website=Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms |date=16 July 2014}}</ref>The secretly added substance will not normally be present in any specification or declared substances due to accident or negligence rather than intent, and also for the introduction of unwanted substances after the product has been made. Adulteration, therefore, implies that the adulterant was introduced deliberately in the initial manufacturing process, or sometimes that it was present in the raw materials and should have been removed, but was not.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

An adulterant is distinct from, for example, permitted food preservatives. There can be a fine line between adulterant and [[Chemistry:Food additive|additive]]; [[Biology:Chicory|chicory]] may be added to coffee to reduce the cost or achieve a desired flavor—this is adulteration if not declared, but may be stated on the label. [[Earth:Chalk|Chalk]] was often added to bread flour; this reduces the cost and increases whiteness, but the [[Chemistry:Calcium|calcium]] confers health benefits, and in modern bread, a little chalk may be included as an additive for this reason.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

In wartime, adulterants have been added to make foodstuffs "go further" and prevent shortages. The {{wipe|Germany}} word ''ersatz'' is widely recognised for such practices during [[Social:World War II|World War II]]. Such adulteration was sometimes deliberately hidden from the population to prevent loss of morale and propaganda reasons. Some goods considered luxurious in the Soviet Bloc such as coffee were adulterated{{how?|date=July 2023}} to make them affordable to the general population.{{fact|date=January 2020}}

==In food and beverages==
[[File:How the microscope reveals adulteration b10154140 027 tif ks65hd45w.tiff|thumb|right|"How the microscope reveals adulteration", microscope slide comparing rice starch (left) and arrowroot (right) and a mixture of the two (center), {{Circa|1909}} ]]
Past and present examples of adulterated food, some dangerous, include:
* Apple jellies (jams), as substitutes for more expensive [[Biology:Fruit|fruit]] jellies, with added colorant and sometimes even specks of wood that simulate [[Biology:Raspberry|raspberry]] or [[Biology:Strawberry|strawberry]] seeds
* High fructose corn syrup or cane sugar, used to adulterate honey
* Red ochre–soaked brown bread to give the appearance of beef sausage for sausage roll filling.<ref>The Times, ''Police'', 5 February 1894; pg. 14</ref>
*[[Chemistry:Olive oil regulation and adulteration|olive oil adulteration]]
* Roasted [[Biology:Chicory|chicory]] roots used as an adulterant for coffee
* Water, for diluting milk and alcoholic beverages
* Water or [[Earth:Brine|brine]] injected into [[Biology:Chicken|chicken]], pork, or other meats to increase their weight<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/dining/09well.html?ex=1159243200&en=17c3332c2ab7cd8d&ei=5070 | work=The New York Times | first=Marian | last=Burros | title=The Customer Wants a Juicy Steak? Just Add Water | date=9 August 2006}}</ref>
* [[Chemistry:Urea|Urea]], [[Chemistry:Melamine|melamine]] and other nonprotein [[Chemistry:Nitrogen|nitrogen]] sources, added to [[Biology:Protein|protein]] products to inflate crude protein content measurements<ref name=USAToday>{{cite news
|url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-04-25-melamine-usat_N.htm
|first=Elizabeth
|last=Weise
|title=Food tests promise tough task for FDA
|work=[[Software:USA Today|USA Today]]
|date=24 April 2007
|access-date=29 April 2007}}</ref>

==History==
Historically, the use of adulterants has been common; sometimes dangerous substances have been used. In the United Kingdom up to the [[History:Victorian era|Victorian era]], adulterants were common; for example, cheeses were sometimes colored with lead. Similar adulteration issues were seen in industries in the United States, during the 19th century. There is a dispute over whether these practices declined primarily due to government regulation or to increased public awareness and concern over the practices.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

In the early 21st century, cases of dangerous adulteration occurred in the People's Republic of China.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Yong-Ning |last2=Zhao |first2=Yun-Feng |last3=Li |first3=Jin-Guang |author4=Melamine Analysis Group |title=A Survey on Occurrence of Melamine and Its Analogues in Tainted Infant Formula in China |journal=Biomedical and Environmental Sciences |date=2009 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=95-99 |doi=10.1016/S0895-3988(09)60028-3|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Xiaoman |last2=Zang |first2=Mingwu |last3=Li |first3=Dan |last4=Zhang |first4=Kaihua |last5=Zhang |first5=Zheqi |last6=Wang |first6=Shouwei |title=Meat food fraud risk in Chinese markets 2012–2021 |journal=npj Science of Food |date=2023 |volume=7 |issue=12 |doi=10.1038/s41538-023-00189-z|doi-access=free |pmc=10070328 }}</ref>

In some African countries, it is not uncommon for thieves to break electric [[Engineering:Transformer|transformer]]s to steal [[Chemistry:Transformer oil|transformer oil]], which is then sold to the operators of roadside food stalls to be used for deep frying. When used for frying, it is reported that transformer oil lasts much longer than regular cooking oil. The downside of this misuse of the transformer oil is the threat to the health of the consumers, due to the presence of PCBs.<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/12/thieves-fry-kenya-power-grid-fast-food-2014122884728785480.html Thieves fry Kenya's power grid for fast food], Al Jazeera, 28 December 2014</ref>

Adulterant use was first investigated in 1820 by the German chemist Frederick Accum, who identified many toxic metal colorings in food and drink. His work antagonized food suppliers, and he was ultimately discredited by a scandal over his alleged mutilation of books in the Royal Institution library. The physician Arthur Hill Hassall conducted extensive studies in the early 1850s, which were published in ''The Lancet'' and led to the 1860 Food Adulteration Act and other legislation.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= Coley |first= Noel |date= 1 March 2005 |title= The fight against food adulteration |url= https://eic.rsc.org/feature/the-fight-against-food-adulteration/2020253.article |magazine= [[Chemistry:Education in Chemistry|Education in Chemistry]] |volume= 42 |issue= 2 |pages= 46–49 |publisher= [[Organization:Royal Society of Chemistry|Royal Society of Chemistry]] |access-date= 19 June 2018 }}</ref> John Postgate led a further campaign, leading to another Act of 1875, which forms the basis of the modern legislation and a system of [[Chemistry:Public analyst|public analyst]]s who test for adulteration.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

At the turn of the 20th century, industrialization in the United States led to a rise in adulteration, which inspired some protest. Accounts of adulteration led the New York ''Evening Post'' to parody:
<blockquote><poem>
Mary had a little lamb,
And when she saw it sicken,
She shipped it off to Packingtown,
And now it's labeled chicken.<ref>Jeffrey M. Pilcher, ''Food in World History'' New York: [[Company:Routledge|Routledge]], 2006, p. 59</ref></poem></blockquote>

However, even in the 18th century, people complained about adulteration in food:<blockquote>"The bread I eat in London is a deleterious paste, mixed up with chalk, alum and bone ashes, insipid to the taste and destructive to the constitution. The good people are not ignorant of this adulteration; but they prefer it to wholesome bread, because it is whiter than the meal of corn [wheat]. Thus they sacrifice their taste and their health. . . to a most absurd gratification of a misjudged eye; and the miller or the baker is obliged to poison them and their families, in order to live by his profession." – Tobias Smollett, ''The Expedition of Humphry Clinker'' (1771)<ref name="weston">{{Cite web|url=http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-diseases/digestive-disorders/621-against-the-grain.html|title=Weston A.Price: Against the Grain, Section Bread to Feed the Masses|access-date=16 March 2011|archive-date=20 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820035457/http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-diseases/digestive-disorders/621-against-the-grain.html|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>

==Incidents==
* In 1981, [[Chemistry:Denaturation (food)|denaturated]] [[Chemistry:Colza oil|Colza oil]] was added to [[Biology:Olive oil|Olive oil]] in Spain and 600 people were killed (See [[Unsolved:Toxic oil syndrome|Toxic oil syndrome]]){{cn|date=August 2023}}
* In 1987, Beech-Nut was fined for violating the US [[Medicine:Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act|Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act]] by selling flavored sugar water as apple juice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1370/is_n5_v22/ai_6495698|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210213152/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1370/is_n5_v22/ai_6495698|url-status=dead|title=Juiceless baby juice leads to full-length justice&#124;FDA Consumer|archivedate=10 December 2007}}</ref>
* In 1997, ConAgra Foods illegally sprayed water on stored grain to increase its weight.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/20/business/conagra-set-to-settle-criminal-charges-it-increased-weight-and-value-of-grain.html|title=Conagra Set to Settle Criminal Charges It Increased Weight and Value of Grain|agency=Bloomberg News|newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 March 1997}}</ref>
* In 2007, samples of [[Biology:Wheat gluten (food)|wheat gluten]] mixed with [[Chemistry:Melamine|melamine]], presumably to produce inflated results from tests for protein content, were discovered in the USA. They were found to have come from China.{{cn|date=August 2023}} ''(See: Chinese protein adulteration.)''
* In the [[Chemistry:2008 Chinese milk scandal|2008 Chinese milk scandal]], significant portions of China's milk supply were found to have been adulterated with [[Chemistry:Melamine|melamine]]. Infant formula produced from this milk killed at least six children and is believed to have harmed two hundred thousand children.
* In 2012, a study in India across 29 states and union territories found that milk was adulterated with detergent, fat, and even [[Chemistry:Urea|urea]], and diluted with water. Just 31.5% of samples conformed to FSSAI standards.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sinha |first=Kounteya |date=10 January 2012 |title=70% of milk in Delhi, country is adulterated |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/70-of-milk-in-Delhi-country-is-adulterated/articleshow/11429910.cms |newspaper=The Times of India |access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref>
* In the 2013 meat adulteration scandal in Europe, horsemeat was passed off as beef.
* In 2019, it was discovered that lead chromate was widely added to [[Biology:Turmeric|turmeric]] sold in Bangladesh to enhance its yellow color, which was largely responsible for consistently high [[Medicine:Lead poisoning|lead poisoning]] rates in the country and prompted a government crackdown. By 2021, the practice had been eradicated in the country, and blood lead levels had dropped.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Piper |first1=Kelsey |title=Lead poisoning kills millions annually. One country is showing the way forward. |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/9/20/23881981/bangladesh-tumeric-lead-poisoning-contamination-public-health |work=Vox |date=20 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* Anthropogenic hazard
* Surrogate alcohol: harmful substances which are used as substitutes for alcoholic beverages
** [[Chemistry:Denatured alcohol|Denatured alcohol]]: alcohol which is deliberately poisoned to discourage its recreational use
* [[Chemistry:Impurity|Impurity]]
* Fake food
* [[Chemistry:Cutting agent|Cutting agent]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{EB1911 poster|Adulteration}}

* {{gutenberg|no=19031|name=A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons}} (1820) by Friedrich Accum

==External links==

{{Consumer Food Safety}}

[[Category:Adulteration| ]]
[[Category:Food additives]]

{{Sourceattribution|Adulterant}}