Quality Control of

Food

T
he buyer can define
quality of foods as the
‘composite’ of those
‘characteristics’ that
differentiate individual
units of a product and have significance in determining the degree of acceptability of
that unit. In general, the quality control is the maintenance of quality at levels and
tolerance acceptable to the buyer, minimizing the cost for the vender.

But, from the scientific angle, the overall quality refers to technological, physical,
chemical, microbiological, nutritional and sensory parameters to achieve the
wholesome food. These quality factors depend on the specific attributes such as
sensory properties, based on flavour, colour, aroma, taste, texture; quantitative
properties viz., percentage of sugar, protein, fibre etc. and hidden attributes like
peroxides, free fatty acids, enzyme etc. Though quality attributes are many, not all
need to be considered for a particular product. It is important to determine how far
relatively the factor is in relation to the total quality of the product.

The quality attribute of a particular product is based on the composition of the

product, expected deteriorative reactions, packaging used, shelf life required and the
type of the consumer i.e., deployed in terrain conditions or in peaceful situation. With
the ultimate goal of protecting the consumer, quality standardization systems have
come into force for regulating the gamut of operations in food manufacture.
In a broader sense, food laws and regulations cover the related acts affecting the
marketing, production, labeling, food additive used, dietary supplements,
enforcement of General Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Point (HACCP), federal laws and regulations, factory inspections and import-
export inspections.

Types of Contamination

Physical contamination
Adulteration is one of the
major physical
contaminations.
Adulteration is the mixing
of inferior quality material
or superiors substance to
the superior product,
which reduces the nature,
quality and originality in
taste, colour, odour and nutritional value causing ill effects on the health of the
consumers. The main motive of adulteration is to gain undue profits.

Government promulgated the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA Act) in 1954,
which prohibits the manufacture, sale and distribution of not only
adulterated food, but also foods contaminated with
toxicants and misbranded foods. A
Central Food Laboratory established
under the act is located at Kolkata for
the purpose of testing suspected food
products. The Central Food Technology
Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore has
been recognized another laboratory for
testing of adulteration food.

The regional laboratories have also been established at PAU,

Ludhiana, Pusa Delhi and Haryana State food Testing Laboratory. Now almost every
state has its own food-testing laboratory to analyze the sampled suspected
foodstuffs. Almost all the food stuffs being sold in the market are adulterated, but
main food products that are heavily adulterated are spices, milk products, edible oil,
beverages drinks, sweets, pulses, sugar, processed foods, rice and cereal products
like flour, maida, sooji, etc.,

Table: List of common foodstuffs and their adulterants

Type of foodstuffs Main adulterants

a. Milk and Milk products
1. Liquid Milk Water, refined oil, separated (cream less) skim milk
solution, water nut flour
2. Milk powder Starch, dextrines, water nut flour, rice flour
3. Milk cream Other fats, animal fats
4. Butter and Ghee Vanaspati ghee, hydrogenated fats and animal fats
5. Ice Cream Artificial sweetners, jelling agents, other fats, water
nut flour, non permitted colors.
b. Vegetable Oils and Fats
1. Vanaspati ghee Animal fat and other high melting fats
2. Edible oils Palm oil, argemone oil, non-edible oil
c. Dry Beverages
1. Coffee Powder Exhausted Coffee powder, starch, roasted dates,
tamarind seeds
2. Tea powder Used tea residues, other leaves with added color
d. Wet Beverages
1. Wines and beers Water, spurious narcotics and other concentrated
liquids
2. Soft drinks Artificial sweeteners (Saccharin), mineral acids
3. Honey Colored invert sugar, high concentrated sugar
solution
4. Syrups Cheap liquids and juices
e. Spices and Condiments
1. Whole turmeric Coating with lead chromate or coal tar dye
2. Turmeric powder Yellow earth, starch or talc colored yellow with coal
 tar dye
3. Curry powder Starch colored brown with coal tar dye
4. Coriander seed Other green colored seeds
5. Coriander seed powder Powdered bran or sawdust colored green with dye
6. Chilly powder Starch colored red with coal tar dye
7. Mustard seed Argemone seeds
8. Cumin seed Artificial cumin seed like product
9. Black pepper Dried papaya seeds
10. Asafetida Resins and other plant gums
f. Cereals and their products
1. Wheat Stones, straws, low variety grains
2. Wheat flour Talc, chalk powder, tapioca flour
3. Maida Arrow root powder, tapioca flour
4. Sooji Maize flour
5. Rice Stones, straws, low variety rice
6. Semolina Tapioca semolina
g. Pulses and their products
1. Bengal gram dal Khesari dal, arhar dal, bakhla dal
2. Red gram dal (Arhar dal) Khesari dal, bakhla dal, yellow maize flour
3. Bengal gram flour (Besan) Tapioca flour, khesari dal flour, yellow maize flour
h. Miscellaneous Items
1. Processed arecanut Other seeds or nuts broken and colored
2. Processed foods Pickle, jam, chutney and squash of cheap products
3. Sweets Artificial sweeteners, sooji, gur and tapioca flour

Chemical Contamination

Chemicals, which cause a harmful reaction when consumed by animals or humans,

are said to be toxic. It turns out that almost everything is a toxicant or “poison” if
consumed at a high enough level. The use of chemicals in the production and
processing of food and food products not only affects the quality, but also disguises
the deterioration and constitutes deliberate adulteration which is potentially very
harmful to the health. It is advised that food additives like colouring matter,
preservatives artificial sweetening agents, antioxidants, emulsifiers/stabilizer,
flavours/flavour enhancers etc., if used should be of approved quality and processed
under good manufacturing practices.

Microbiological Contamination

It has been stated that microbiological contaminated food is perhaps the most
prevalent health problem in the contemporary world. For safe food microbiological
criteria should be established and freedom from pathogenic microorganisms must be
ensured, including the raw materials, ingredients and finished products at any stage
of production/processing. Accordingly the microbiological examination of the foods
products has to be adopted widely. The microbiological criteria must be applied to
define the distinction between acceptable and unacceptable foods. Consuming old,
used, residual, fermented, spoiled, and contaminated, toxic and bacterial infested
food causes food poisoning.

Infants are more susceptible to food poisoning. Gastroenteritis is caused by food

contaminated with the enterococcus, streptococcus faecalis, which is frequently
found in the human intestinal tract. Poisoning is caused by inadequately refrigerated
food contaminated with microorganism, Clostridium perfringens grows in the
alimentary canal producing the poisoning 8-12 hours after the ingestion of
contaminated food.

Bacillus cereus, a gram positive, aerobic, spore-forming organism has been reported
to be the etiologic agent in numerous food poisoning outbreaks. Incidence of liver
cancer is high in our country due to aflatoxin. Flavism is caused by eating broad
beans or by inhaling, the pollen of its flower. Flavism is a hemolytic anemia. In severe
cases death may occur within 24-48 hours of the onset of the attack. Lathyrism is a
disease, which paralyses the lower limbs. Its incidence is higher in males than in
females. The disease is associated with consumption of Khesari dal and its besan.

Metallic Contamination

Metals are one of the many unintentionally contaminants of food. When present
beyond small quantities, they are toxic. They find their way into food through air,
water, soil, industrial pollution and other routes. Metals may enter from foods utensils
also. Enamelware of poor quality contributes antimony and galvanized utensils zinc.
A major source of tin contamination is tin plate, which is used for making containers
for all types of processed foods. Canned foods if acidic and foods stored in tins after
opening, change in colour or develop a metallic flavour that is unpalatable. A small
quantity of metal is added when food is cooked in aluminum utensils. Copper is an
essential trace element required by the human body but copper contaminated food is
toxic.

Other contaminants
1. Fumigants are used to sterilize food under conditions in which steam heating is
impractical. Ethylene oxide is a commonly used fumigant, which reacts with food
constituents to produce or destroys essential nutrients. It reacts with inorganic
chloride to form ethylene chloro hydride, which is toxic.
2. Various solvents are used for the extraction of oil from oil seeds. But solvents like
trichloro ethylene react with the foodstuff being processed with the formation of toxic
products.
3. During processing of food, their lipids can undergo numerous changes on
prolonged heating, oxidative and polymerization reactions take place, which
decreases the value of the processed products.
4. Smoking of meat and fish for preservation and flavouring is an old practice. This
processing contaminates the food with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as
benzopyrene, many of which are carcinogenic.
5. Lubricants, packing materials etc. also contaminate foods.
6. A number of chemicals are intentionally added to foods to improve their nutritional
value, maintain freshness, impact desirable properties or aid in processing. They also
contaminate food if excessive in quantity.

# V.Thirupathi, R.Viswanathan & CT. Devadas

Department of Food & Agricultural Processing,
Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
Coimbatore-641 003,
Tamil Nadu.