Tricks to Check if Your Turmeric Powder is Adulterated
Image Credit: Turmeric (Picture Courtesy: Pixabay)

In one of our previous articles, we had told you how to check if your salt is adulterated. If you haven’t checked that out, click here. In this piece of writing, we are going to tell you about FSSAI recommended ways to know if the turmeric you have purchased is safe to eat or not. But, before that, it is important to know that having adulterated (means somethings that’s not pure and harmful items have been added to it in order to increase its quantity or make its appearance attractive) food is worse than eating oily food items. One of the main reasons why people are becoming ill even after following a healthy diet is the adulteration of foods. Do you know that eating adulterated food for a long can cause cancer, brain damage, infertility, and more debilitating conditions? Shockingly, data released by FSSAI in 2014-2015 revealed that nearly one-fifth of the food items tested for purity were found adulterated.

Some of the most commonly adulterated foods include milk, wheat, and other grains, vegetables, honey, dal, spices, and sweets. 

In its recent initiative to help people detect adulteration in food, FSSAI took to Twitter and shared some simple tricks that can assist you to check if your turmeric powder has artificial colour adulteration. You can either watch the below-mentioned video or read further to know the steps. 

  1. Take a glass and fill it with water.
  2. Now, add a small amount of turmeric to the water. 
  3. If your turmeric powder is unadulterated, the water will turn light yellow and the turmeric will accumulate at the bottom of the glass.
  4. However, in case, the powder is adulterated, it will turn the water dark yellow.

How to Prevent Eating Adulterated Foods?

  1. If you have enough land and time, cultivate yourself. In case, you don’t have this facility, always buy veggies, fruits, and other such products from a local market or directly from the farmers. 
  2. Prepare spices at home. Buy the khada masala from any shop and grind them at home if you want their powdered form. This will help you get rid of the colour usually mixed in the spices.
  3. Grow a few types of veggies in your courtyard, balcony or terrace and eat organic food.