Food Adulteration in Contemporary India: Emerging Trends and Remedies

Food Adulteration can be defined as the practice of adulterating food or contamination of food materials by adding few substances which are collectively called the adulterants. Adulterants are the substance or poor quality products added to food items for economic and technical benefits. Addition of these adulterants reduces the value of nutrients in food and also contaminates the food, which is not fit for consumption. Food adulteration rate in India has almost doubled over the last 5 years according to data sourced from FSSAI annual reports. Food adulteration rate in India stood at 13% in 2011-12 which increased to 23% in 2016-17. Against this backdrop, this paper attempts to explain the emerging trends of food adulteration in India and its remedies. DOI: 10.5958/2347-6869.2020.00008.