Consumers’ Knowledge of Food Adulteration and Commonly Used Methods of Detection

Table 6

Traditional means of detecting food adulteration by the respondents.

Food products	Means of detection by respondents	Frequency	%
Groundnut paste	Not smooth or presence of particle	3	16.7
	Thickening soup	9	50.0
	Looks whitish	4	22.2
	Appears lighter with oil	1	5.6
	Soup looks gelly	1	5.6
Powdered pepper	Looks very red	3	11.5
	Pepper is not hot as usual	17	65.4
	Different odour other than that of pepper	3	11.5
	Taste sweet	1	3.8
	Smells differently	1	3.8
	Mostly moist because of the adulterants	1	3.8
Tomato powder	Unknown particles settle when mixing with water in a container	5	83.3
	Looks very red	1	16.7
Bread	The addition of citrine makes the bread very sweet	2	100.0
Tomato paste	Flour addition makes it very thick	2	33.3
	Looks pale than the usual red colour	4	66.7
Honey	The presence of sugar attracts ants	3	8.6
	Watery when diluted with water and spread easily	9	25.7
	Flammable when pure	2	5.7
	When you get stomach upset after taking it	1	2.9
	Rub in the palm for the presence of particles	1	2.9
	Put a spoon of honey in a cup of water; pure honey will settle at the bottom	1	2.9
	Cotton wick dip in pure honey will burn, but a cracking sound will be heard if there is water in the honey	6	17.1
	Pure honey will not freeze in a freezer	3	8.6
	Change in original taste and thickness	1	2.9
	Adulterated honey will break at intervals when pouring it out from a spoon or container	1	2.9
	Pure honey will settle when mixed with water, but adulterated one will mix quickly with water	2	5.7
	Pure honey leaves traces on a smooth surface	3	8.6
	Taste very sugary	2	5.7
Spices	Mix with water and allow to settle. Adulterants will suspend	1	100.0
Ice cream	Looks like porridge when flour is added	1	100.0
Fried yam	Looks very yellow	3	75.0
	Taste sweet indicating the addition of sugar	1	25.0
Kenkey	Malleable	1	20.0
	Gummy	3	60.0
	Taste like banku	1	20.0
Palm oil	Taste different	4	44.4
	Stain your tongue after eating	1	11.1
	Colour changes to dark red upon heating indicating adulteration	3	33.3
	Add drops of iodine to red oil; if the colour changes to blue-black, this indicates adulteration with starch	1	11.1
Ginger powder	It will not smell and taste like the original ginger	2	100.0
Meat (beef)	Soaking in water will get rid of the adulterants (colour)	3	100.0
Milk powder	Mix with water, and adulterants will suspend	1	100.0
Plastic rice	Burning the rice will cause it to melt	2	100.0
Milk	Put a drop of milk on a vertical surface; if it flows slowly, then it is not adulterated	4	66.7
	Pure milk will leave traces when allowed to flow on a smooth surface	1	16.7
	Taste different	1	16.7
Sugar	Dissolve sugar in water; the presence of white precipitate indicates adulteration with chalk	8	100.0
Black pepper seed	Black pepper seed will sink in alcohol while papaya seed will float	1	100.0
Mustard seed	The presence of argemone seed will feel rough when rubbing between palm	1	100.0
Coffee	Add coffee powder to water; if the powder settles, it is adulterated	2	100.0