article · SAGE Open Medicine
Food adulteration involves the deliberate addition of foreign or inferior substances to food products through practices such as substitution, mixing, deceptive packaging, misbranding, and the introduction of toxicants. Consuming adulterated foodstuffs presents severe public health hazards, contributing to serious conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and nervous system disorders. A range of analytical methods, including chromatography, spectroscopy, and electronic sensors, are employed to test food quality and uncover contamination. Addressing these issues requires a multi-pronged approach that links technological advancements in quality testing with robust regulatory standards, rigorous law enforcement, routine inspections, and greater consumer awareness to secure food safety and protect public wellbeing.
Adulterated food threatens consumer health by introducing harmful substances that can cause long-term, life-threatening illnesses. Understanding the analytical tools available to screen foods helps regulators and industry members identify contaminated products more rapidly. Ensuring food safety through consistent testing, inspection, and enforcement protects public health and maintains consumer confidence in everyday food supplies.
The review highlights analytical methods such as spectroscopy, chromatography, and electronic sensors used by testing laboratories and food safety regulators to evaluate product quality. While the abstract discusses established testing techniques and regulatory actions, it evaluates broader literature rather than presenting a novel proprietary technology or a direct commercial deployment pathway.
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Food adulteration is the intentional addition of foreign or inferior substances to original food products for a variety of reasons. It takes place in a variety of forms, like mixing, substitution, hiding poor quality in packaging material, putting decomposed food for sale, misbranding or giving false labels, and adding toxicants. Several analytical methods (such as chromatography, spectroscopy, electronic sensors) are used to detect the quality of foodstuffs. This review provides concise but detailed information to understand the scope and scale of food adulteration as a way to further detect, combat, and prevent future adulterations. The objective of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the causes, risks, and detection techniques associated with food adulteration. It also aimed to highlight the potential health risks posed by consuming adulterated food products and the importance of detecting and preventing such practices. During the review, books, regulatory guidelines, articles, and reports on food adulteration were analyzed critically. Furthermore, the review assessed key findings to present a well-rounded analysis of the challenges and opportunities associated with combating food adulteration. This review included different causes and health impacts of food adulteration. The analytical techniques for food adulteration detection have also been documented in brief. In addition, the review emphasized the urgency of addressing food adulteration through a combination of regulatory measures, technological advancements, and consumer awareness. In conclusion, food adulteration causes many diseases such as cancer, liver disease, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and nervous system-related diseases. So, ensuring food safety is the backbone of health and customer satisfaction. Strengthening regulations, taking legal enforcement action, enhancing testing, and quality control can prevent and mitigate the adulteration of food products. Moreover, proper law enforcement and regular inspection of food quality can bring about drastic changes.
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DOI: 10.1177/20503121241250184
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