Now Reading: FSSAI shares simple test to check baking soda in jaggery
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FSSAI shares simple test to check baking soda in jaggery
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has released a simple home test to detect baking soda adulteration in jaggery (gur). Take about a quarter teaspoon of powdered jaggery in…
The Story in Brief
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has released a simple home test to detect baking soda adulteration in jaggery (gur). Take about a quarter teaspoon of powdered jaggery in a glass, add 3 ml of hydrochloric acid (HCl). If bubbles or foam form, it indicates the presence of sodium bicarbonate, a cheap additive used to improve colour, texture or weight. FSSAI warns that no reaction does not guarantee purity, and the test only catches one type of adulteration.
For a full check, consumers should send suspect jaggery to a recognised laboratory or contact the food safety department. When buying packaged jaggery, check for the FSSAI licence number. Relying on appearance alone is misleading, shiny jaggery is not necessarily pure.
The Indian Opinion
This home test for jaggery adulteration is useful, but headlines risk making it sound like a cure-all. The real scandal is not that consumers lack a chemistry kit; it is that FSSAI has to rely on citizen vigilance because enforcement remains weak. Laboratories are few and testing is expensive for the average housewife. The question nobody asks: how many samples has FSSAI itself tested and prosecuted this year?
Source: bazaar.businesstoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
