Health Hazards of Food Adulteration

Food adulteration refers to the process by which the quality or the nature of a food is reduced through addition or adulterants or removal of vital substance. It refers to the forcing and usually inferior chemical substance present in food that causes harm or is unwanted in the food. Basically during food adulteration, small quantity of non-nutritious substances are added intentionally to improve the appearance, texture or storage properties of the food. 

Health hazards of food adulteration: Some health hazards associated with specific food adulteration includes:

i) Mineral oil if added to edible oil and fats cause cancers.
ii) Lead chromate when added to turmeric powder and spices can cause anemia, paralysis, brain damage and abortions. 
iii) Lead added to water, natural and processed food can lead to lead poisoning, foot drop, insomnia
constipation, anemia and mental retardation. 
iv) Cobalt added to water and liquors and can cause cardiac damage also copper, tin, and zinc can cause colic, vomiting and diarehoea.
v) Mercury in mercury fungicide treated grains or mercury-contaminated fish can cause brain damage, paralysis and death. 
vi) Non-permitted colour or permitted food colour like metal yellow, beyond the safe limit in coloured food can cause allergies, liver damage, infertility, anemia, cancer and birth defects.