Kitchen Check
Everyday food awareness
Milk & Dairy
5 topicsMilk — Quick Screen for Added Water
FSSAI demonstrates a simple household screen for added water in milk. It can raise suspicion, but it cannot measure how much water was added or replac
3 min read · 4 min listenMilk — Quick Screen for Detergent
FSSAI demonstrates a rapid milk screen in which milk and water are shaken together and unusually dense lather can raise suspicion of detergent.
3 min read · 4 min listenMilk & Milk Products — Starch Screen with Iodine
FSSAI's DART material describes an iodine colour screen for starch in milk and several milk products. Blue colour can indicate starch, but the test re
3 min read · 4 min listenMilk — Sensory Warning Signs of Synthetic Milk
FSSAI DART lists a bitter taste and soapy feel between the fingers as sensory clues for synthetic milk. Kitchen Check uses only the non-ingestion obse
3 min read · 4 min listenMilk — Maltodextrin: Know When a Rapid Test Becomes a Lab Test
Maltodextrin in milk is a useful example of Kitchen Check's safety boundary: FSSAI has official detection methods, but the analytical procedure uses p
3 min read · 4 min listenOils & Fats
5 topicsCoconut Oil — Refrigerator Screen for Other Oils
FSSAI's rapid method places coconut oil in a refrigerator for 30 minutes. Coconut oil should solidify; a separate liquid layer can raise suspicion of
3 min read · 4 min listenGhee & Butter — Vanaspati Test Is Not a Home Chemistry Test
FSSAI's official method for detecting vanaspati in milk-fat products uses concentrated hydrochloric acid and furfural solution. Kitchen Check must not
3 min read · 4 min listenGhee — Vegetable-Oil Adulteration Needs Analytical Confirmation
FSSAI surveillance uses analytical markers such as beta-sitosterol to investigate vegetable-oil addition in ghee. Kitchen appearance tests cannot prov
3 min read · 4 min listenMustard Oil — Argemone Oil Requires a Lab-Safe Method
FSSAI's validated argemone-oil method uses corrosive acids, solvents, chromatography and UV visualization. Kitchen Check therefore treats suspected ar
3 min read · 4 min listenEdible Oils — No Universal Home Test for Hidden Blending
FSSAI oil testing uses multiple analytical parameters because different edible oils have different compositions. Kitchen Check therefore refuses to of
3 min read · 4 min listenGrains
3 topicsFood Grains — Quick Screen for Added Colour
FSSAI rapid guidance uses plain water to screen food grains for added colour. If the water changes colour immediately after mixing, the result is susp
3 min read · 4 min listenWheat Flour — Quick Screen for Excess Bran
FSSAI rapid guidance suggests sprinkling wheat flour on water. Excess bran floating on the surface can raise suspicion, but the screen cannot judge nu
3 min read · 4 min listenFood Grains — Salt-Water Screen for Ergot
FSSAI rapid guidance describes a 20% salt-solution screen in which ergot bodies float while sound grains tend to settle. Purple-black, elongated bodie
3 min read · 4 min listenPulses
2 topicsPulses — Metanil Yellow Needs Chemical Confirmation
FSSAI warns that pulses may be coloured with synthetic dyes such as Metanil Yellow. The official detection chemistry uses hydrochloric acid, so Kitche
3 min read · 4 min listenBesan — Metanil Yellow and Kesari Flour Are Lab-Confirmation Checks
Besan can be adulterated with synthetic colour or other flours. FSSAI detection methods for Metanil Yellow and Kesari flour use chemical procedures, s
3 min read · 4 min listenSpices
5 topicsTurmeric Powder — Quick Screen for Artificial Colour
FSSAI demonstrates a simple water screen for added artificial colour in turmeric powder. A strong, rapid yellow colour in the water is suspicious; a l
3 min read · 4 min listenChilli Powder — Quick Screen for Artificial Colour
FSSAI demonstrates sprinkling chilli powder on water. Water-soluble artificial colour may descend in coloured streaks, making the screen suspicious.
3 min read · 4 min listenChilli Powder — Screen for Brick, Sand or Mineral Fillers
FSSAI demonstrates a water screen for chilli powder adulterated with brick, salt or talc-like fillers. Heavy gritty residue or an unusually smooth soa
3 min read · 4 min listenBlack Pepper — Water Screen for Papaya Seeds
FSSAI DART gives two consumer screens for papaya seeds in black pepper: a water-float observation and a visual comparison on white paper.
3 min read · 4 min listenSaffron — Water Screen for Coloured Maize Tendrils
FSSAI's rapid saffron screen uses water and thread behaviour. Artificial coloured maize tendrils may release colour quickly, while genuine saffron con
3 min read · 4 min listenSugar & Sweeteners
5 topicsSugar, Bura and Powdered Jaggery — Water Screen for Chalk
FSSAI's DART method dissolves sugar, bura or powdered jaggery in water. Chalk, if present, can settle at the bottom as insoluble material.
3 min read · 4 min listenSugar — Sensory Warning for Urea
FSSAI's DART sensory guidance notes an ammonia-like smell when sugar adulterated with urea is rubbed or dissolved in water. Kitchen Check treats this
3 min read · 4 min listenJaggery — Chalk Screen Without Acid Chemistry
Powdered jaggery can be screened for chalk by dissolving it in water and observing insoluble sediment. Because jaggery is less refined, interpretation
3 min read · 4 min listenHoney — Water-Drop Screen for Added Sugar Solution
FSSAI DART includes a water-drop screen in which rapid dispersal can raise suspicion of added sugar solution. Modern honey authenticity requires analy
3 min read · 4 min listenHoney — Modern Syrup Adulteration Needs Analytical Testing
Current FSSAI honey analysis uses specialized methods for sugar profiles and syrup markers. Kitchen Check therefore treats modern honey-authenticity c
3 min read · 4 min listenTea & Coffee
5 topicsTea Leaves — Filter-Paper Screen for Exhausted or Coloured Tea
FSSAI DART places tea on filter paper, wets it and checks for immediate staining or colour streaks. Genuine tea should not create the same immediate a
3 min read · 4 min listenTea Leaves — Magnet Screen for Iron Filings
FSSAI's rapid method spreads tea on clean paper and passes a magnet over it. Iron filings, if present, are attracted to the magnet.
3 min read · 4 min listenTea Dust — Added Colour vs Normal Brewing Colour
Tea dust releases colour quickly when brewed, but FSSAI's adulteration screen looks for colour streaks on wet filter paper. Kitchen Check separates th
3 min read · 4 min listenCoffee Powder — Water Screen for Clay or Heavy Mineral Matter
FSSAI's coffee DART method stirs coffee powder in water, waits five minutes and checks the bottom for clay-like sediment.
3 min read · 4 min listenCoffee — Chicory Water Screen Plus the 2026 Label Check
FSSAI DART notes that coffee tends to float initially while chicory begins to sink and colour the water. But chicory is legal when declared. From 1 Ju
3 min read · 4 min listenFruits & Vegetables
5 topicsGreen Vegetables — Malachite Green Surface-Colour Screen
FSSAI rapid guidance uses a cotton swab dampened with water or vegetable oil and rubbed on the outer green surface. Green colour transferring to the c
3 min read · 4 min listenGreen Peas — Water Screen for Added Colour
FSSAI DART places green peas in water, mixes them and lets them stand for about 30 minutes. Clear colour separation into the water makes the sample su
3 min read · 4 min listenSweet Potato — Rhodamine-B Surface-Colour Screen
FSSAI DART rubs a water- or oil-damp cotton ball on the red outer surface of sweet potato. Colour transferring to the cotton makes the surface-colour
3 min read · 4 min listenFruit Ripening — Carbide Is Banned, But There Is No Reliable Kitchen Proof Test
FSSAI prohibits calcium-carbide/acetylene ripening but permits controlled ethylene ripening. Appearance alone cannot reliably prove which ripening met
3 min read · 4 min listenWaxed Fruit — Read the Label Before Calling the Coating Adulteration
FSSAI permits beeswax, carnauba wax and shellac for fruit coating under GMP conditions. A visible waxy surface is therefore not automatically adultera
3 min read · 4 min listenMiscellaneous
5 topicsCommon Salt — Water Screen for Chalk
FSSAI DART stirs salt in water. Chalk can make the water look white and insoluble matter can settle at the bottom.
3 min read · 4 min listenHing — Starch Screen with an Important Compounded-Hing Exception
FSSAI uses iodine to screen hing for starch, but FSSAI standards also allow edible starches or cereal flour in compounded asafoetida. Kitchen Check th
3 min read · 4 min listenHing — Water Screen for Foreign Resin or Earthy Material
FSSAI DART includes a water method for hing: a milky white solution without sediment supports ordinary asafoetida behaviour, while sediment can raise
3 min read · 4 min listenCinnamon — Visual Screen for Cassia Bark
FSSAI DART distinguishes thin, rollable cinnamon bark from thicker layered cassia. But cassia itself is a recognized spice product, so this check is a
3 min read · 4 min listenCloves — Water Screen for Exhausted Cloves
FSSAI DART places cloves in water. Genuine cloves tend to settle, while exhausted cloves from which volatile oil has been extracted tend to float.
3 min read · 4 min listen