Adulterants are chemical impurities or substances that by law do not belong in a food, pesticide, or other substance. Some are added intentionally to lower the manufacturing cost of the product, or to modify its characteristics in a deceptive way. A cropduster spreading pesticide. ... Deception (or mystification) is to intentionally distort the truth in order to mislead others. ...

Usage of adulterants was very common and often was a penal offense. A few examples used through the history are:

• Mogdad coffee, whose seeds have been used as an adulterant for coffee
• Roasted chicory roots were used for the same purpose, starting during the Napoleonic era in France
• Roasted ground peas, beans, or wheat used to adulterate roasted chicory
• Diethylene glycol, used by some winemakers to fake sweet wines
• Oleomargarine or lard, added to butter
• Rapeseed oil, commonly added to sunflower oil and soybean oil, brassicasterol being a marker of its presence
• Rye flour, corn meal or potato starch used to dilute more expensive flours; alum is also added to disguise usage of lower-quality flour
• Apple jellies were substituted for more expensive fruit jellies, with added colorant and sometimes even little pieces of wood that simulated eg. strawberry seeds
• Artificial colorants, often toxic - eg. copper, zinc, or indigo-based green dyes added to absinthe
• Sudan I yellow color, added to chili powder
• Water, for diluting milk and beer
• Lower-quality black tea disguised as higher class
• Starch, added to sausages
• Cutting agents are often used to adulterate (or "cut") illicit drugs

Adulterants can be also added to urine, in order to interfere with the accuracy of drug tests. They are often oxidative in nature - hydrogen peroxide, and bleach have been used, sometimes with pH-adjusting substances like vinegar or sodium bicarbonate. These can be detected by drug testing labs, but some of the less expensive tests do not look for them. Coffee in beverage form Coffee is a beverage, served hot or with ice, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. ... Species C. endivia - cultivated endive - wild endive - common chicory Chicory is the common name given to the flowering plants in genus Cichorium of the family Asteraceae. ... Binomial name Pisum sativum L. A pea is the small, edible round green bean which grows in a pod on the leguminous vine Pisum sativum. ... Green beans Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae) used for food or feed. ... Species T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat (Triticum spp. ... Diethylene glycol (DEG, 3-oxa-1,5-pentanediol, diglycol, ethylene diglycol, or dihydroxy diethyl ether) is a diol, an alcohol with two -OH groups, a dimer of ethylene glycol. ... Margarine is a generic term used to indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes. ... A slice of bread spread with lard was a typical staple in traditional rural cuisine of many countries. ... Butter is commonly sold in sticks (pictured) or small blocks, and often served using a butterknife. ... Binomial name Brassica napus L. Rapeseed Brassica napus, also known as Rape, Oilseed Rape, Rapa, Rapaseed and (one particular cultivar) Canola, is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae. ... Binomial name Helianthus annuus L. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant in the Family Asteraceae with a large flower head (inflorescence). ... Binomial name Glycine max Merr. ... Binomial name Secale cereale M.Bieb. ... Cornmeal is dried, ground maize corn. ... Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ... Starch is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water, it is used by plants as a way to store excess glucose. ... A crystal of Alum Alum, in chemistry, is a term given to the crystallized double sulfates of the typical formula M+2SO4·M3+2(SO4)3·24H2O, where M+ is the sign of an alkali metal (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, or caesium), and M3+ denotes one of the trivalent metal... Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ... Look up jelly in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Food coloring spreading on a soap bubble A food coloring is any substance that is added to food to change its color. ... A vintage Pernod Fils absinthe advertisement Absinthe (IPA english: IPA french: ) is a distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called wormwood. ... Chili powder (also called chili mix) is a spice mix consisting of various ratios of dried ground chile peppers, cumin, garlic and oregano. ... Water (from the Old English waeter; c. ... A glass of cow milk Milk most often means the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals. ... A selection of bottled beers A selection of cask beers Beer is the worlds oldest and most popular alcoholic beverage. ... Black tea Black tea is a true tea (i. ... Starch is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water, it is used by plants as a way to store excess glucose. ... A cutting agent is a chemical used to cut (adulterate) illicit drugs with something less expensive than the drug itself. ... Urine is liquid waste excreted by the kidneys and is produced by the process of filtration. ... A drug test is a process using some kind of biological matter taken from an individual to determine previous drug use. ... Redox reactions include all chemical processes in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. ... Flash point Non-flammable. ... Commercial chlorine bleach To bleach something is to remove or lighten its color; a bleach is a chemical that can produce these effects, often via oxidization. ... Vinegar is often infused with spices or herbs—as here, with oregano. ... Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3, or sodium hydrogen carbonate, also known as baking soda and bicarbonate of soda, is a soluble white anhydrous or crystalline chemical compound, with a slight alkaline taste resembling that of sodium carbonate. ...

External links

• Catholic encyclopedia: Adulteration of food (1907)