Household Tests

Knowledge Repository:- Here we have a collection of simple and easy tests which you can do it yourself at your home. Rest assured, what we deliver is scientific, quantified and detailed versions of these tests.

Honey

The sweetest start to your day might not be what you think it is. Take these simple tests yourself to know how good your honey is.

1) Water test:- Simple and efficient. Just take a tea spoon of honey and empty it into a glass of water. If honey is pure, a solid lump of it will sink to the bottom of the glass afloat. If it dissolves, honey is not in the purest form as you would have expected. Sometimes you may see the lump of honey getting disintegrated and getting spread in the water. On stirring it may even dissolve. But this is considered to be unadulterated form of honey. Now the results might not indicate the exact nature of the honey, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of how genuine it is.

2) Candle test:- Another test to know how thick honey is by using a candle. You would need a candle, preferably with a thick cotton wick, and a lighter to light the candle. Now wet the wick of the candle with honey. Make sure you shake of the excess honey from the wick. Now light the candle. If it catches fire instantly, honey can be assumed to be pure. If the water content of the honey is on the higher side, it'll prevent the wick from catching fire. If the amount of honey is less on the wick, it might still catch fire after producing a crackling sound. This is another good test which will quickly let you know the thickness of honey.

3) Cloth test:- A quick way to find out whether honey is good enough is to pour it on a white cloth and then washing it. If it leaves out the stain, it is probably not pure. A similar test can be conducted by using a bloating paper. If the poured honey gets absorbed by bloating paper, it is not in the purest form.

There are some other tests too. Like dropping a honey bee in the honey. If she frees herself, honey is expected to be pure, if not, it is adulterated. Pure honey tends to contract in winter, while melt in summer. Impure honey, however, remains unaffected by any weather change. The results of these tests differ according to the ingredients used to prepare it, especially because of added sugars these days. Also, you cannot obviously go out with a lighter and a candle to buy honey. But these tests should help you switch to the right honey brand or marketing company. Also, if you know any more tests to know the purity of honey, or have any inputs and experiences to share with regards to above tests, feel free to add them in the comments section.

Water

No amount of flavoured energy drinks, branded coffees or soft drinks can fill the void that we all crave for - Water! Water is our life, like literally! Imagine coming home after a hard day's work or landing on your porch after brazing the hot Sun and all you crave for is - drinking water! This keeps us hydrated and at the same time - relaxed. But considering the alarming levels of contamination and adulteration, do you believe that water is fit for drinking? Now, packaged water is not something you can consume everyday - it is expensive! And beware it can be contaminated as well.

Here are some great economical tips to keep a regular check for clean drinking water:

1) Colour:- Fill a tall transparent glass with water and check if it is clear. Do ensure the glass is already clean as otherwise this may hamper the water testing results. Keep the glass at your eye level and check. If there are no particles floating or at the base of the glass - then water is clear from any visible contamination.

2) Odour:- Sometimes even the clear looking water will not be able to conclude the difference of drinkable or contaminated water. Try sniffing the water at your place. If it does smell of something absurd or nasty - water contains traces of harmful chemicals such as Chlorine or Sulphur or even minerals like Lead or Copper. Considering the daily pollution in air around, you do not want any additional harmful chemicals seeping down your belly.

3) Buy a Home Testing Kit:- There are multiple options available on the internet when it comes to buying a testing kit for an economical amount. This guarantees professionally tested tools to test the water at your place. These kits come with easy detailed step - by - step instructions and helps in concluding whether your water purifying machine needs servicing or replaced.

4) Regular Service:- Another way of ensuring that the filtered water you consume from your water filter is clean is to regularly get it serviced from authorised representatives. This will keep the water filter clean and will help it get rid of all the impurities that your filter got rid of over the months.

5) Call Purity Test! We are a team of skilled professionals who seek out to keep a check on testing requirements like water. We are well experienced with the water utility policies and strictly abide to it. In addition, we also provide great solutions to seek out for consumable water! Be it the hardness of water, disease causing micro - organisms (pathogens), parasitic worms or any chemicals which can be unfit for human consumption - Purity Test is here to ensure that your water safe for its purpose! We will collect some water sample taken from your house and test it at our accredited laboratories and provide an expert analysis on the samples. It is this simple! Based on these reports, you can identify the water quality and be ensured.

Water forms an essential part of our life and only you can take steps to maintain that your body consumes safe and disease free Water. Our human body contains up to 78% of water depending on body size, and to function we require adequate amounts of water to avoid dehydration all free from impurities. Take the above tests or get in touch with us to significantly decrease your chances of falling prey to rampant water-borne diseases or sufferings due to adulterated water. 

Tips on spotting adulteration in spices

Spices are an integral part of Indian cooking. However, the rate at which the adulteration of spices in the country has risen gives rise to serious health concerns. It is important to be able to tell whether the spices you have purchased have been adulterated, and to understand which sources, if any, are safe.
 
Food adulteration is slowly becoming an epidemic, affecting human lives on a large scale. The use of colours, chemicals, pesticides, and additives is becoming an acceptable but dangerous practice in India, often done for monetary gain without realising its long term and disastrous impact on the health and future of the country, both economically and ecologically. Food adulteration is no longer restricted to local produce, and has found its way into packaged products as well. The presence of starch in paneer to make it thicker, hydrogenated oils and vanaspati in ghee to lend it that rich yellow colour, and even powdered bricks in chili powder raise questions about the quality of the food that we eat.
Adulteration is dangerous as it degenerates the quality of food, making it sub-standard for human consumption. Among spices, the most commonly adulterated items include coriander, dried ginger powder, dried red chili, cardamom, cumin powder, pickle powder, garam masala, curd chili, chili powder, fennel seeds, Kashmiri chili powder, rasam powder, and curry powder, which contain pesticides exceeding the permitted limits prescribed by the European Union. In India, the agricultural sector uses an overwhelming amount of pesticide, which eventually gets absorbed into the air and later the water, giving rise to a vicious cycle.
 
Thus, it is becoming imperative that we buy and consume spices that are safe, as adulterated spices can have many adverse effects on our health like nausea, vomiting, and blurred vision. Most often, spices like turmeric powder, chili powder, and other powdered spices have a high percentage of residual pesticides in them. These spices are also known to be adulterated, as they can be easily mixed with food colouring, added starch, coloured saw dust, or even brick powder, cutting costs for the sellers.
 
Below are some of the simple tests that can be conducted at home to identify the presence of adulteration in spices:

Turmeric powder: 

Indian cooking is incomplete without the use of turmeric powder. However, a commonly used adulterant here is lead chromate, which gives it a bright yellow tinge and is insoluble in water. To detect the presence of lead chromate, the powder can be mixed with water and placed in a beaker. If adulterated, it will immediately leak colour.

Red chili powder:

Red chili powder is the most commonly used spice in any Indian household, and is perhaps also the most adulterated spice. Among the most commonly used adulterants in chili powder are saw dust and brick powder. Add a teaspoon of chili powder to a glass of water and swirl it. Adulterated chili powder will dispel a red swirl of colour.

Powdered spices:

Starch, food colours, dust, and even horse dung are some of the commonly used adulterants in powdered spices, and can lead to serious health complications. Immersing powdered spices in water will ensure that the adulterants float on the surface of the water, while the remaining spices settle at the bottom.
Indian food is incomplete without the addition of masala powders and spices, but with this menace of contamination of spices, it can become a health hazard if consumed daily. The best way to avoid consuming spices that are adulterated is to buy them from a trusted source that packages them after being checked by food regulatory boards and carries either an ISI mark or an Agmark stamp.