At Khan Market, a lab on wheels checks if your food is safe to consume

Manning the vehicle were chemist Mohit Gupta and technical assistant Jaswant Singh. Express Photo by Amit Mehra

The van at Khan Market was invited by the community to allow grocery stores and restaurants to test their ingredients of their own volition, as testing food at restaurants is not under the authorisation of the scheme.

Manning the vehicle were chemist Mohit Gupta and technical assistant Jaswant Singh. Explaining their work, they said the tests conducted in the vans were more elementary like detecting artificial colours in masalas, such as in haldi or red chilli powder, the presence of sugar in honey, and the adulteration of dairy products with starch or detergent.

Demonstrating one such test, the duo immersed haldi powder in a testing chemical. The solution remained yellow, indicating the purity and naturalness of the colour used. Gupta stated that if artificial colours had been present in the powder, the solution would have turned red.

They test for artificial colours due to their potentially carcinogenic properties.

At the discretion of the technical team, food given for testing at the van may also be flagged and sent to a central laboratory for further testing if the need arises.

Although no unsafe ingredients were discovered at Khan Market, the team stated that a few times a month, it is common to find starch or detergent in milk, mould on food, and colours in chilli powder.

The chemists visit different parts of Delhi on an almost daily basis, working to spread awareness. Gupta said, “If there is one thing the general public should know, it is to avoid heavily coloured sweets, especially around festive occasions when demand is high and sellers are using artificial colours instead of natural ones.”

The writer is an intern with The Indian Express