adulterant
Sign in to saveAn adulterant is a substance discreetly added to another that may compromise the safety or effectiveness. Consumable products, such as food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fuels, are frequently adulterated to reduce the cost or difficulty of production without the knowledge of the buyer, allowing the product to be sold at the same price as a chemically pure equivalent. The adulteration of street drugs is known as lacing.
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Definition
- In food and beverages
- History
- Incidents
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
An adulterant is a substance discreetly added to another that may compromise the safety or effectiveness. Consumable products, such as food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fuels, are frequently adulterated to reduce the cost or difficulty of production without the knowledge of the buyer, allowing the product to be sold at the same price as a chemically pure equivalent. The adulteration of street drugs is known as lacing.
==Definition== Adulteration is the practice of secretly mixing a substance with another. The secretly added substance will not normally be present in any specification or declared substances due to accident or negligence rather than intent, and also for the introduction of unwanted substances after the product has been made. Adulteration, therefore, implies that the adulterant was introduced deliberately in the initial manufacturing process, or sometimes that it was present in the raw materials and should have been removed, but was not.