Q.What is meant by adulteration as a form of consumer exploitation?

Adulteration is the act of debasing a genuine product by adding an inferior, cheaper or harmful substance, or by removing a valuable component, thereby harming the consumer.

Adulteration is studied as one of the main forms of consumer exploitation in the Tamil Nadu HSC Commerce course.

• Meaning: It is the intentional lowering of the quality of a product, most commonly food, by mixing it with a substandard or dangerous substance, or by taking out a useful ingredient.
• Common examples: adding water to milk, mixing sand or stones in food grains and pulses, colouring stale food, mixing chicory powder in coffee, or using harmful chemical colours in sweets.
• Effect on the consumer: the buyer pays the full price but gets an inferior product; adulterated food can cause illness and even long-term harm to health. …

Adulteration is the act of debasing a pure product by adding an inferior, cheaper or injurious substance; it cheats the consumer on both quantity and quality. Four everyday examples are watered milk, grains mixed with grit, coffee mixed with chicory, and spices mixed with brick powder or starch.

In the Tamil Nadu HSC Class-12 Commerce syllabus, adulteration is studied as a major form of consumer exploitation. A trader adds a cheaper or harmful material to a genuine article so as to increase its bulk or weight and earn an unfair profit, while the buyer pays the full price believing the product to be pure. It harms the consumer's money as well as health.

Common examples students should be able to give:

• Milk — mixing water (and sometimes starch) to increase the volume.
• Foodgrains (rice, wheat, pulses) — mixing small stones, sand, dust or husk to add weight.
• Coffee powder — mixing chicory powder or roasted date seed powder. …