Winters have come, are you eating adulterated jaggery? Identify real or fake with these 5 easy methods

News India Live, Digital Desk: With the onset of winter, jaggery returns to our kitchen. From tea to gajak and chikki, jaggery tastes amazing in everything. It is not only tasty, but is also considered beneficial for health because it contains iron, calcium and many minerals. But do you know that not every jaggery available in the market is pure?

Nowadays, in order to earn more profits, calcium carbonate (lime), sodium bicarbonate (sweet soda) and many types of artificial colors are being adulterated with jaggery. This adulterated jaggery can cause harm to your health instead of benefit. So the question is how to identify real and pure jaggery?

Don’t panic, today we are telling you 5 such easy and home remedies, by which you will understand the difference between real and fake jaggery in minutes.

1. Pay attention to color (Color Test)

This is the first and easiest method.

• Real Jaggery: Pure and chemical-free jaggery is dark brown or black-brown in colour. The darker its color, the more likely it is to be pure.
• Fake Jaggery: If the color of jaggery is light yellow, white or light orange, then be careful. To make jaggery look attractive and increase its weight, it is cleaned with chemicals, which makes its color lighter.

2. Taste Test

Break some jaggery and taste it.

• Real Jaggery: The taste of real jaggery is naturally sweet and leaves a slight salty taste after eating.
• Fake Jaggery: Adulterated jaggery will either taste too sweet (due to adulteration of sugar), or it will taste bitter (due to overcooking of the sugarcane juice). If the taste of jaggery seems too salty, then understand that it is adulterated with minerals and salt.

3. Hardness Check

Try pressing the jaggery with your nails or any hard object.

• Real Jaggery: Pure jaggery is slightly soft and breaks easily.
• Fake Jaggery: If the jaggery is very hard and takes a lot of effort to break like a stone, it means that other impurities have been mixed in it.

4. Mix it in water (Water Test)

This is the most reliable method.

• How to do: Take water in a glass and put a small piece of jaggery in it.
• Real Jaggery: Pure jaggery will dissolve completely in water and nothing will be left at the bottom of the glass.
• Fake Jaggery: If the jaggery is adulterated, the impurities (like chalk powder or lime) will not dissolve in the water and will settle at the bottom of the glass.

5. Check for Crystals

While buying jaggery, look carefully at its texture.

• Real Jaggery: The texture of pure jaggery is smooth and fibrous.
• Fake Jaggery: If you see small sugar crystals or grains in the jaggery, it means that sugar has been added to it to increase its sweetness.

Now next time whenever you go to the market to buy jaggery, try these easy tips and save your family from the poison of adulteration.