Adulteration
Deliberately adding cheap or harmful material to spice, from brick dust to banned dyes.
Also: spice fraud, food fraud, cut spice, mixed spice
Adulteration is as old as the trade. Records from medieval Europe show spice guilds punishing fraud, and Nuremberg's Safranschau code of the fifteenth century prescribed severe penalties for faked saffron. Common modern forms include starch and sawdust in ground spices, dyes in chilli and turmeric, exhausted spice from which oil has been extracted, marigold or safflower passed off as saffron, and added lead chromate in turmeric, which has caused poisoning in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Defences include buying whole spices, using reputable sellers, testing and certification. A trusted origin and a fair price are the first clue, since real saffron cannot be cheap.