The deliberate tampering of turmeric powder with potentially dangerous substances is a serious risk to the health and welfare of consumers. In this work, we sought to create a reliable technique for identifying a prevalent adulterant in turmeric powder—ferrous sulfate heptahydrate. Using the weight-to-weight approach, samples of turmeric powder were gathered from different sources and combined with ferrous sulfate heptahydrate in varying quantities (0 %, 1 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 %). The mixed samples were analyzed using spectroscopic methods such as Raman spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The ferrous sulfate heptahydrate’s distinctive peaks were detected at 1060 cm−1 in Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). On the other hand, turmeric showed clear peaks at 1630 cm−1, 1745 cm−1, 2930 cm−1, and 3720 cm−1 in FTIR, in addition to peaks at 250 cm−1, 328 cm−1, and 420 cm−1 in Raman spectroscopy. In addition, elemental mapping was applied to guarantee that the adulterant was evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Principal component analysis and Soft Independent Modelling Class Analogy (SIMCA) models, when used in conjunction with this technique, allowed for the successful separation of tainted and pure turmeric samples. Our results show that elemental mapping and spectroscopy are useful tools for identifying ferrous sulfate heptahydrate adulteration in turmeric powder. This approach has the potential to guarantee the security and caliber of turmeric-related products sold.