FDA to get stale oil tester for restaurants

Device to come in handy for government's long-term plan to convert used cooking oil into biofuel

Intensifying the drive to keep a check on cooking oil consumption at restaurants, the state food watchdog has decided to acquire equipment to test the overuse of oil. It will also come in handy for the government's plan to covert stale oil into biofuel.

The equipment will measure the presence of Total Polar Compound (TPC), which should not be more than 25 per cent, in the reused oil. TPC more than 25 per cent makes the oil harmful for consumption, causing severe health issues, like cholesterol, blood pressure and liver diseases.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will soon provide the oil-testing devices to Maharashtra FDA. "To identify TPC content, we generally need to send samples to laboratories, and the process takes time. So, central FSSAI will send much advanced equipment that will help identify TPC content in oil faster and more accurately," said a senior officer from state FSSAI.

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The FSSAI had in February directed FDAs across the country to notify restaurants using more than 50 litres of oil per day to maintain a daily chart. Restaurants were instructed to submit data such as name of the oil, quantity of oil used for frying, quantity discarded at the end of the day, date and mode of disposal and which agency the reused oil was handed over to.

Biofuel conversion

Addressing an event to mark 'World Biofuel Day' in August, state-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum had launched a programme to procure overused cooking oil from 100 cities across the country and convert it into biodiesel.

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