There's a limit for oil reheating!

KOCHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued new standards for the reuse of cooking oil in frying and other uses. The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) First Amendment Regulation, 2017 published in the official gazette prescribes vegetable oil can be reused until it reaches a maximum Total Polar Compound (TPC) limit of 25 per cent. The TPC of unheated oil is 6 to 7 per cent which will start to increase when it reaches the temperature of 50 to 60 degree Celsius. TPC is considered as the accurate indicator of quality of the frying oil and can be checked through a lab test.

The new quality standard is meant for the commercial sector where continuous reheating of oil is common and not for the domestic sector. Different kinds of degradation happen to oil when it is heated to high temperature – 150 to 18 degree Celsius – for frying. Equipment is available to check the TPC value which is being rarely used by big companies. Any edible oil used for frying that crosses the maximum limit of 25 per cent TPC will be considered unsafe. The new quality standards will come into force by July 1, this year.

Till now, there were only general provisions in the FSSAI rule to prevent reuse of cooking oil. The general recommendation was that re-heating and reuse of oil should be avoided as far as possible and also using leftover oil wherever possible. With the enforcement of the new regulation, Food Safety officials can easily check the quality of cooking oil.     Repeated reheating will lead to changes in physiochemical, nutritional and sensory properties of edible oil and hence it is important to monitor quality of oil to avoid the use of degraded oil for cooking, according to the FSSAI notification.

“We are yet to get the official communication only after which we can initiate measures to this effect,” said K.V Shibu, assistant Food Safety commissioner. Meanwhile, natural formulation preservatives are now available which helps in slowing down the oxidative degradation due to reuse, thus keeping the oil safe. Arjuna Natural Extracts Limited has developed a preservative which will maintain vegetable oil colour, taste, and functionality even in high temperatures.