China to track kitchen wastes

December 14th, 2011 - 6:59 am ICT by IANS  

Beijing, Dec 14 (IANS) Chinese authorities plan to track kitchen waste from restaurants to stop the illegal supply of gutter oil — old cooking oil collected from the gutters.

Gutter oil has caused a major food safety concern in China in recent years.

A draft national standard for the catering industry has proposed a tracking mechanism for all kitchen waste, Xinhua reported.

The document, published on the health ministry’s website Tuesday to seek public comments, stipulates that catering service providers should set up a comprehensive kitchen waste management system.

It requests such providers to sign contracts with dealers in kitchen waste who will be required to obtain authorization certificates from the government.

A detailed record of each waste disposal should be kept, specifying its type, volume, receiver and expected use, the draft reads.

Such records are also required to be reported to the administering authorities on a regular basis. The reprocessed cooking oil will only be allowed for use as fuel or animal feed.

The police have launched a crackdown on the illegal use of gutter oil. However, the food safety authorities are still trying to find a reliable method to differentiate edible oil and reprocessed gutter oil.

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