Beijing cracks down on illegal cooking oil

July 13th, 2011 - 6:10 pm ICT by IANS  

Beijing, July 13 (IANS) Authorities here have cracked down on restaurants using illegal cooking oil — supposedly edible cooking oil produced from so-called gutter oil and swill-cooked oil.

“All restaurants must retain receipts for cooking oil for inspection and we will increase the frequency of regular inspections,” said Ma Yanming, an official.

Officials will everyday visit restaurants to inspect receipts for cooking oil purchases and investigate supply channels, reported Peoples Daily.

Restaurants are not allowed to purchase cooking oil from illegal sources. They are also barred from buying oil products without having full information about the manufacturer.

Some supposedly edible cooking oil on store shelves in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province is being produced from so-called gutter oil and swill-cooked oil, Chinese media have reported.

Swill-cooked oil is waste animal oil and oil that has been used several times - usually by restaurants - for frying.

According to media reports, some producers of the illegal cooking oil are processing nearly 100 tonnes of their substandard and possibly dangerous oil each day. Their advanced refining equipment and production techniques make it difficult for buyers to tell which oil is produced properly and which is really processed garbage.

Reports said the oil produced out of swill-cooked oil flows to food processing businesses and into wholesale markets through illegal channels and even onto supermarket shelves.

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