JAIPUR: Reports of the recent laboratory tests on McDonald's cooking oil conducted by the health department showed that the samples of oil were unsafe for consumption. But, McDonald's pointed out that they were surprised at the results of the tests on oil-in-use as there are no standards defined for it by the authorities under the regulation.
In June, health department's food inspectors had collected samples of oil and French fries from McDonald's outlets in the city. "The acid value of refined palmolein oil they were using was 10.08 NMT, which is quite high as it should be 0.5 NMT. Because of high acid value, the oil is unsafe for consumption," chief medical health officer (Jaipur I) Dr Narottam Sharma said.
Recently, McDonald's officials who had made a representation to the local food authorities in Jaipur, said, "Testing the oil-in-use against the standards for fresh oil would always create issues for the business operators...so it is important to establish the standards first for the industry to follow."
"We urge the authorities to expedite the process of defining the standards for oil-in-use which would help in removing ambiguity in front of the industry; and the local officials," said the official spokesperson of McDonald's in North & East.
He said that it is interesting to note that in an RTI response, the Food Safety Authority in India (FSSAI) has confirmed that there are no standards defined of used and fried vegetable oil under the current FSSAI regulation.
However, the health authorities claim that if the acid value of oil (in use) used for frying is higher than the prescribed limit, it causes health problems for consumers.
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