New regulations for ‘used cooking oil’ come into effect

State Food Safety Commissioners have been advised to focus on awareness and education programmes, surveillance and enforcement activities for the new set of regulations 

FSSAI in talks with industry to convert used-cooking oil into bio-diesel

NEW DELHI, JULY 2

With the new regulations for monitoring “used cooking oils” coming into force from July 1, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Monday said the implementation of these regulations will require focus on consumer education, enforcement as well as creation of an eco-system for collection of “used cooking oil” to produce biodiesel.

FSSAI said it is in discussion with the Indian Biodiesel Association to establish a nation-wide eco-system for collection of used cooking oil and its conversion to bio-diesel.

The new regulations have set the maximum permissible limit of Total Polar Compound (TPC) in edible oil at 25 per cent. Repeated frying and usage of edible oil changes its physiochemical and nutrition properties and leads to the formation of TPC, which makes it unfit for human consumption.

“From July 1, onwards, all Food Business Operators (FBOs) would be required to monitor the quality of oil during frying by complying with the said regulations,” FSSAI said in a statement. The Food Authority has also established testing protocols for Total Polar Compounds.

Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said effective implementation of used cooking oil standards require “Triple E strategy” and a co-ordinated effort.

“First ‘E’ in the ‘Triple E Strategy’ is ‘Education’ that is educating both the consumers and food businesses about public health consequences of spoiled ‘used cooking oil’. Second ‘E’ is ‘Enforcement’, particularly amongst large food processing plants, restaurants and fast-food joints that are frying food in large quantities; and the third ‘E’ is developing an ‘Ecosystem’ for collection of used cooking oil and producing biodiesel from it ”, he added.

FSSAI has also advised State Food Safety Commissioners to focus on awareness and education programmes, surveillance and enforcement activities for these new set of regulations. “Annually, about 23-million tonne cooking oil is consumed in India. There is potential to recover and use about 3 million tonnes of this for production of bio-diesel,” FSSAI added.

As of now, used cooking oil is either not discarded or disposed in an environmentally hazardous manner and sometimes even finds it way to smaller restaurants, dhaabas and street-vendors.