Beware of Cholesterol From Your Frying Pan!

GUWAHATI: A foodie or a restaurateur you are – you need to keep count of the number of times a foodstuff is fried with the cooking oil poured into the frying pan in one go. Frying any stuff more than three times with the same volume of oil poured into the pan may increase your cholesterol level, besides weakening your heart.

Of late the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has issued a set of directives for surveillance of cooking oil being used in restaurants and other eateries. The FSSAI had to issue such a directive as restaurants and other eateries are infamous for frying foodstuffs repeatedly (more than three times) with the same volume of cooking oil poured into the pan.

When contacted on the latest directive and its necessity, an official from the Commissionerate of Food Safety said: “Frying foodstuffs more than three times with the same volume of oil poured into pan in one go degrades the oil. Repeated frying of foodstuffs with the same volume of vegetable oil develops more total polar compounds. Vegetable oil with more than ten mm total polar compounds per kg of oil shouldn’t be used again. It may increase your cholesterol level, besides weakening your heart leading to a whole lot of diseases.”

The official further said: “Eateries using over 50 litres of cooking oil a day have also been asked to maintain records and disposal of used cooking oil. They’ve also been asked to give such records to the FSSAI or the Commissioner of Food Safety of the respective States from time to time.”

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