Recycled oil?

[aristotle1990]

Anyone else seen the articles floating around on the internet about how a lot of Chinese restaurants/food stalls use (potentially) highly carcinogenic recycled drainage oil to make their food? See pictures here -- I'm pretty sure I've seen them dredging that stuff up in front of the Muslim restaurant at BLCU...

Edited May 4, 2010 at 01:59 PM by aristotle1990

[eatfastnoodle]

Right now, China is wild west, anything and everything is possible. What can happen probably will happen. What you read on the internet usually have some factual base in reality.

[gato]

Yes, cooking does get reused. Watched out for that 水煮鱼 (also known as "oil boiled fish") next time.

[JenniferW]

Why be surprised?

What's your home country? In the UK, despite what we probably think are pretty good control of food issues, this used to be an issue - and I'm not sure we're exactly squeaky clean now.

[rivercao]

It's not news in China, it already happened, I cannot even tell how long this issue have been. 3 years? Or longer.

Using recycled oil in some oil-heavy dishes is very common. Some guys make a living upon recycling this kind of oils, which is called Di Gou You(地沟油). You can never tell the difference between good oil and recycled ones because they use chemical additives to get rid of the bad smell.

But I think in big resturants and famous brand resturants, this is not likely to happen.

Anyway, eating dishes like 水煮鱼 in small inns may be very hazardous.

[taylor04]

it tastes sssooo good:)

[Brian US]

it tastes sssooo good

I look at it as a blend of goodness.

[adrianlondon]

I just knew there would be an existing thread on this topic. Nothing changes ;)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14894070

More than 100 tonnes of oil were seized in raids across 14 provinces. Some of it had been collected from drains behind restaurants to be sold on.

The sting operation comes more than a year after Chinese state media reported that up to one-tenth of cooking oil was made from recycled waste oil.

[WestTexas]

But I think in big resturants and famous brand resturants, this is not likely to happen.

Why would name brands have anything to do with it? There's still a local manager who can line his pockets by buying the cheaper oil. They have every bit as much incentive to do it as smaller local places.

I think one of the stalls in the school canteen where I work uses recycled oil. Their fried food all tastes slightly bitter and funky. If I'm eating fast I don't quite notice it but if I slow down it tastes funky.

[custom_art365]

In China , there is a saying that goes:"眼不见为净“.

[count_zero]

"I'm pretty sure I've seen them dredging that stuff up in front of the Muslim restaurant at BLCU..."

Cleaning companies absolutely have to clean the discarded oil out of the drains that service Chinese restaurants. There is not necessarily anything shady going on there.

The problem is that these companies can make extra money by selling it on for reuse rather than discarding it.

It's usually the cheap canteens that use this stuff because they need to really cut their margins to make a profit. I wouldn't worry so much about better restaurants and chain restaurants because they need to use quality ingredients. I mean, fry an egg in cheap vegetable oil then fry one in something better like peanut or sunflower. You can taste the difference, right?

Also, customers at higher-end restaurants are more discerning. You might be surprised how many Chinese people would react to being told that their cheap canteen was using gutter oil by saying "yeah, but I only paid 6 kuai so...". It's when Chinese people pay big bucks for something and STILL get ripped off that they get angry - see the Da Vinci scandal.

[frankwall]

How common is this oil in China? I certainly would be cautious if it made 300,000 sick in the past. All the same, its good to see the police clamping down on this trade.

[yialanliu]

Frank, very common unfortunately, basically, it's harder to find a small restaurant using new oil than old oil. Oil is just too expensive when your selling noodles for 6 kuai.

[Scandinavian]

I wonder if this is why my favorite place to get fried noodles have such excellent taste. It's 15 kuai per dish though, but looks like a mum and pop run place.

Are there any tell tell signs of recycled oil being used. I guess asking the owner would not yield a usable answer.

[muirm]

it's harder to find a small restaurant using new oil than old oil

How do you know these restaurants are using old oil? I thought one of the biggest problems with it was how hard it was to tell if the restaurant is using sewer oil.