Waiter ... Hold that Swill Oil, if You Please

Source: Shanghai Daily

More than 3 million tons of filthy and toxic cooking oil extracted from gutters and drains may end up back in domestic and restaurant kitchens each year.

China's top food safety watchdogs have organized nationwide swoops to stop the illegal recycling practice.

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered the setting up of strict regulations to stop the production of so-called swill oil.

Offenders found in the swoops face severe penalties.

The swill oil business was so rampant in Chinese cities that some people made a full-time living from it, according to He Dongping, head of China's oil standardization committee and a food science professor in Wuhan.

He told Chongqing Evening News yesterday these people could make more than 10,000 yuan (US,465) every month from excavating oil from gutters and drains.

An estimated 3 million tons of swill oil was unknowingly consumed by Chinese people every year, He said.

Red, cream-like residue from drains and gutters is collected and boiled until a layer of clear oil surfaces.

This is sold to roadside restaurants and other outlets and He believes every Chinese at some stage has probably consumed swill oil.

He said swill oil could be highly poisonous, stunt children's growth and cause liver and kidney problems.

Plus, a chemical that is abundant in swill oil is a known carcinogen.

The problem baffling scientists and food safety authorities is there is no effective method for consumers to distinguish between swill oil and normal cooking oil.

He suggested recycling all waste food oil into biodiesel.

[More China News]

Editor: Shanna Chu