By China, which has suffered its share of food woes —including infant formula laced with chemicals, eggs colored with industrial dye, and phony liquor that can cause blindness or death—is cracking down on another unwelcome substance in its food supply. Aptly named “gutter oil,” this involves recycled cooking grease collected from sewage drains or purchase illegally from restaurants.
According to China’s Ministry of Public Safety, Chinese police detained 32 people, broke up six illicit operations, and seized 100 tons (90 metric tons) of the oil that was being processed for resale. The gutter oil investigation took six months and spread over 14 provinces.
The recycled oil is usually contained in dirty metal barrels, each holding about 55 pounds worth of liquid according to an article at Huffington Post.com . The peddlers who collect the oil haul it away on bicycle carts and are paid a small sum for the service. Because China is so large, and many popular dishes rely on oil, the disposal of used cooking oil is an ongoing problem. According to an article at Time.com , China consumes nearly 22.5 million tons of cooking oil annually. Recycled oil is most often found at small, hole-in-the-wall restaurants or roadside eateries that serve home-style meals to travelers. Hot pot, a dish where diners dip meat, fish, or vegetables into a pot of bubbling oil at the table, is especially risky.
Food industry experts say that gutter oil can contain carcinogens as well as traces of aflatoxin, a fungus that can contribute to the risk of liver cancer. The U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences examined the correlation between long-term aflatoxin exposure and liver cancer, and noted that liver cancer cases are high across Asia, including China and in parts of Africa.
Legitimate uses of recycled cooking oil in China include biodiesel. The Jinan Green Bio Oil Company that claimed to be converting used oil into bio fuel, however, was one of the operations closed because it was apparently reprocessing gutter oil for sale back into the food market.
While China passed a strict food law in 2009 that laid out stricter penalties for producers of contaminated products, according to Time.com, food safety expert, He Dongping, said last year in an interview with the China Youth Daily that it could take ten years for the country to clean up its gutter oil issues.
