Pb instructs restaurants, fast food counters to use edible oil as per set standards of FSSAI

To ensure availability of healthy food in Punjab, the State Government has issued instructions to the restaurants, fast food counters, hotels and dhabas to use edible oil as per set standards of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

“Repeated frying of oil leads to changes in physiochemical, nutritional and sensory properties of edible oil. Therefore, it is important to monitor quality of oil to avoid the use of degraded oil for cooking purposes,” said an official spokesperson on Sunday.

Spokesperson said that at present, there are general provisions in regulation to avoid re-use, re-heating and reuse of edible oil which should be strictly followed.

According to guidelines issued by the FSSAI, the limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) should be maximum 25 percent beyond which the vegetable oil is not suitable for use. “These standards have been finalized after consideration of comments received from stakeholders in this respect and shall come into force from July 1, 2018,” said the spokesperson.

Spokesperson added that the state government has commenced the state-wide campaign of ‘Mission Tandarust Punjab’ under which surprise checking and raids were being conducted to curb the selling of adulterated food in the state.

Instructions have been issued to district authorities to check the standards and quality of edible oil which were used to cook food for commercial use, said the spokesperson.