Notes when choosing and using cooking oil

When choosing cooking oils for food processing, consumers need to clearly understand their origin and should choose cooking oils from reputable manufacturers, the Ministry of Health recommends.

Collective kitchens and restaurants need to ensure raw material sources.

In response to the discovery of tens of thousands of tons of oil used to produce animal feed being "transformed" into cooking oil for human consumption, infiltrating industrial kitchens, restaurants, and food production units, the Food Safety Department ( Ministry of Health ) warned that this is a serious violation of food safety regulations, affecting public health.

According to the Food Safety Department, for vegetable oil used in food processing, vitamin A (retinol) supplementation must meet the standards issued by the Ministry of Health ; vitamin A supplementation in vegetable oil must be self-declared by organizations or individuals based on the test results of a designated or recognized testing laboratory that meets ISO 1702 standards. The Department said that for the above oil, the product is declared to contain vitamin A, but the test results of the competent authority do not contain this ingredient.

When choosing cooking oil, you need to know the origin and have a purchase invoice.

PHOTO: LIEN CHAU

According to the provisions of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP of the Government, vegetable cooking oil belongs to the group of products under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Trade for state management of food safety, including the entire chain of production, processing, trading and circulation on the market.

Regarding consumer health, the Food Safety Department recommends that food production and trading establishments, especially collective kitchens and ready-to-eat meal suppliers, when using cooking oil, should request suppliers to clarify the product's declaration and raw material records, not just rely on packaging and labels. Do not use ingredients that are not for the declared purpose in food processing, even if there are sufficient invoices and documents.

Vegetable cooking oil must meet safety standards with limits on metals, limits on mycotoxin contamination in food; food additives, flavorings; hygiene safety for packaging... and regulations on product labeling.

The Food Safety Department recommends that food products that violate quality are distributed through social networks, traditional markets, and brought into collective kitchens, industrial parks, schools, etc. Units and companies providing collective meals must strictly implement food safety principles, only import ingredients from reputable suppliers with business licenses and food safety certificates, and ingredients that show no signs of damage or mold.

At the same time, units with collective kitchens and providing collective meals need to sign contracts to supply raw materials with units that commit to ensuring quality, have periodic inspections, and traceability of origin.

Principles when using cooking oil

According to the Institute of Nutrition (Ministry of Health), when using vegetable cooking oil, you should keep it in cool, dry places, not in places that are too hot, avoid light, and close the bottle tightly after each use.

Leftover oil and fat used for frying should be discarded, because after being exposed to high temperatures for a long time, the vitamins in the oil will be destroyed, making the cooking oil less nutritious.

On the other hand, under the influence of high temperatures (over 180 degrees Celsius), substances in the oil will cause decomposition or synthesis reactions and produce substances that are very harmful to the body.

When choosing cooking oil, you need to clearly understand its origin, and should choose cooking oil from reputable manufacturers.

The Food Safety Department emphasizes that compliance with the correct purpose of use of food ingredients is not only a technical requirement, but also a mandatory legal responsibility.

Any intentional use of ingredients not for the registered purpose for food processing, especially in cases where the ingredients are not safe for consumers, will be considered and strictly handled by the authorities according to the provisions of law.

When detecting suspicion, people are requested to promptly inform the authorities for handling according to regulations.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/luu-y-khi-chon-mua-va-su-dung-dau-an-185250625185231343.htm