PUNJAB INSTRUCTS RESTAURANTS & FAST FOOD COUNTERS TO USE EDIBLE OIL AS PER SET STANDARDS OF FSSAI

CHANDIGARH, JULY 15, 2018: To ensure the availability of healthy food in the State, the Punjab Government has issued the instructions to restaurants, fast food counters, hotels and dhabas to use edible oil as per set standards of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Disclosing this here today, an official spokesperson said that 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. He 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.

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

The spokesperson further said 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. He said that 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.