High swill-oil use rings alarm bells
By Li Jinghao |
June 29, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
INCREASING use of swill oil - cooking oil scooped out of eateries' drains and processed into edible oil - has been found in food-processing factories, construction site canteens, edible oil wholesale markets and even some supermarkets in northern China.
The illegal business chain involving production, distribution and sale of tainted oil in Beijing and its neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province is "posing a serious risk" to public health, while lack of supervision by local authorities has contributed to the worsening of the problem, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Insiders told Xinhua that the production capacity of swill oil in some illegal factories in northern China has reached more than 20 tons a day and improved technology employed by the illegal businesses now has made the problem oil hard to detect.
"Not only kitchen leftovers, but also waste oil from eateries and fat of pork, chicken and duck from slaughter houses now can be processed into swill oil, which looks genuine compared to quality edible oil," said an insider.
Two of three swill oil samples obtained from illegal producers and sent to the state food quality test center were proved to meet the national standards.
An undercover investigation showed many small Beijing restaurants sold their leftovers to pig farmers in the suburbs despite the fact it is illegal to feed pigs the leftovers.
The farmers later resold the kitchen garbage to illegal processors of swill oil for 1,000 yuan (US$155) per barrel, the report said.
According to the urban management commission of Beijing, the city generates 1,750 tons of kitchen garbage every day while the legal processors only can handle about 600 tons of leftovers.
Workers in a Tianjin swill oil factory said the dirty oil turns clear through special filters and is then sold as salad oil.
The undercover investigation found most of the swill oil from illegal factories in northern China were sold to food producers, canteens at construction sites and wholesale markets, where vendors repacked the oil for sale.
Some swill oil packs were even labeled as brand products and sold to supermarkets.
The illegal business chain involving production, distribution and sale of tainted oil in Beijing and its neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province is "posing a serious risk" to public health, while lack of supervision by local authorities has contributed to the worsening of the problem, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Insiders told Xinhua that the production capacity of swill oil in some illegal factories in northern China has reached more than 20 tons a day and improved technology employed by the illegal businesses now has made the problem oil hard to detect.
"Not only kitchen leftovers, but also waste oil from eateries and fat of pork, chicken and duck from slaughter houses now can be processed into swill oil, which looks genuine compared to quality edible oil," said an insider.
Two of three swill oil samples obtained from illegal producers and sent to the state food quality test center were proved to meet the national standards.
An undercover investigation showed many small Beijing restaurants sold their leftovers to pig farmers in the suburbs despite the fact it is illegal to feed pigs the leftovers.
The farmers later resold the kitchen garbage to illegal processors of swill oil for 1,000 yuan (US$155) per barrel, the report said.
According to the urban management commission of Beijing, the city generates 1,750 tons of kitchen garbage every day while the legal processors only can handle about 600 tons of leftovers.
Workers in a Tianjin swill oil factory said the dirty oil turns clear through special filters and is then sold as salad oil.
The undercover investigation found most of the swill oil from illegal factories in northern China were sold to food producers, canteens at construction sites and wholesale markets, where vendors repacked the oil for sale.
Some swill oil packs were even labeled as brand products and sold to supermarkets.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
