KUCHING, Oct 25: Miri City Council (MCC) will impose a new licensing condition requiring used and thus deteriorated cooking oil not be recycled for cooking purposes.
Its mayor Adam Yii said this is an effort to increase awareness on the effects of high-fat food intake and deep-frying methods used to prepare food by food business operators.
He noted that an increasing number of coffee shops, restaurants and eateries in Miri use deep-frying to prepare food and it has become a major concern among the local community and health practitioners.
“The used cooking oil shall be properly disposed off through a licensed used cooking oil collector-cum-recycling company.
“Proof of proper disposal shall be produced for verification upon request from public health officers.
“In order to safeguard consumer health, the council shall fix a limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) in edible oil at 25 per cent beyond which the cooking oil shall not be used,” he said in a statement today.
The TPC refers to all products (compounds) present in frying oil due to oxidation processes (frying), including free fatty acids, products of low molecular weight decomposition, and polymerised substances.
World health authorities have adopted a value of 25 to 27 per cent as the acceptable upper limit for fats and oils.
At the same time, Yii has urged eatery operators to sterilise all eating utensils in hot water before serving food to customers.
He also reminded them that containers used to hold hot water should be made of metal or porcelain, and plastic containers are not allowed for the purpose.
In addition, he said the council also prohibits the usage of styrofoam containers to package food in eateries.
“The use of biodegradable paper food containers is highly encouraged.
“In connection with this, the council would like to remind all food premises operators that the prohibition has taken effect since Aug 25, 2017 and it is still in force,” he emphasised.
Yii explained that as part of current efforts to promote healthy living and encouraging healthy eating habits, the council will continue to create awareness on sanitisation and food hygiene among food business operators and request all eatery operators to maintain a high level of cleanliness on their premises. — DayakDaily
