Managing Food Waste, Improving Food Safety? The Case of Gutter Oil in China

In recent years there has been growing public concern in response to food safety problems in P.R. China. The discussion has focused on the widespread overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which has implications for food safety. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the impact of food waste on food safety. The increasing urbanization of mainland China and the rising affluence of its citizens has led to a change in dietary habits and consumption patterns. This in turn has led to an increase in food waste generation, greater contamination of the environment and more severe food safety risks. To review China’s food waste management strategies, this chapter presents the case study of “gutter oil” (illegal cooking oil from leftovers or used oil and animal parts). It finds that the increase in food waste has had consequences for environmental pollution and health as a result of poor environmental decision making, insufficient food safety standards and non-transparent food labeling.

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Notes

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People in China Use Disgusting “Gutter Oil” From Sewers to Cook Food

Aside from seeing magnificent places and attractions, part of the thrill of being a tourist is trying out exotic food and specialty cuisines in your chosen destination – particularly if you are someone with adventurous taste buds.

For example, if you are in China, you’d probably want to try out fantastic street foods like baozi (traditional Chinese dumplings), snake meat, duck and chicken feet, chou doufu (stinky tofu), bat delicacies, you tiao (deep fried breadstick), and, of course, fried noddles.

However, you might want to be a little more careful about how you pick your food sellers – especially with the previous food scandal that have struck the country.

According to sources, street food vendors and restaurants are using gutter oil for cooking.

Although gutter oil is illegal, it is said to be pretty common in China.

This disgusting practice is done by unscrupulous individuals in the country as a way of selling cheaper oil to consumers. Actually, some food sellers even make their own gutter oil to further save on expenses.

It can be hard to detect even when compared closely with clean oil since it looks and tastes exactly alike.

Gutter oil is considered by many as the less expensive alternative.

In the market, gutter oil is being sold for merely $940 a ton compared with commercial grade oil which sells 400,500 – that’s savings around $560. The consequence though is putting the public’s health at great risk.

Eating food cooked with gutter oil can be poisonous.

Needless to say, consuming foods that are fried with this dirty oil can be harmful to human health. The oil contains contaminants, pathogens, and other potentially lethal chemicals.