China has cracked down on food safety in recent years after a series of scandals including the use of recycled gutter oil cooking oil that has been recycled from sources such as restaurant waste.
China using gutter oil.
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.
Although gutter oil is illegal it is said to be pretty common in china.
Reprocessed gutter oil involves the use of alkali additives to reduce the abnormal ph caused by high rates of animal fats and bleach to convert the dark colour to clear.
So if we buy drugs and cosmetics made in china they can legally contain gutter oil.
The use of gutter oil is often common in sichuan style dishes where vast quantities of chilli oil are used.
This is generally known as gutter oil chinese pinyin dìgōu yóu simplified characters 地沟油 traditional characters 地溝油.
Therefore distinguishing legitimate cooking oil and reprocessed gutter oil is difficult.
Dìgōu yóu or 餿水油.
China has a known problem with counterfeit cooking oil made illegally by gangs.
Including products which are exported overseas to us.
China lacks standards to detect reprocessed gutter oil and classify waste food recycling.
It is perfectly legal to use gutter oil to make cosmetics soaps lotions and pharmaceuticals in china.
Not just inferior cooking oil relabelled as well regarded brands but made from waste oil and rotting animal parts.
It can also be used to describe the processing of waste oil collected from sources such as restaurant fryers grease traps slaughterhouse waste and.