Experts urge people to avoid low quality cooking oil

Say reheating oils to cause more harm than good; use of dairy or vegetable ghee remains debatable

ISLAMABAD: Medical experts on Saturday urged public that the consumption of cheap cooking oil and ghee produced from low quality palm oil is putting the health of citizens at risk of cancer and heart diseases, besides diabetes and obesity.

Advising people to limit their fat consumption to levels prescribed by health experts, they recommended use of good quality cooking oils and ghee.

Once upon a time dairy ghee was a favoured component in Pakistani cooking. However, over the past four decades it has been replaced by vegetable oil and ghee owing to price difference.



Hydrogenated vegetable oil is much cheaper than dairy butter oil and dairy ghee. However the matter remains debatable on the benefits and the extent of use of polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats and the role of these compounds in good cholesterol and bad cholesterol.

A senior physician Dr Syed Ali Arsalan said economics was the main issue behind serving the lethal doses of palm oil. “Many restaurants and some households use partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (also known as banaspati or vanaspati ghee) in place of dairy ghee because of its lower cost.”

This vegetable ghee contains trans-fats which are said to cause serious health conditions for consumers. He explained that since vegetable ghee is so high in trans-fats, it is considered extremely harmful for people, especially those who live sedentary lifestyles.

He recommended: "be it ghee or oil, the quantity of fat consumption per day should be limited to 10 to 15 grammes per person assuming that the person is not obese."

Consuming ghee or oil is not bad, excess is bad, Dr Arsalan said. "When ghee is consumed at levels above 10% total calories, it can increase risk of cardiovascular disease."

He said cheap and substandard palm oil is being used in manufacturing of banaspati ghee, which is very harmful to human consumption. Dr Arsalan said chemicals like nickel, platinum and plutonium are used in manufacturing of banaspati ghee, which may result in cancer. He said modern research showed that the use of low quality banaspati ghee may result in clogged arteries, blood pressure and cholesterol.

He also confirmed that several tested samples did not meet the international standards for nutritional values.

Keeping an eye on illegal vendors, establishing laboratories to check food samples, sealing unregistered factories, imposing heavy fines on usage of contaminated material and most importantly shutting these places is very crucial.

He said research had proven that excess consumption of degraded oil was unhealthy and caused throat and stomach diseases.

The frying or cooking oil must be discarded after use, he said adding that several tests were available in western countries to ascertain the quality of oil.In Pakistan, however, no such test was available which encouraged vendors to new oil in already used oil. He said the chemical ingredients in the oil became very harmful once it was re-boiled repeatedly.



He mentioned there are two main types of oils: animal-based and plant-based. You're probably very familiar with animal-based oils, like butter, lard, and ghee. These fats are often labelled as "bad" due to their saturated fat content, which is debatable.

So, people turn to plant-based oils, believing they are a healthier option since they're rich in polyunsaturated fat instead, he suggested. Popular plant-based oils include olive oil, coconut oil, peanut oil and corn oil, adding, but plant-based oils are not created equally. And while some are a great choice in the kitchen, others can be pretty harmful especially when you heat it.

Specialist said majority of the people in this business do not adopt any measure to ensure the quality of oil as well as to increase the useful life of frying oils. He said the modern methods include use of active and passive filters, anti-oxidants and better maintenance of fryer equipment.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2018.