What is Indian street food without frying the food in piping hit oil? Cooking oil is the most essential ingredient to cook all the delicacies we find everywhere and using a lot of it is necessary for the street stalls. Reports say that India is the second-largest consumer of cooking oil in the world. Fried street foods are never a healthy option and the different kinds of cooking oil used in Indian street stalls and eateries are not at all healthy.
Reusing Cooking Oil Is Very Harmful
One common sight in street food stalls is a pan filled with oil and mostly that oil is getting reused. Using the same leftover oil is a usual thing not only in street eateries, in restaurants, and in households too. In India, people use coconut oil, sunflower oil, mustard oil, and more every day. While using these is not the issue, the problem arises when people start reusing all of them. Eating these foods come with a lot of consequences and can lead to serious health conditions. No one would have imagined that these can lead to diseases such as heart issues, food poisoning, and even cancer.
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Observer Research Foundation, Koan Advisory Group did an extensive study, and the result came out to be very shocking and surprising. They found that people reuse 60% of leftover oil again. There are very strict safety regulations regarding consuming used cooking oil (UCO). Even after that, people are using it again and again and the amount is insane as almost 60% is getting reused. The study was conducted in 101 large-sized eateries and 406 small-sized eateries in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
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Small Food Businesses Use UCO The Most!
The study showed that the usage of UCO is comparatively way more in the food industry among the small food joints and street stalls and eateries in all 4 metropolitan Indian cities; New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. The most shocking part of the survey is that these places use the very last drop of UCO every time.