Tougher rules required for blended oils

AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT by Voice of China has revealed some edible oil manufacturers cheat on the blending ratio of the raw oils so as to lower their production costs. Xiaoxiang Morning News commented on Monday:

Although the adulterated oil might still accord with standards for edible blended oil, its nutritional value is less.

The almost conventional practice in the industry stems from the fact that the standards do not stipulate blending ratios, thus giving the manufacturers discretionary power to minimize the share of expensive oils in their blends.

That the current test technology can only measure the categories of oils, whose share is not lower than 5 percent of the blend, encourages the manufacturers to exercise that power — mixing nearly ten kinds of cheaper oils while keeping their ratio below 5 percent each.

Then, it depends on the manufacturers to explain to the consumers what constitute these categories of raw oils that are unknown in tests.

As long as the test results indicate it is not pure

rapeseed oil, soybean oil or peanut oil — the most common edible oils in China — a single drop of olive oil, the amount of which is the last thing that the manufacturers want consumers to know, can turn it into “more nutritious and healthier” and, certainly, more expensive blended oil.

The food safety, industry and commerce administrations should work together to amend the standards for edible blended oils as soon as possible, stipulating the minimum and maximum ratios of each kind of oil permitted in a blend and the manufacturers’ obligations to keep consumers informed of every oil used in their blends.

Also, the government needs to increase its input into the research of more advanced technologies that can be used to tell every kind of oil in the blend as well as their respective proportions to urge the manufacturers to behave themselves.