CityNews – A meeting between Chulalongkorn University and Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office at Chiang Mai Grandview on May 21st to discuss the effects of cooking oil that is commonly used in the north.
Cooking oil used repeatedly affects health. Polar compounds in cooking oil can lead to hypertension, coronary thrombosis, and ischemic stroke as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH.), which causes cancer, a disease that has been affecting Thai people, often fatally, for the last 13 years.
The Ministry of Public Health brought the issue to public attention in 2004, and related complications mainly to the amount of polar compounds in commercial cooking oil. The legal limit is currently set at 25 percent, stores selling cooking oil containing over 25 percent polar compounds are subject to fines of up to 50,000 baht. As of March 13, 2013 restaurants and cooks using oil with over 25 percent polar compounds are subject of fines up to 10,000 baht.
However, the Food and Drug Administration conducted tests in 2012 that concluded that a polar compound concentration of even 20 per cent is dangerous to one’s health, showing that currently regulation is not adequate in preventing illnesses association with cooking oil.
The meeting presented a strategy in addressing the problem, and will hopefully pave the way to a new attitude towards cooking oil:
1. Reduce eating fried food as it can lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer due to the presence of cooking oil.
2. Refrain from purchasing fried food from establishments that reuse cooking oil.
3. Patron establishments that are guaranteed by the Ministry of Public Health standard.