Oil is a must-have food item in the kitchen. Common people use mustard, soybean and sunflower oil in cooking. In this way, a question has been raised about the quality of this oil that is consumed by the common people every day. When the Kathmandu Metropolitan Municipality tested the sample of edible oil, the peroxide value was found to be high in 4 brands.

Deepak Adhikari, Assistant Spokesperson of the Metropolitan Municipality, said that the Metropolitan Municipality collected samples of 13 brands of cooking oil and sent them to the Food Technology and Quality Control Department for testing. The laboratory test report of the sample sent by Mahanagar on 31st Baisakh was provided by the department on June 19. In the report sent after testing by the department, quality has been seen in 'Amrit' of Annapurna Vegetable Products, 'Pakwann' of Shriram Refined Oil Products, 'Quality' of Quality Oil Refinery and 'Family' of Shivshakti Ghee Industry .

'Out of 13 brands, 4 brands of oil were found to have high levels of peroxide . If it is more than the specified standard, it will be harmful to human health,' said the assistant spokesperson officer, 'all the 4 brands have been fined at the rate of 2 lakhs each . It has been instructed to withdraw the production of 'Lot' that has been found to be in bad condition within 3 days. The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control has said that the amount of peroxide value should not exceed 10 percent. But during the test, the amount of 16 to 29 percent was found in these brands, according to the metropolis.

Department of Pakwann brand batch/lot number (S)-2 produced on 080 Dec 7 Soybean oil, Amrit brand batch/lot no 11 produced on 080 Katik, Quality brand batch/lot no. Soybean of 08 and mustard oil of batch/lot No. 10 of family brand produced in 080 Jan was tested. Quality has been seen in the production of these batches and lots.

'Production of these batch and lot numbers showed peroxide value exceeding the standard . Heating the oil further increases the peroxide value. This means that the oil is even more inedible,' Noornidhi Neupane, head of the agriculture and animal husbandry department of the metropolis, said, 'We have sent a letter to bring back the non-standard oil within 3 days and present the evidence that the oil that was brought back has been destroyed.' story -break Even though the metropolis has sent a letter to withdraw the edible oil from the market, it has not monitored the market since then. According to sources, the company has asked the dealer to withdraw from the market as per the instructions of the metropolis. But there has been no follow-up from the metropolis on whether or not it has been implemented. The company has not said anything about selling in areas other than Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The metropolis is also silent saying that it does not fall under its jurisdiction .

'The company has given a letter to the dealer saying that it has withdrawn from the market . Withdrawal is not the only solution . It was not only by withdrawing from Kathmandu. There is also the question of what to do across the country," said an official of the Metropolitan Municipality, "Kathmandu Metropolitan Municipality does not have the responsibility to monitor all over Nepal, nor can it do it . In this, the land of Food Technology and Quality Control Department remains special. The task of monitoring and banning is for food. The batch/lot that has been produced has been around 9 months. Some consumers have already consumed oil . Although it is seen to have a direct impact on health, it has not been banned by the federal agency after monitoring and testing samples.

'Peroxide value exceeding the standard means playing with the health of the consumer . It has become a matter of surprise that the monitoring and regulating body remains silent even when there is a big game on the lives of the common people," said Madhav Timilsina, president of the Consumer Rights Research Forum, "After the report came out wrong, did the food technology show interest in it or not, did the product get withdrawn from the market? No one has paid attention to this. Timilsina emphasized that not only

13 brands but all brands should be collected and tested. Businessmen are disappointed when the government does not strictly monitor and test samples. No matter what is done," he said, "all brands of oil should be tested for the health of the general public. The industry that does not meet the standards should be brought under the legal ambit by strict action.'' Despite the increase in complaints about the quality and quantity of cooking oil available in the market, the government has not done effective monitoring. Most of the edible oil industries are in Terai. Oil samples have not been tested by the company.