Somkant Rizal, Deputy Director General of Food Technology and Quality Control Department, has said that the problem of proper management (transportation and storage) and distribution is more than adulteration in edible oil. In an interaction organized by Kantipur Dainik on Monday on 'How is the quality of edible oil?', he expressed his views:

Oil is not a poison, it is an essential nutrient needed by the body. Our body cannot be healthy without oil. You need ghee-oil for nutrition, you have to eat it.

How much oil to eat, it is important. Science says to eat any item according to the dose . It is beneficial for the body to be eaten in combination, if it is overdosed it is harmful. Even the milk we eat is poison if we eat too much. Oil that has been used for frying once is at risk of becoming transfat if used again and again. It has also been seen in the monitoring . Oil has been used repeatedly. Even if the producer produces good oil, it is made unfit for consumption by repeated use during use.

edible oil in the market can be considered in two ways whether it is edible or not. One, the provision of adulteration of oil by industrialists . For example, there is a complaint of adulteration of cheap oil with expensive oil. Also, keeping the oil like that will cause some deterioration. There is no fixed food item . Deteriorates after certain time .

If the distribution and storage process of oil does not match, the quality may also decrease. The industrialist has made adulteration with the intention of cheating . On the other hand, the quality of the oil is not good without packaging and storage. The distribution and storage system needs to be good. Due to the environment, the quality will also decrease .

Oil used to be heavily adulterated in the past. Looking at the data from 15/20 years ago, we have found a lot of adulteration of one oil with another oil. It cannot be said that it is not even now. There are some cases of adulteration. But less than in the past . We collected 45 oil samples in the first quarter of the current financial year. In 6 cases, the condition has been observed .

Now more than adulteration, the problem of proper management (transportation and storage) and distribution has been seen . The topic of PV also comes up. In the monitoring (oil) done by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the AV value was higher. In fact, the handling of problems with AV and PV values ​​was not good . The packaging may have been damaged .

Good oil smells after 15 days in the sun . It should not be eaten. The sun oxidizes the oil. Chemicals are unstable. When monitoring the market, there is a problem in sunflower, soybean. Because it is not handled properly, it oxidizes . As soon as the oil oxidizes, the peroxide value increases . Acid value increases .

Looking at this issue, the government has set the standards for refined oil. According to the standard, the peroxide value should not be more than 10 . Acid value should not exceed 0.5 . As soon as it exceeds the standard set by the government, you should not eat that oil .

Citizens' distrust towards the state is increasing recently. The role of the state should be to change it . However, we have worked to the best of our ability and resources. We have got the responsibility to make the common people happy by working on food security. We are trying to fulfill our obligations.

Expired goods are not visible where people are aware. But there is a shortage of such goods in villages, mountains and remote areas. In the case of exceeding the deadline, the method of sending to villages and hills is the same. Industrialists should be aware of this. The market cannot be clean only by government agencies. Citizens should also be aware .