Simple tips to identify real and fake cooking oil with the naked eye

Recently, VTV reported that Hung Yen Provincial Police in coordination with relevant agencies had dismantled a fake cooking oil production and consumption ring with a scale of tens of thousands of tons, causing a stir in public opinion.

However, what people cannot believe is that this large amount of cooking oil for humans comes from vegetable oil used for animal feed.

According to experts, cooking oil used in animal husbandry is often unrefined and may contain impurities, heavy metals, and toxic chemical residues. If used for a long time, users of this type of oil are at risk of serious health effects.

Vegetable oil for animal feed. Photo: VTV

Therefore, to ensure the health of family members, consumers need to choose products carefully. In fact, it is difficult to distinguish between real and fake cooking oil with the naked eye or based on packaging due to increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting technology. However, consumers can recognize it through some of the following characteristics:

Cooking oil is yellow brown, dark yellow

Real cooking oils are usually bright in color. Canola oil is a yellow with a greenish tint, while peanut oil is orange or yellow-orange.

Meanwhile, fake cooking oil is often dark in color, not bright, and slightly dull.

Cooking oil has a strange smell

Standard cooking oil has no strange smell, is not rancid, is not foul and retains the characteristic aroma of peanuts, sesame or other natural ingredients.

Fake cooking oil often has a foul, burnt, rancid or unpleasant smell due to containing too many impurities and not being thoroughly refined.

Cooking oil has a strange taste

Real cooking oil has a characteristic richness and aroma. Specially extracted cooking oils such as peanut oil, rapeseed oil, etc. will have their own unique flavor. When tasted, there is no sourness or bitterness.

On the contrary, fake cooking oil does not have the rich and fragrant taste of real cooking oil. When tasting, you can detect strange flavors due to the oil being mixed with impurities or chemicals.

Fake cooking oil has a strange taste because the oil is mixed with impurities or chemicals. Illustrative photo

Cooking oil with sediment

Real cooking oil is highly transparent, with no signs of solidification. When shaking the bottle, the oil should flow smoothly and easily.

Meanwhile, fake cooking oil has many impurities and various chemicals, so the bottom of the bottle often has sediment and solidification, the further down the bottle the thicker it gets. When you shake it gently, you will see the oil flowing thickly and not smoothly.

In addition to distinguishing by observing the taste, consumers can distinguish real from fake cooking oil by taking a little iodine water and dropping it into a bowl of cooking oil. If a blue color appears, it means the cooking oil has been mixed with impurities containing starch. Heat the cooking oil to 150 degrees Celsius and let it cool. If the oil has sediment, it means the oil has been mixed with impurities. The more sediment in the oil, the more impurities there are.

To avoid buying poor quality cooking oil, you should buy it from reputable, trustworthy, hygienic places with expiry dates. Consumers should limit eating at street food stalls, using cooking oil over and over again, which can denature and harm your health. When cooking, you should not fry oil at too high a temperature, which can burn food. You should use cooking oil that is appropriate for your age.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/meo-don-gian-nhan-biet-dau-an-that-gia-bang-mat-thuong-post1550301.html