State to Roll Out Cooking Oil Traceability App to Curb Reuse in Food Businesses, Says Minister U.T. Khader
Bengaluru: In a significant move aimed at protecting public health and ensuring food safety, the state government has decided to introduce a traceability app across Karnataka to prevent the repeated use of cooking oil in hotels, restaurants and bakeries, Health Minister U.T. Khader announced on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference at the City Health Institute, the minister said the initiative will be implemented through the Food Safety and Drug Administration department and will require food business operators to dispose of used cooking oil only through agencies approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The new system is intended to create a transparent, end-to-end record of the collection, transportation, and final disposal of used oil, making it difficult for discarded oil to re-enter the food chain.
According to Khader, the app will track every stage of the used oil’s movement, from collection at commercial kitchens to its transfer for processing. The objective, he said, is to prevent the oil from being illegally resold and reused in cooking, particularly in smaller establishments where enforcement has often been more difficult. “The collected oil should never be reused for food preparation,” he stressed, adding that it must be diverted only for approved industrial purposes such as biodiesel or soap production.
Explaining the scale of the system, the minister said that for every 100 litres of fresh cooking oil used by an establishment, at least 15 litres of used oil must be collected and documented. In the case of hotels purchasing between 300 and 400 litres of oil, roughly 75 to 100 litres of used oil should be recovered through the authorised mechanism. This, he said, will ensure that used oil is accounted for and not sold back into the market through informal channels.
As part of the first phase, collection centres will be established in Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Mysuru and Hubballi. From these centres, the used oil will be sent for industrial recycling, including biodiesel manufacturing and soap production. Khader said the government is determined to ensure that such oil neither re-enters kitchens nor finds its way into drains and canals, where it could cause environmental damage.
The minister also noted that officials of the department have already been equipped with TPC meters to measure the quality of heated oil. If the total polar compounds (TPC) level in oil exceeds 25, it will no longer be considered safe for cooking and must be discarded. This, he said, will help curb the use of overheated or degraded oil, which can have adverse health effects.
Highlighting the progress made so far, Khader said that since 2022, more than 9.1 million litres of used cooking oil have been collected in the state through the existing disposal system. He added that the government now plans to expand the programme further by bringing household used cooking oil under a similar collection and disposal framework.
In the next phase, used oil from homes will be collected door to door, similar to the model followed for wet and dry waste segregation, he said. Appropriate arrangements will be made to ensure safe and scientific disposal of household oil as well.
The minister further informed that a national-level meeting will be held in Bengaluru on the 25th, followed by a conference on the 26th for officials from food safety and drug administration departments of various states. These meetings, he said, will help strengthen coordination and share best practices on food safety enforcement and used oil management.
Khader also urged citizens to actively participate in the drive. If members of the public notice that used cooking oil is being reused in food preparation, they can scan the QR code provided by the food safety department and file a complaint, he said. Emphasising the importance of public involvement, the minister stated that access to safe food is every citizen’s right and that effective implementation of the initiative will require cooperation from both the public and the food industry.
The new traceability system is expected to bring greater accountability to the disposal of used cooking oil and mark a major step in the state’s broader efforts to improve food safety standards.
