How much ＂oil and water＂ is there in the ＂hot pot old oil＂ and how big is the profiteering？

　　Xinhua News Agency, Chongqing, January 25th　Question: How much "oil and water" is there in "hot pot old oil"? — — Investigation on the problem of "hogwash oil" in Chongqing hotpot

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Ke Gaoyang and Han Zhen

　　Chongqing Food and Drug Administration recently issued an announcement to investigate five hot pot restaurants suspected of recycling "old hot pot oil", and informed or transferred relevant clues suspected of food safety crimes to the public security organs, thus unveiling a new round of rectification of Chongqing hot pot industry.

　　The so-called "old chafing dish oil" which is recycled repeatedly is actually the "swill oil" which is the same as the waste oil. It has long been banned because of its harm to human health, but it has been banned in Chongqing chafing dish industry for many years. The reporter’s investigation found that the use of "swill oil" can make huge profits and is difficult to find, and the illegal cost is extremely low. It is urgent to strengthen the rectification from the source to prevent "swill oil" from flowing to the table.

　　How big is the huge profit behind the "swill oil"?

　　“‘ Hogwash oil ’ Repeatedly banned, the biggest reason is driven by huge profits. " An industry insider who has been engaged in Chongqing hot pot business for more than 20 years calculated an account for the reporter: 1 kg of hot pot bottom material costs 15-20 yuan. Generally, 2-3 kg of hot pot bottom material is used for small pots and 4-5 kg for large pots, but the bottom cost of most hot pot restaurants is only about 30-50 yuan, which is not enough. With the use of "swill oil", the oil consumption of the cauldron is about 1.2 kg, and that of the small cauldron is about 0.8 kg. The remaining 60% to 70% of the oil can be recycled, and more than half of the cost saved is the net profit of the merchant. If a hotpot restaurant receives 30 tables every day, the use of "hogwash oil" can save more than 1,000 yuan in cost and increase tens of thousands of yuan in income in one month.

　　According to the insider, over the years, Chongqing hotpot enterprises that use "hogwash oil" have formed a set of relatively fixed processing flow: the chafing dish bottom material recovered from the dining table is first filtered through a sieve to separate the oil residue, and then dried at a temperature of 100-120 degrees Celsius for oil-water separation. After the separation, add spices for refining, and then serve them on the table again. In order to better separate the residue in the "swill oil", some merchants have to carry out high-temperature washing.

　　The reporter’s investigation found that in addition to directly processing "swill oil" in the store, some hot pot restaurants choose to sell "swill oil" to small workshops and process it into "gutter oil" in the underground market.

　　The manager of a hot pot restaurant in Yubei District of Chongqing told the reporter that his hot pot restaurant needs to deal with 2 to 3 tons of hot pot "hogwash oil" every month. If it is sold to a small workshop at the purchase price of 10 yuan per kilogram, it can earn 40,000 to 50,000 yuan more each month. Although the hot pot "hogwash oil" is recycled by a company certified by the environmental protection department, "if ‘ Hogwash oil ’ Give it to them, not only can’t sell money, but you have to pay a handling fee. Who wants this? " He complained.

　　How difficult is it to control the "swill oil"?

　　"Illegal use of ‘ Hogwash oil ’ It can bring rich profits, but it is very difficult to collect evidence and investigate related behaviors. " Chen Honggang, deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration Branch of Jiangbei District, Chongqing, said that in recent years, the food and drug administration has continuously cracked down on "swill oil", but it has been repeatedly banned, and the method of illegal merchants using "swill oil" has become more and more concealed.

　　Some unscrupulous merchants choose to cook "swill oil" after the end of business at night, and then put it into disposable packaging bags to deceive consumers; Some unscrupulous merchants use high-purity filtration or mix with qualified edible oil, which makes it difficult to distinguish "swill oil" and it is difficult to obtain evidence for law enforcement.

　　On January 10th, Chongqing Food and Drug Administration inspected the captain’s theme hot pot Beicheng Tianjie Store suspected of using "swill oil". After the reporter followed the law enforcement officers into the hot pot restaurant, the chef found that the restaurant had a camera in the kitchen, but the chef in the store said that the camera had never been used. "In this case, even if the store directly processes and uses it in the kitchen ‘ Hogwash oil ’ It is difficult to directly confirm without surveillance video. " Relevant people said.

　　According to relevant sources, at present, there is still a lack of corresponding technical standards and detection methods for the identification of "hogwash oil" in China, which means that if "hogwash oil" is not "one pot at a time" in the initial and intermediate stages, once it is put on the market for sale and use, it is less likely to be discovered.

　　In addition, the high cost of consumer rights protection has also contributed to the arrogance of merchants using "swill oil" in disguise. Zhang Zhongmin, a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of china law society Food Safety Research Center and a professor at chongqing technology and business university Law School, pointed out that the use of "hogwash oil" in hot pot restaurants is harmful to consumers’ health and belongs to universal infringement. However, this damage is not obvious. If consumers initiate rights protection, it will take time and effort, but the compensation will be limited, and they will face difficulties in proof, which will make unscrupulous businesses hide.

　　How to cure the hot pot "swill oil"?

　　"Swing oil" has many harms but no benefits, but it is an open secret or even a "hidden rule" in Chongqing hot pot industry. Some consumers exclaimed, why is it so difficult for ordinary people to eat a safe and secure hot pot?

　　Statistics show that as of the first half of 2017, there were nearly 30,000 hot pot stores in Chongqing, with an output value of 30 billion yuan. Experts say that if there is no scientific and effective way for such a large number of industries, it is easy to cope with them and it is difficult to supervise them.

　　Experts such as Associate Professor and Jing Jun from the School of Politics and Public Administration of Southwest University of Political Science and Law believe that countermeasures should be sought from the root causes, the initial link of "swill oil" should be grasped, clear standards should be set for the treatment of kitchen waste in catering industries such as hot pot, monitoring systems should be installed, bright kitchens should be built, and the whole recycling process should be supervised and covered.

　　Finding a way out for "swill oil" is also an important way to solve the problem. The main component of "swill oil" is grease. Although it is not suitable for eating, it can be made into industrial products such as soap and lubricant, and its application market is broad. Experts suggest that in order to improve the enthusiasm of catering enterprises to recycle kitchen waste such as hot pot swill oil through formal channels, we can learn from foreign experience and encourage professional companies to buy swill oil at a certain price by means of government subsidies, so as to turn a huge amount of kitchen waste into treasure and prevent swill oil from flowing to the table at the source.