China food safety hits the “gutter”

Gutter oil, or illicit cooking oil that has been recycled from waste oil collected from restaurant fryers, drains, grease traps and slaughterhouse waste from “table to table” has emerged as a serious food-safety issue in China and exposed the shortcomings of China's food-safety assurance systems. This paper investigates the industrial chain of production and sale of gutter oil in China. Moreover, we discuss the impediments to and the government countermeasures being implemented in supervising the use of gutter oil in China. The positive lessons in monitoring use of gutter oil in China may help improve food-safety management throughout China and other developing countries.