How can you tell if your cooking oil is 'adulterated' at home?

If you want to avoid the health consequences of using contaminated oils, here are some simple ways to distinguish between adulterated & unadulterated cooking oils at home.

FSSAI’s method to identify adulterated cooking oil at home

The FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has provided an easy home test for TOCP (tri-ortho-cresyl-phosphate) detection in oil. TOCP is an oily product similar in appearance and taste to an edible oil that is added to food as a harmful substance.

3 simple steps to identify adulterated cooking oil at home

Fill a fresh, clean container with 2ml of oil

Drop a small piece of yellow butter into this container

Observe how the oil behaves:

- The oil will remain yellow-green if it is free from adulterants

- If the oil contains adulterants, the oil will turn red very quickly after adding the butter.

Use this simple method as a quick test for the presence of TOCPs. These chemicals can be found in some oils that appear to be completely normal.

Here are some other ways to identify adulterated cooking oil at home

Freezing test

Place some oil into a container and put it in the freezer for 2 –3 hours. The oil will freeze evenly if it is pure. If the oil does not freeze evenly or has white spots on it, it may contain other oils mixed with it.

Heating test

Heat a tablespoon of oil on the stove. If it is pure oil, it will heat up evenly and will have a pleasant light smell. If it is not pure oil, it will start to smoke quickly,  produce a lot of bubbles, or will leave behind sediment.

Paper blot test

Put a couple of drops of oil on some white paper. If your oil makes a bright consistent line then it is pure. But if there is a large ring that is spreading out rapidly, that may be a sign of adulteration.

Water bubble test

Put a drop of oil into water, and it will stay as one complete layer. If it spreads or breaks into small droplets, it could be blended with other oils.

Smell and taste check

Pure oils will have their own natural scents; for example, mustard has a strong scent and coconut has a mild nutty scent. If an oil has a chemical smell, plasticky smell, or a strong unpleasant smell, then the oil is likely adulterated.

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