Malaysian Muslim Doctors Organisation (Perdim) central committee member Dr Zubaidi Ahmad said the level of toxicity in recycled oil could cause blockage of the blood vessels, as well as increase one’s blood pressure.

“Recycled cooking oil is not guaranteed in terms of safety and cleanliness as it is obtained from waste oil from restaurants or hotels,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

He said although the waste oil had been recycled, including putting it through the process of bleaching and filtering, it was still unsafe for consumption.

He said it was difficult to differentiate between quality and recycled cooking oil as both looked the same and only a laboratory test could accurately determine its quality.

However, he said, consumers could do their own test to determine if the cooking oil they used was recycled by placing it in a refrigerator for about two hours. He explained that if the cooking oil turned frothy after refridgeration, it was recycled cooking oil.

Dr Zubaidi advised consumers to buy cooking oil produced by licensed companies and certified by Sirim.

“Do not go for cheap stuff without looking at its quality because it can be harmful to health,” he said, adding that the relevant authorities should also conduct checks on cooking oil manufacturers to ensure they did not produce recycled cooking oil.