Food Safety Licence of KFC Outlet in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi Suspended; KFC Reacts

A Food Safety inspection at a KFC outlet in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district led to a suspension of the FSSAI licence of the outlet. Officials said the outlet was using magnesium silicate-synthetic to purify used cooking oil and had stored pre-prepared chicken beyond 12 hours. Samples of the chicken and oil were sent to food testing laboratories. Officials said the outlet will be shut down and sealed if the lab test results confirmed the deviations.

Thoothukudi:Food Safety department officials have suspended the FSSAI licence of a KFC outlet in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district for using prohibited magnesium silicate-synthetic for purifying old-used cooking oil, officials said on Friday. Later, in a statement, KFC clarified that their dishes are completely safe for consumption as per the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India norms.

A team comprising District Food Safety Officer Mariyappan and Area Food Safety Officer Kalimuthu conducted a surprise inspection at the outlet on Thursday night (July 4,2024). During the inspection, sources said, the team found the international chain had stocked magnesium silicate-synthetic and had stocked old used cooking oil in their kitchen. The use of magnesium silicate synthetic is not approved for purifying used cooking oil, as was being done at the store, the sources added.

Seizure Of Old Cooking Oil, Fried Chicken

The inspection led to seizure of about 18 kg of magnesium silicate-synthetic along with 45 litres of old cooking oil purified using it, from the outlet. The team also stumbled upon 56 kg of pre-prepared chicken kept unused for over 12 hours in the store's stock. The chicken was seized and destroyed, the officials added.

The food safety officials were also poring over other stocks and records to verify whether the store was non-compliant in any other aspects other than what were mentioned above. According to the food safety officials, the use of magnesium silicate-synthetic being used as a food additive without any mention of it in their stock register was a violation. No commercial kitchen has been approved to use the magnesium silicate-synthetic to purify old used cooking oil, the authorities added, and that it was deemed harmful for health.

The food licence of the outlet was withheld as a temporary measure. Officials said the outlet will not be able to operate until the licence is restored. In case of violations, if any, crops up during the investigation, the outlet will be shut down and sealed. Samples of magnesium silicate-synthetic and old cooking oil samples were sent for an analysis at food testing laboratories. Further action over the outlet will follow when the test results are made available to the authorities, they said.

KFC's Rebuttal

Meanwhile, in a statement issued later, KFC said, "KFC India is committed to following the best practices and international standards while cooking. High-quality oil and chicken is sourced from reputed suppliers in the country, and all applicable safety and quality standards laid down by the FSSAI and other relevant authorities are followed stringently.

With respect to the recent media reports, we would like to clarify that the use of magnesium silicate as a clarifying agent is approved as per FSSAI; and all KFC chicken including marinated chicken is completely safe for consumption after cooking, as per FSSAI norms. We are actively engaging with the concerned authorities for swift and effective resolution of the issue. We assure consumers that KFC products served across the country are of the highest quality and safe for consumption."

What FSSAI Says On UCO

The Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses), Regulations, 2011 has defined the regulations to check the reuse of cooking oil by the Food Business Operators (FBOs). It says re-use of cooking oil should be avoided and in case of reheating of oil, it can be used for a maximum of three times to avoid the formation of trans-fat. It suggests the ideal scenario would be to use it once, and that re-heating and reuse of oil should be avoided as much as possible. The authority said the use of leftover oil should be avoided wherever possible. It stated that the use of Total Polar Compound(TPC) more than 25% should not be used.

Repurpose Used Cooking Oil

On August 10, 2018, the FSSAI launched 'Repurpose Used Cooking Oil', which provides an ecosystem, enabling the collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel. The FSSAI issued directions in this regard on Jan 30, 2019, which mandated FBOs that use over 50 litres of oil for frying to maintain usage records and dispose of the used cooking oil to authorised aggregators.

(Editor's Note:This story was updated to add the reaction from KFC.)