Experts call for shift to healthier cooking oils at NIN panel discussion
HYDERABAD: At a panel discussion called “making healthier oil the default choice,” hosted by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), experts from science, regulation, and public health sounded the alarm for a nationwide shift toward healthier fats. Instead of sticking to the old “good oil vs. bad oil” debate, the conversation explored how technology, education, regulation, and big-picture change must work together to transform India’s food landscape.
Dr. Usharani Dandamudi from CSIR-CFTRI set the tone by correcting a common misconception. “There is nothing called oil that is unhealthy,” she stated, explaining that food preparation methods are often the culprit. Deep-frying at high temperatures can generate harmful processing contaminants. The technological solutions lie in selecting appropriate oils for specific uses and improving food processing methods.
Usharani also introduced two fresh ideas. For frying, she recommended high oleic oils like sunflower or canola, which stand up to heat and keep snacks safer. For baking and sweets, she suggested innovative fats like oil gels. CSIR-CFTRI has even created a budget-friendly blend, 80% rice bran oil and 20% soybean oil, to replace butter, ghee, and vanaspati in cakes and pastries.
Associate professor, Foods and Nutrition, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Dr. Suneeta Chandorkar, addressing the consumer angle, stressed that public education must focus on the purpose, method, and quantity of oil use. “Not all oils at all times are healthy,” she noted. The guidance is clear that is use oils with high smoke points (like refined sunflower) for frying; traditional oils like mustard or groundnut for moderate heat cooking; and oils like olive or sesame for raw use or dressings. She advocated discussing oil in practical measures like teaspoons rather than milliliters.
Experts push healthier oil choices
Meanhwile, Dr. Kavita Ramaswamy, Joint Director of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), acknowledged the challenge of ensuring compliance beyond the organized sector, especially in street foods and small eateries where oil is repeatedly reused. While FSSAI has mechanisms like advertisement monitoring and e-commerce surveillance, the path forward includes clearer standards and possibly drawing lessons from other countries on stricter marketing regulations, especially to children.
She reported a significant positive finding, recent analyses of popular packaged foods consumed by adolescents show trans fats have been virtually eliminated, a major win for regulation. However, saturated fats remain high, especially in mayonnaise, bakery items, and ready-to-eat savories, with palm oil, ghee, and coconut oil as common sources.
Dr. Swati Bharadwaj, Senior Technical Advisor, Nutrition, RTSL, shared a plan for making healthier oils the usual choice. She said we need to do more than just teach people; we should also make it easier for everyone to pick better options. This needs three steps. First, rules to set a basic standard and get rid of the worst fats. Second, government buying, with programs like PM Poshan, requiring healthier oils to change the market, increase demand, and make them normal. Third, money support, with financial help for small businesses and the informal sector to switch to healthier ingredients.
A main worry was how to help India’s huge unorganized food sector. Dr. Usharani Dandamudi talked about how CSIR-CFTRI helps by testing new ideas on a small scale and giving short training to small businesses and street vendors. These programs teach better ways to make food, give recipes for traditional foods with healthier fats, and share affordable new methods to help them make the change.
The panel unanimously flagged children and adolescents as a vulnerable group, with early exposure to poor-quality fried foods shaping lifelong dietary habits and health risks. Experts called for integrated actions, strict standards for foods marketed and sold in and around schools, regulation of digital marketing, and structured nutrition education within the school system.
The consensus was clear, no single solution exists. The journey towards healthier fats in the Indian diet requires synchronized efforts, leveraging food technology for better solutions, empowering consumers with practical knowledge, enforcing and strengthening regulations, and using government procurement and fiscal tools to reshape the food ecosystem. As Dr. Swati summarized, the goal is to “flip the default” so that the healthiest choice becomes the easiest, most affordable, and most available for everyone.
