The quality of fried food is highly linked to the conditions of frying oil. Although there is not one specific worldwide regulation for frying oil quality, several countries have adopted guidelines or created regulations for the matter. Most of them are based on studies done regarding frying oil stability during cooking and possible deleterious effects in human health.

Nowadays, Total Polar Compounds (TPC) or Total Polar Materials (TPM) is the most common frying oil parameter and the most reliable to determine the oil quality, according to the German Society for Fats Science (DGF). The TPM value provides information on the quantitative proportion of polar and non-polar compounds in cooking oil. In Europe, determining the TPM value has become the standard reference protocol for assessing the quality of fats and oils in deep-frying conditions in foodservice, since it is one of the best quality indicators. As a result, several countries have set the limits of 24 to 27% TPM for degraded frying oil. In countries such as the USA and Australia, where TPM is not a legal limit value, the parameter is becoming increasingly used by foodservice operators as an internal benchmark.

Some countries use acid value (AV) or free fatty acids (FFA) as quality standard. According to American Oil Chemists’ Society Official Methods and Recommended Practices, FFA can be obtained dividing AV by a factor of 1.99.

Below are some countries with guidelines or regulations in place to determine frying oil quality for Foodservice.