abstract:Gutter oil () is a term used in China to describe illicit cooking oil which has been recycled from waste oil collected from sources such as restaurant fryers, sewer drains, grease traps and slaughterhouse waste. Reprocessing is often very rudimentary; techniques include filtration, boiling, refining and the removal of adulterants.
Last year there were reports that some suppliers to pharmaceutical firms used so-called gutteroil - reprocessed kitchen waste dredged from restaurant drains - to make antibiotics.
The government is nervous of the public's deep mistrust of its ability to supervise the food market (even officials admit that detecting gutteroil can be tricky).