TIL - Gutter oil is a thing

Ozzie_Isaac

Today I learned that sewer oil is a thing in China. People scrap the oil out of traps in the sewers, boil off the liquid, then sell the oil to restaurants and food stalls.

https://youtu.be/JpDTh5FWAbw

danhoo

  🤮

JohnInCarolina

I thought I’d heard of shittty fried food before, but this is another story.

lousubcap

That is something I do not need to know.  "What has been seen cannot be unseen."

kl8ton

I'm not watching that,  but I can't un-know it!

Ozzie_Isaac

Some knowledge shouldn't be kept to oneself.

Fred19Flintstone

Legume

“In our current society, everybody tries to swindle everybody else.  There’s nothing we can do about it”

Legume

I guess you don’t have to believe, you just need to be compliant for it to work.

RyanStl

lkapigian

I used to work on the steam systems for a grease recycling service , pretty disgusting , don’t think this stuff made it into food, but it’s a thing here to, biodiesel and other things 

caliking

Kinda eeewww... but I presume its sterile, after all the boiling. Maybe one of the reasons why street food tastes so much better. 

I think I'd be ok with it. caliqueen said that she definitely would not be. 

Ozzie_Isaac

caliking said:

Kinda eeewww... but I presume its sterile, after all the boiling. Maybe one of the reasons why street food tastes so much better. 

I think I'd be ok with it. caliqueen said that she definitely would not be. 

I definitely would not be ok with it.  You can boil and steam ****.  It is still ****.  Imagine all the degreasers and cleaners and non-bio-mass junk that is in that too!  I imagine there is more than one used condom boiled in each batch.

alaskanassasin

Was this part of the TMNT origin story?

JohnInCarolina

caliking said:

Kinda eeewww... but I presume its sterile, after all the boiling. Maybe one of the reasons why street food tastes so much better. 

I think I'd be ok with it. caliqueen said that she definitely would not be. 

Carcinogens can be plenty sterile while still not being something you want to consume.

Ozzie_Isaac

JohnInCarolina said:

caliking said:

Kinda eeewww... but I presume its sterile, after all the boiling. Maybe one of the reasons why street food tastes so much better. 

I think I'd be ok with it. caliqueen said that she definitely would not be. 

Carcinogens can be plenty sterile while still not being something you want to consume.

I suspect uranium is pretty sterile.

JohnInCarolina

I’ve had colleagues who have visited China for a scientific conference and had some real issues with the food there.  And these are seasoned international travelers.  

No thanks.  I have a very open mind when it comes to visiting foreign lands (know anyone else who has been to Karachi that isn’t in the military?) but I don’t have much of any interest visiting China.  

GrateEggspectations

JohnInCarolina said:

I’ve had colleagues who have visited China for a scientific conference and had some real issues with the food there.  And these are seasoned international travelers.  

No thanks.  I have a very open mind when it comes to visiting foreign lands (know anyone else who has been to Karachi that isn’t in the military?) but I don’t have much of any interest visiting China.  

Yes. My grandmother, a Caucasian woman then in her early 90s (and not in the military), spent nearly half of every year in Karachi until just a few years back. Had a house there. The woman’s keema could melt your face…. And I like spicy. Was nearly inedible, but in the best way possible. 

JohnInCarolina

GrateEggspectations said:

JohnInCarolina said:

I’ve had colleagues who have visited China for a scientific conference and had some real issues with the food there.  And these are seasoned international travelers.  

No thanks.  I have a very open mind when it comes to visiting foreign lands (know anyone else who has been to Karachi that isn’t in the military?) but I don’t have much of any interest visiting China.  

Yes. My grandmother, a Caucasian woman then in her early 90s (and not in the military), spent nearly half of every year in Karachi until just a few years back. Had a house there. The woman’s keema could melt your face…. And I like spicy. Was nearly inedible, but in the best way possible. 

That’s interesting.  What was your grandmother doing in Karachi?

With the food, I don’t actually remember it being all that spicy. But maybe the folks we were staying with eased things up a bit for the Yanks.

GrateEggspectations

@JohnInCarolina: Her partner, whom she met while working at a university, was a Pakistani man who grew up in Germany - the accent was highly unique; just try to imagine it. 

They had a house in Karachi for many years. She had invited me, but it is far from the safest of cities.

JohnInCarolina

GrateEggspectations said:

@JohnInCarolina: Her partner, whom she met while working at a university, was a Pakistani man who grew up in Germany - the accent was highly unique; just try to imagine it. 

They had a house in Karachi for many years. She had invited me, but it is far from the safest of cities.

I was there in 1992.  I never felt unsafe there, but we were with locals.  And obviously it was a different time.

Mostly what I remember is the smell of trash burning in the streets, the traffic (insane), and the beggars.  The poverty there was unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced.  

lousubcap

@JohnInCarolina - you really need to get out more!

stv8r

Wow this is truly revolting

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap said:

@JohnInCarolina - you really need to get out more!

What can I say, I was 20 years old.  Most of my classmates were going home over the winter break.  

ValleyGirl

Lived in Ghana in the 60's, nothing surprises me after that!

nolaegghead

There's not really a risk of live biological infection as this stuff is boiled, however there's also no control over what organic and inorganic contaminants come through the process.   Heavy metal organometallics and organics that are harmful like pesticides, herbicides, engine oils, various hydraulic fluids, fuels like kerosene, diesel, gasoline, etc. 

Looking retrospectively, I've noticed chemical smells from some Chinese canned foods. 

Thanks for the nightmare fuel.

Langner91

I've been there 36 times. As long as I stay away from ice and water, I am fine.  I have eaten so many things that were mis-represented, I refuse to think about it.  I know my colleagues have lied to me.

Gutter oil must not cause sickness or death, or the Chinese government would never let it out of a lab...

CTMike

Ozzie_Isaac said:

JohnInCarolina said:

caliking said:

Kinda eeewww... but I presume its sterile, after all the boiling. Maybe one of the reasons why street food tastes so much better. 

I think I'd be ok with it. caliqueen said that she definitely would not be. 

Carcinogens can be plenty sterile while still not being something you want to consume.

I suspect uranium is pretty sterile.

Uranium can be sterilizing in high enough doses

saluki2007

paqman

🤔