French fries, chicken nuggets, onion rings, egg rolls and other fried foods that are favorites in restaurants and cafeterias are cooked in oil that is reused hundreds of times.
This common practice seems economical. After all, changing the oil with every batch – or even every day – would make food prices unreasonably high.
However, reusing frying oil has a huge hidden health cost. And it’s not just that the oil contributes to obesity and clogged arteries.
Oil degrades with every warming. You can see and feel the changes, but what you can’t see is that high temperatures and exposure to food, water, and air cause carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds like acrylamide, free radicals, carbon, and free fatty acids to build up in the reused oil.
These compounds pose a significant health hazard according to numerous scientific studies.
The cancer risk from reused cooking oil affects not only consumers, who ingest about 20 percent of the harmful oil they absorb, but also kitchen staff who breathe in these carcinogens while working.
Israeli food technology company Beyond Oil has a patented answer to this problem.
In 2010, Michael Pinhas Or, motivated by his own health issues, embarked on a mission to make fried foods healthier.
Over the next 15 years, he conducted extensive research and invented a unique powder, composed of approved food additives, that absorbs harmful components from frying oil, slows the rate of deterioration reactions, and filters the oil so that it can be reused while preserving its quality.
By 2023, his invention was ready for commercial use.
A transformative moment
Based in North Vancouver, Canada, and Kibbutz Yifat in Israel, the publicly traded company has successfully tested the product in both countries.
Its effectiveness was confirmed in a study by Professor Nissim Garti, former director of the Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Beyond Oil integrates with existing filtration systems in commercial and industrial fryers, combining active filtration of the powder with passive filtration of the filtration system.
The powder is added daily to the used oil, working like magic overnight, and remains on the filter, providing an extra layer of microfiltration.
Beyond Oil won the FoodTech Company of the Year award at the 2024 Israeli Restaurateurs Conference.
Today, after successfully completing joint pilot programs with Israeli franchisees of major international restaurant companies, Beyond Oil is being adopted in Israel by two global quick service restaurant brands.
“This is a transformative moment for Beyond Oil,” said Jonathan Or, CEO and co-founder of Beyond Oil, son of the inventor.
He said branches using the product have seen “substantial improvements in the quality of cooking oil and food, resulting in significant health benefits and reinforcing the franchise group’s key objectives such as environmental sustainability, employee wellbeing, customer experience, operational efficiency and reduced food and labour costs.”
In some cases, Or added, “the positive results of the pilot project exceeded the results presented in Beyond Oil’s existing public disclosure documents.”
The Beyond Oil team in Israel. Photo courtesy of Beyond Oil
Company executives in Canada are working to expand the company’s collaboration with fast food chains and industrial frying companies in North America.
“We are running pilot programs and proofs of concept with other major international quick-service restaurant chains to deliver the results we currently deliver to our customers: removing toxins from cooking oil as they fry food every day, so the food is healthier and there are environmental and economic benefits for restaurants,” said Robert Kiesman, vice president of Beyond Oil.
Environmental benefits
Beyond Oil’s filtration powder has positive environmental impacts by extending the shelf life of vegetable oil used in frying, both in commercial kitchens and industrial facilities.
Among these benefits, as described by Or:
Minimize the environmental footprint associated with oil disposal.
Reduce emissions of hazardous volatile substances and reduce energy consumption in cooking oil refineries. From production to use, each kilo of vegetable oil produces 4 kilos of carbon dioxide, specifies Or.
Reduce the load on sewer systems and groundwater by reducing the volume of oil sent for treatment.
Reduce land and sea transport of oil, which helps prevent soil contamination, air pollution from gas emissions and contamination of the oceans.
Potentially reduce costs for quick service restaurants by significantly extending the useful life of oil while meeting food quality and safety requirements.
Impact on the collection of used oils
“When we saw what Beyond Oil could do, we almost wanted to keep it a secret because it would have hurt our business significantly,” says Shai Medioni, half-seriously.
Medioni heads Fandango, Israel’s oldest and largest used cooking oil collection and distribution company.
“But in the long run, our customers benefit and their interest is ours,” says Medioni. “So we made the strategic decision in May 2023 to distribute this product. It’s the right thing to do for our customers, the environment and everyone’s health. It’s a win-win-win product that in the long run will benefit everyone and us too.”
This year, Fandango has already distributed Beyond Oil to approximately 390 customers.
“By using Beyond Oil, a food service establishment not only serves better fried foods to its customers, but the work environment is completely different in terms of employee health and safety. By using Beyond Oil, the airborne carcinogen as well as the fried food odor is significantly reduced in the kitchen and on employees’ clothing. It’s truly a revolution,” says Medioni.
Medioni adds that the product’s contribution to sustainability is easily measurable.
“We collect less than half the oil from restaurants compared to previous collections. This means less transport of fresh frying oil to the restaurant and less collection from restaurants, which significantly reduces the carbon footprint. In addition, since oil production is very polluting for wastewater and consumes a lot of energy, the entire cycle is improved.”
Fandango recently introduced the powder to one of Israel’s largest hotel chains, Medioni says.
“We’re showing them an extremely significant reduction in oil consumption – 50 to 60 percent – and a cost reduction of 26 to 30 percent,” he says.
“They are currently conducting training for all kitchen staff across their chain as they plan to expand it to more locations across the chain.”
