Interview
Optimum product quality thanks to easy cooking oil testing
Joël Margueron, Quality Assurance Consultant from McDonald‘s Switzerland, explains the significance and the advantages of regular cooking oil monitoring
McDonald’s has a very comprehensive Quality Management system. What is its main purpose?
Our objective is to offer the same standard of quality worldwide, especially regarding food safety, hygiene and product quality. To this end, all our restaurants must fulfil pre-defined quality standards. In order to guarantee optimum product quality, we select our suppliers very carefully – usually deciding on producers from the region. Oil quality testing, for example, also plays a crucial role here. Roughly 50 percent of our range of products is deep-fried – for example French Fries or chicken. Optimum oil quality is required in order to be able to prepare crispy, tasty and above all, healthy food.
Why does McDonald’s measure the quality of cooking oil?
Swiss law prescribes that cooking oil may have a total polar material content of no more than 27 percent. The polar materials in the oil provide information on the age of the oil. If the polar material content of the cooking fat is too high, it is considered to be spoilt. However, we already replace the oil at 25 percent polar materials, as the cooking oil reaches its best potential for the quality of the deep-fried goods between 10 and 25 percent. Apart from that, the cooking oil tester has an accuracy of ± 2 percent, which also needs to be taken into account. By replacing the oil at 25 percent, we are always within the norms. So by measuring the oil, we avoid replacing it too early or too late. This guarantees optimum product quality, and helps us to save costs as well, by the way.
McDonald’s is gradually switching over to nutritionally valuable oils. Can you briefly explain this switchover?
We use 100 percent Swiss rapeseed oil. The oil is a mixture of conventional rapeseed oil and so-called high oleic oil. This is an oil type with a particularly high level of oleic acid and low level of linolenic acid, which is not heat-stable. We have been using this oil mixture for over three years. It contains an especially low proportion of health-damaging trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, for example.
How does McDonald’s test the cooking oil?
In every restaurant, the cooking oil in all the deep-fryers is tested at least once per day, in many cases even in the mornings and the evenings. Using a Testo cooking oil tester, we monitor whether the oil has less than 25 percent polar components, or whether it needs to be replaced.
What does one have to pay attention to when carrying out cooking oil tests in practice?
The measurement must be made very quickly and easily. We have many deep-fryers – a Swiss McDonald’s restaurant uses roughly 10,000 kilos of cooking oil per year on average. It is therefore crucial that ideally we need to press only two or three buttons in order to see the result. It is also important that anybody should be able to carry out the measurement without extensive training. The results should also be reproducible.
How did you carry out your measurements before you used the Testo cooking oil tester?
We were already using a cooking oil tester before the testo 265. However, the measurement procedure was more time-consuming and more difficult to carry out. After switching on the instrument, we had to wait 15 minutes, then place one drop of oil onto the sensor, then wait another two minutes for the result. That meant that if we measured the quality of the oil twice, 30 minutes time were spent during the course of a single day. With the testo 265, we need five minutes at the most for a measurement, and can be sure that the measurement result is reliable. This helps us save not only time but also costs.
How much oil does McDonald’s save on average since cooking oil testing was introduced?
I can’t say exactly, but I would estimate around five percent. For me, as the person responsible for quality, however, the cost savings are of secondary importance. It is much more important that we can always be sure that our oil is of the right quality. Thanks to regular cooking oil testing, we are able to maintain an ideal balance between excellent cooking oil quality and cost savings.
What do you like about the Testo cooking oil tester?
We use the cooking oil tester testo 265 in nearly all McDonald’s restaurants in Switzerland. The instrument is very easy to operate – self-explanatory, almost. Apart from that, the measurement is extremely quick. Only the sensor is a little bit sensitive. You have to be careful when taking measurements not to damage it. However, Testo has solved the problem well in the successor model testo 270.
How?
We have tried out the new cooking oil tester testo 270 in four Swiss McDonald’s restaurants and are very satisfied. The new version is very robust in operation, especially regarding the sensor. The Auto-Hold function is also extremely useful in day-to-day work. The instrument informs you as soon as the measurement value is stable. Now you really cannot do anything wrong with the measurement.
