Cooking Oil

Contaminated cooking oil sold at government shops killed six children and made 85 other people ill Saturday in the western state of Gujarat, the United News of India reported.

McDonald's will kick off the Summer Olympics in London with a major gesture: Opening its largest restaurant ever. There will be two stories taking up more than 32,000 square feet. The 1,500 customers that can sit inside and on the balcony will be served by 500 employees. There will be burgers, fries and chicken nuggets, but also porridge at breakfast, wraps and salads, a new fruit juice drink called Fruitizz and sustainably sourced tea and coffee served with local organic milk.

Poisoned cooking oil has paralyzed more than 400 people and made thousands ill in this eastern Indian city, officials said Tuesday. They said 11 people have so far been arrested in connection with the mass poisoning, and police are still investigating. The oil, contaminated with insecticide, was distributed through government-controlled food stores, officials said.

It was a wedding the guests would never forget. Everybody of consequence in the village had been invited to a banquet to celebrate the marriage of the son of one of the wealthiest families. Fifty tables groaned under a lavish spread of dumplings, steamed chickens, pork ribs, meatballs, stir fries, all of it exceptionally delicious, guests would later recall. But about an hour into the meal, something seemed to be wrong. A pregnant woman collapsed. Old men clutched their chests. Children vomited.

Shopping for a cooking oil can be confusing. Which is the most healthful to buy? Are monounsaturates better than polyunsaturates? What about cholesterol? "A lot of vegetable oils have created a state of cholesterol confusion," says Janet Helm, a contributor to the Environmental Nutrition newsletter. "All vegetable oils are cholesterol-free, since cholesterol is only found in animal foods."

Ammonia leaking from a broken valve spread fumes through a cooking oil processing plant Friday, injuring at least 10 people, five critically, authorities said.

For the first time in four decades, Beijing consumers will have to pay market prices for grain and cooking oil, the government announced Sunday in a major move toward a market-oriented economy. Since the 1950s, grain and cooking oil have been rationed in Chinese cities and sold to urban residents at state-subsidized prices. Analysts predicted the move will increase prices by as much as 40%.

Thousands of Haitians stormed the warehouse of the American aid organization CARE overnight and early today, hauling away supplies of cooking oil and wheat as troops and militiamen stood by. The crowd converged on the warehouse, near the seafront, at nightfall after a day that saw the biggest anti-government protest ever in this northern harbor town.

Hundreds of gulls were killed or maimed in Cleveland after what investigators believe was cooking oil spewed from a sewer pipe into the Cuyahoga River. Investigators said Friday that several hundred gallons of the substance killed or disabled hundreds of gulls near the Kingsbury Run tributary. Most of the birds are just downstream from the site where environmentalists last week celebrated the Cuyahoga River's comeback since floating oil and debris caught fire on June 22, 1969.

A few years ago, drums of used French fry grease were only of interest to a small network of underground biofuel brewers, who would use the slimy oil to power their souped-up antique Mercedes. Now, restaurants from Berkeley to Sedgwick, Kan., are reporting thefts of old cooking oil worth thousands of dollars by rustlers who are refining it into barrels of biofuel in backyard stills. "It's like a war zone going on right now over grease," said David Levenson, who owns a grease hauling business in San Francisco's Mission District.

These are some of the goods that Israel allows or bans for shipment to Gaza. The Israeli military does not publish the full list, but the Israeli advocacy group Gisha, which has challenged the restrictions in court, and other groups have compiled their own based on the experiences of aid groups and merchants. ALLOWED Fuel (in limited amounts) Flour, yeast, sugar, cooking oil Rice, pasta Canned or frozen meat or fish Other canned food except fruit Cinnamon, garlic, salt Kidney beans Shoes Wood for door frames/windows Pesticides Candles Diapers, feminine hygiene products Combs, shampoo, toothbrushes Plastic buckets RESTRICTED OR BANNED Cement, plaster Wood for construction Irrigation pipes Vinegar Fresh meat Canned fruit, fruit juice, dried fruit Jam, chocolate, cookies Sewing machines Donkeys, goats, horses Pens, pencils Coriander, cilantro, sage Empty flowerpots Notebooks, some sizes of paper French fries, potato chips Fabric for clothing Plastic toys Empty cans Musical instruments Fishing rods and nets Source: Gisha

Hundreds of gulls were killed or maimed in Cleveland after what investigators believe was cooking oil spewed from a sewer pipe into the Cuyahoga River. Investigators said Friday that several hundred gallons of the substance killed or disabled hundreds of gulls near the Kingsbury Run tributary. Most of the birds are just downstream from the site where environmentalists last week celebrated the Cuyahoga River's comeback since floating oil and debris caught fire on June 22, 1969.

Re "State bans trans fats," July 26 With the state budget overdue and state employees about to descend the pay ladder to the federal minimum wage, it is gratifying to see great social experiments still being conducted in Sacramento. The Legislature has spent uncounted hours discussing a ban on Mylar balloons, has protected the rights of cats and dogs to inherit large sums of cash and is now providing cooking classes to restaurateurs. By all means, let's make sure we have disappointed children, millions of dollars tied up awaiting new shipments of Alpo, and Spago opening new cafes in South L.A. offering only steamed fresh vegetables.

About this series This is the first in a series of occasional articles looking at how skyrocketing oil prices are transforming lives in Southern California and around the world. -- The more expensive oil gets, the more Katherine Carver's life shrinks. She's given up RV trips. She stays home most weekends. She's scrapped her twice-a-month volunteer stint at a Malibu wildlife refuge -- the trek from her home in Palmdale just got too expensive.

A few years ago, drums of used French fry grease were only of interest to a small network of underground biofuel brewers, who would use the slimy oil to power their souped-up antique Mercedes. Now, restaurants from Berkeley to Sedgwick, Kan., are reporting thefts of old cooking oil worth thousands of dollars by rustlers who are refining it into barrels of biofuel in backyard stills. "It's like a war zone going on right now over grease," said David Levenson, who owns a grease hauling business in San Francisco's Mission District.

Los Angeles County on Thursday rolled out a program in which local restaurants that agree to stop using heart-damaging trans fats in their cooking will get a decal to display in their windows. Unlike eateries in New York City, which last year banned the use of trans fats, restaurants here get to decide which kinds of oils to use under the county's voluntary program.

When rescuers arrived, the 11-year-old boy was already jammed eight feet down the narrow crack in the rock and slipping lower each time he exhaled, sinking toward the point where the unyielding rock walls squeezing his chest would kill him.

Three people were killed and 31 injured in a stampede as shoppers scrambled for cut-price cooking oil, New China News Agency reported. The incident occurred during a promotion to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the French retailing giant Carrefour's store in Chongqing. Officials ordered the store closed pending an investigation.

Burger King Holdings Inc. said it would use trans-fat-free cooking oil at all its U.S. restaurants by the end of next year, following in the footsteps of other leading fast-food restaurants. The world's second-largest hamburger chain said it was already using zero trans-fat oil in hundreds of its more than 7,100 U.S. restaurants. Burger King is known for its flame-broiled burgers, but the chain uses cooking oil for its French fries and most of its chicken products.