Development of rapid, point-of-use dry chemistry dip-stick assays for food quality. Phase II work will focus on completion of the development of a rapid test for total polar compounds in frying oils.

Deep-frying is a very popular cooking technique that is used worldwide. Deep-frying gives a crispy texture to food and creates savory flavors. Since it is one of the costlier kitchen commodities, frying oil is typically reused several times before being discarded. Using the oil for long periods of time is bad for the oil, causing it to degrade quickly, depending on the type of food being fried, temperature, and oil.In the presence of high temperatures, oils can degrade to form many by-products, which many impart unwanted flavors to food, and some of which are known to be unhealthy.Cooks and chefs nowdays testfrying oil in their restaurant by looking at the color of the oil, when it starts to smoke, and how the food tastes.There are some tests which can be purchased, such as dip strips and hand-held machines which sense how much the oil has gone bad and if it should be thrown out. These tests have shown to work with some oils, but can be expensive and may not work for all oil types. Also, some people may think that an oil is still good while it may be bad and need to be thrown out, depending on who is testing it.This project focuses on creating a new type of dipstick for testing frying oil. It turns from dark blue to light yellow as the oil gets bad, and will be available for several different types of oil, starting with a product for the predominant North American market, i.e. soybean and Canola.The test strips take only about two minutes after dipping to show whether or not your frying oil is OK to use, and will more affordable than other tests being used.