Hot cooking oil is an essential component in any quick service restaurant (QSR) that relies on frying. Maintaining oil quality is critical to ensuring consistent food quality. The main stressors that affect oil integrity include heat, food particulates, water, and oxygen. Even under ideal operating conditions, frying inevitably leads to oil deterioration. Each time edible oils are exposed to stress, they undergo molecular changes and degrade through processes such as hydrolysis, oxidation, and polymerization. These reactions generate various byproducts that progressively reduce overall oil quality.

The extent of this degradation can be effectively assessed by measuring the concentration of these byproducts, known as total polar materials (TPM). TPM quantifies the breakdown compounds formed during oil degradation and is expressed as a percentage. This measurement detects components such as free fatty acids, monoglycerides, diglycerides, acrylamides, and other degradation substances.

TPM monitoring is widely recognized across the restaurant industry and by global organizations—including the German Society for Fat Science (DGF)—as well as by regulatory frameworks such as EU Food Law, as the most reliable method to determine whether oil remains suitable for frying. When TPM levels reach or exceed 24–27%, it is strongly recommended, or in some cases legally required, to replace the oil.

A new technology has been developed in which a specialized dry additive, designed to reduce TPM in cooking oil, is used in combination with a fibrous filter pad. The pad is impregnated with a high loading level of additive, enabling the filtration process to reduce existing TPM levels and remove particulates generated during frying. This approach also simplifies operational workflow by eliminating ...