Whether preparing food for the public or for your own home, the Grenada Food and Nutrition Council (GFNC) has released the replay of its free webinar entitled “Cooking with Danger: The Health Impact of Reused Cooking Oil in Grenadian Kitchens.”
Held on Tuesday, 23 September 2025, the virtual session peaked at 100 attendees, with registrants including cooks, chefs, managers, retirees, teachers, nurses, doctors, nutritionists, and entrepreneurs.
The key presenters were National Epidemiologist Larissa Mark and Dr Ariel Frederick, an Internal Medicine Resident. Both experts are Grenadian and brought public health expertise, strong research, a commitment to education and a focus on disease prevention and community health to the online session. Additionally, both Mark and Dr Frederick have strong ties to St George’s University (SGU), with Mark earning her Master’s in Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health, and Dr Frederick completing her Doctor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science in Biology.
One of the misconceptions that increases the risks associated with reused cooking oil, according to research, is the practice of adding new oil to old oil. During the webinar, GFNC conducted a poll that revealed many attendees engage in this practice — 42% responded “yes” to the question: Do you add new oil to reused oil? Another compelling result was the responses to the question: How many times do you reuse oil at home? 42% said they use the same oil 2–3 times, while 24.5% admitted to using it once, and 24.5% said they never reuse oil. These findings highlight the possible widespread nature of oil reuse and underscore the importance of public education on safer cooking practices.
In a public service announcement released in August 2025, GFNC warned that simply adding fresh oil to old oil doesn’t fix the problem; rather, increases the risks. When oil is reheated repeatedly without being changed, harmful chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) build up. These compounds are linked to serious health problems, including lung, breast, and prostate cancers. According to Mark, cancer has been the number one cause of death for the past 5 years. While all would not be linked to the use of reused oils, GFNC is mandated to raise the alarm about its correlation. Additionally, this information may suggest the need for more targeted awareness campaigns combined with routine inspections of food establishments to help ensure safer practices and reduce the health risks associated with oil reuse.
Chief Executive Officer of GFNC Lydia Browne, expressed satisfaction with the high attendance and emphasised the importance of shedding light on this issue. She was pleased to provide a platform for Dr Frederick to share her findings. “We realise now that a lot of our men eat out, especially if they’re single, and we don’t know that consuming foods from reused oils is not impacting them. We see the rates of prostate cancer, breast cancer is on the rise, and the mutation of the gene that leads to breast cancer. All these things need to be kept in consideration when these webinars go out.”
Browne also encouraged attendees to share the information they learned. “It’s not just for a one-time impact. We hope that people will share the information. At the Food and Nutrition Council, we try to put out as much information as possible, and I’m hoping that if 83 of you would share this information with all of your contacts — especially if you know they did not come on the webinar tonight, we would be in a much better position.”
To access the replay, click here.
- Larissa Mark: Understanding the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases in Grenada 2019-2023 (1:14 timestamp)
- Dr Ariel Frederick: Toxic Effects of Reusing and Reheating Vegetable Oil (25:53 timestamp)
To learn more about the GFNC visit https://gfnc.gov.gd/about-us/. To follow us on social media, visit https://linktr.ee/473GFNC.
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