Kottu, fried rice can shorten life

Nadira Gunatilleke

Eating 'kottu' and 'fried rice' can definitely shorten your life. This has been revealed through research conducted by the Medical Research Institute(MRI) under the guidance of Dr. Renuka Jayatissa. The public should avoid these foods, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

According to Dr. Jayatissa around 200 persons between the age of 20 and 50 were covered during the study. They were regular consumers of kottu and fried rice. About 50 per cent of them had high cholesterol and liver enzyme levels which are dangerous to health. A majority of them were lodgers at various boarding houses in and around Colombo. They eat from various food outlets.

Dr. Jayatissa pointed out that transfaty acids are very high in kottu and in fried rice because palm oil is used to fry these foods. The palm oil is used to make Kottu and fried rice after using the oil two or three times to fry other varieties of food. Cholesterol deposits in the liver and cause a fatty liver. The spokesman pointed out that most of the food outlets which offer kottu and fried rice are run in unhygienic conditions and often keep food in open containers (buckets) at night. Cockroaches and other insects find their way into this food and get chopped when the items for the kotthu are mangled . People eat this unhygienic an and unhealthy food without knowing these facts.