Oiling the wheels on the bandwagon of improbable surveys

Stop the presses! This is front-page material. The Hong Kong Edible Oils Association - the city seems to have trade groups for the most unlikely subjects - has issued a health warning after releasing a survey on the deadly habits of people cooking at home. Horror of horrors: an alarming number of people reuse their cooking oil.

I hate to break this to you, but used oil releases all kinds of chemicals with names I don't know how to pronounce but they don't sound healthy. According to the survey, more than one in two people worry about the quality of oil used in restaurants. Of these, 86 per cent are concerned about so-called 'million-year oil' - oil that has been cooked for days on end. Well, at least that cuts down on oil use, which is good for the environment. The survey questions more than 500 people. As a statistically literate person, I can tell you that's a really representative sample. Disturbingly, the association warns that some people may be brewing their own 'million-year oil' at home. Almost three in four people have reused cooking oil. Twenty-nine per cent would cook with used oil after deep-frying two or three times and almost a quarter believe old oil, properly stored, can be used for cooking even after 10 days. 'Hong Kong people have a lot of misconceptions on reusing cooking oil,' said Edmund Li Tse-shing, associate professor in food and nutritional science at the University of Hong Kong and a survey consultant.

If there is a contest for the most improbable survey, this one on edible oil would be a serious contender. But the top prize would still go to the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. It released a list of the city's hot spots for getting a clear view up women's skirts. No, it wasn't done for peeping toms, though they might benefit, but to alert the ladies. Or so the party claimed. I would have dearly enjoyed conducting the survey for the DAB.