Oil Consumption in Indian Diets at its Peak

Oil in Indian diets is at its peak. The per capita consumption of edible or vegetable oils in India has gone up from approximately 3kg per annum in 1950 to 14.2kg during 2010–11.
This trend rings many alarm bells as India is seeing an increasing number of cardiovascular disease complications.
Experts in this area are concerned that future shortages could occur should consumption continue to grow at its present pace.
The meteoric increase in demand started in the mid-1990s when liberal imports were welcomed.
The per capita oil consumption has gone beyond any predictions and could carry on increasing at a phenomenal pace in future years, should the present decreasing vegetable oil prices and increasing incomes carry on.
Alternative strategies to boost oilseed production may thwart a crisis from developing.
The increasing oil consumption could be attributed to three factors: economic boom which has resulted in improved standards of living, drop in edible oil prices and growth in embedded oil consumption due to a rapid rise of fried processed food products in Indians’ diets .