The treatment of cooking oils and fats with specific types of precipitated silica materials to prolong the useful life of such oils and fats within restaurant settings. More particularly, such an invention encompasses the utilization of specific types of precipitated silica materials to filter such oils and/or fats. Such precipitated silica materials and treatments therewith aid to remove large amounts of free fatty acids after such oils and/or fats have been utilized to fry foodstuffs, as well as reduce the amount of additional oil and/or fat potentially necessary to bring the used oils and/or fats up to a level of permitted further utilization within a restaurant environment.