A rapid near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic method for measuring degradation products in frying oils, including total polar materials (TPMs) and free fatty acids (FFAs), has been developed. Calibration models were developed using both forward stepwise multiple linear regression (FSMLR) and partial least-squares (PLS) regression techniques and then tested with two independent sets of validation samples. Derivative treatments had limited usefulness, especially in the longer (1100-2500 nm) wavelength region. When using a wavelength region of 700-1100 nm, PLS models gave improved results compared to FSMLR models. The best correlations (r) between the NIR and wet chemical methods for TPM and FFA were 0.983 and 0.943, respectively. In the longer wavelength region (1100-2500 nm), FSMLR models were as good or better than PLS models. The best correlations for TPM and FFA obtained in this region were 0.999 and 0.983, respectively.