featured in this issue - NZIFST - The New Zealand Institute of Food ...

OILS & FATS
Oils and Fats News
A regular round up of news and opinion from the Oils and Fats Group of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry
(NZIC), compiled by Dr Laurence Eyres, FNZIFST.
Refined oils and allergic labelling
Refined vegetable oils, including soya and peanut oils are highly unlikely
to trigger allergic reactions, according to new research.
The study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
reports a method for determining residual proteins – a potential trigger
of allergic reactions – in refined oils. The research team behind the
new method then used it to test for proteins in commercial samples
of fully refined oils, as well as in samples of oil from different points of
the refining chain.
“On the basis of the analysis of residual protein in the highly refined oils
presented in this paper, even the most sensitive individuals included in
such studies would need to consume at least 50g of highly refined oil to
experience subjective symptoms,” wrote the researchers, led by Clare
Mills of the Institute of Food Research, UK.
They added that the findings are consistent with observations in clinical
studies that the allergenic activity of residual proteins in refined soybean
oils is insufficient to elicit a reaction in oral challenge tests.
The study highlights a vital point for the food industry to consider. The
issue of “may contain” is a controversial issue both from the point of
view of the legislator and the industry trying to do the right thing.
We all know what a pain this requirement for labelling refined soy and
peanut oils is for food manufacturers and I would think this also applies
to cottonseed oil.
We are what we eat: Fatty foods
and mood
Fat-rich ‘comfort foods’ may actually alter the brain’s response to sadness,
and boost mood, according to new research. The authors of a
recent publication explained that an “intimate relationship between
hunger/satiety, food intake, visceral sensory signalling, and emotions
exists”.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, reports
that infusion of a fat solution into the stomach of volunteers was associated
with an activation of brain regions which reduced sad emotions.
The researchers, led by Lukas Van Oudenhove, at the University of Leuven,
Belgium, imaged changes in the brain when healthy non-obese
individuals experience sadness. The team reported that administration
of a fatty acid solution to the stomach attenuated the behavioural and
nerve cell responses to sad emotion.
“We investigated the interaction between nutrient-induced gut-brain
signalling and sad emotion induced by musical and visual cues at the
behavioural and neural level in healthy non-obese subjects undergoing
functional magnetic resonance imaging,” said Van Oudenhove and his
colleagues.
“These findings increase our understanding of the interplay among
emotions, hunger, food intake, and meal-induced sensations in health,
which may have important implications for a wide range of disorders,
including obesity, eating disorders, and depression,”
It is well known that there is an intimate relationship between emotional
state and food intake – we choose chocolate over an apple when
overworked and stressed and comfort food makes us feel better.
A canola flowerhead
Olive oil update
While Australian olive oil producers celebrated the adoption of a new
set of voluntary standards that will make it more difficult for European
exporters to do business there, we on the other side of the Tasman
Sea are not along for the ride. What started out last year as the Draft
Australian/New Zealand Standard for Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace Oil
dropped the “New Zealand” part when it was finalised by Standards
Australia. In an undated opinion piece, Katherine Rich, CEO of the
New Zealand Food & Grocery Council said grocers there feared that if
New Zealand went along and adopted the new standards, olive oil producers
from the Mediterranean, which provide over 95% of all olive oil
sold in New Zealand, “will struggle to meet the new rules as drafted.”
Is that a good enough reason to opt out?
Meanwhile an analysis of imported oils into the USA shows that poor
quality oils are still masquerading as quality products. The IOC continues
to insist that all these oils meet their standard. The debate will
continue.
Inform (2011) vol. 220 (7) 386-387
Canola oil from Canada is a
winner
A recent newspaper article in Canada should be mandatory reading for
the UFO addicted web miscreants who insist that canola oil is toxic.
The first thing about canola is that it is arguably the most successful
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Food New Zealand