Food Lipids: Chemistry, Nutrition, and Biotechnology

are significant differences in oil and fat disappearance between individual
countries and particularly between those in the north and the south. Rapeseed
oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil are strongly used in the European
countries in which they are produced. Butter is still a significant fat in
Europe except in the Mediterranean countries producing olive oil. The
choice open to European food producers and consumers is apparent in the
fact that no figure in Table 5 exceeds 35%.
With the free movement of oilseeds and of oils, and fats, trading nations have
a wide choice among these commodities. With the development of high-quality refined
oils many of them become interchangeable though the attention must be paid
to fatty acid and triacylglycerol composition; physical, nutrition, and chemical properties;
price; and customer concerns. Food producers monitor their supplies to make
best use of the cheapest oils, and when customers express concerns, such as those
over oils from genetically modified sources (mainly soybean oil) or oils containing
trans acids, producers switch to recipes that do not need such materials. The message
here is that while the major producing countries make extensive use of local products,
there are regions of the world in which flexibility of supply is possible and is cherished
by producers and consumers alike.
II. FRYING OILS AND FATS
The use of oils and fats as a frying medium in both shallow and in deep frying mode
is an important component in the overall picture of food applications. It has recently
been reported that 20 million tonnes of oils and fats is used in this way. This represents
a major share of the 90 million tonnes used for dietary purposes. Of course,
it must be remembered that while some of the frying oil is consumed along with the
fried food, much is thrown away (shallow pan frying) or ultimately finds other uses
as spent frying oil. The importance of frying is reflected by the fact that this topic
has a chapter to itself, and this matter will not be pursued here except to provide
some general references that may have been overlooked in Chapter 7 (5–9).
III. SPREADS: BUTTER, GHEE, MARGARINE, VANASPATI
A. Butter
Butter from cow’s milk fat has been used primarily as a spread, but also for baking
and frying, for many centuries. With the development of good-quality margarine and
other spreads butter has become less popular. The disadvantages associated with
butter are its relatively high price, its poor spreadability (especially from the refrigerator),
and its poor health profile resulting from its high fat content, its high level
of saturated acids and of cholesterol, and the presence of trans unsaturated fatty
acids. Its advantages are its ‘‘wholly natural’’ profile and its superb flavor. The perceived
superiority of butter is reflected in the fact that spread manufacturers seek to
have products with the flavor and appearance of butter and by their use of names
like ‘‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’’ for one brand of spread. Although the name
butter is jealously guarded and it is not permissible to take anything away or to add
anything to a product that is to be called butter, nevertheless ways of overcoming
Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved.