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Consumers are becoming more health-conscious when it comes to oils and fats, perhaps due to increased awareness from conferences, research, and media outlets focusing on the impact of fats and oils. The result is that the edible oil industry, specifically refineries, is having to join the discussion and even change their processing techniques in order to improve the oil quality and minimize the various contaminants that are being produced during the refining process. Dr. Mohammad Alam of Texas A&M University explains further.
One such contaminant is 3-monochloropropanediol – known as 3-MCPD. It was first identified in acid-hydrolyzed vegetable proteins decades ago. However, very recently, a group of researchers in the Czech Republic identified the same compound in edible oils. Several studies found elevated levels of 3-MCPD and glycidyl fatty acid esters (GE) in a wide variety of retail processed foods, such as cereals, biscuits, crackers, doughnuts, breads, and infant formulas.
However, refined oils contain the highest levels of 3-MCPD and GE. In refined oil, these contaminants are produced during the refining process and are therefore referred to as “processed induced contaminants.” The true mechanism of the formation of these contaminants is still an active topic of research for many in the edible oil industry.
However, the oil also contains around 3-5% of minor components such as free fatty acids (FFA), phosphatides (gums), monoacylglycerols (MAGs), diacylglycerols (DAGs), peroxides, tocotrienols, phytosterols, and many others. Due to the presence of these minor components, the crude oil is subjected to chemical and physical refining processes before being consumed in various foods. See more.
Source: Online/GFMM
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