Health aspects and food safety are nowadays of growing concern to users and producers of food products. Consumers are getting more and more aware of the relation between health issues and their nutritional habits. Therefore, interest in healthy products is growing, as well as the amount of food products with improved nutritional profile.

Related to oils and fats two major issues concerning nutrition and health are important:

•  The reduction of trans fatty acids
•  The reduction of saturated fatty acids

Reduction of trans fatty acids (TFA)

Many scientific studies have been carried out to study the effect of trans fatty acids on different health aspects. Together with these studies, indicating the health risk of too high intake of TFA, the Danish regulation, published on the 11 th of March 2003, on the content of TFA in oils and fats, has been a driving force to ban TFA from food stuff.

Eliminating these TFA, however, has also some technological implications, since TFA resulted in fats with a steep melting profile and good crystallization properties. Additionally, by completely eliminating TFA, the saturated fatty acid content increases drastically.

Fuji Oil Europe is doing many efforts to develop for each type of application fats with strongly reduced trans content, but with good functional properties, and without increasing the sum of TFA + SAFA

•  Fillings and creams

•  Coatings (NL-CBR)

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Reduction of saturated fatty acids (SAFA)

In addition to the elimination of TFA in oils and fats, the reduction of SAFA becomes a growing trend. This is often associated with the optimisation of the omega6-omega 3 balance of the product. Nutritional recommendations about the fatty acid profile of oils and fats in food stuff are given by the WHO. (Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, WHO Technical Report Series, No. 916 (TRS 916), http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/trs916/en/)

Fuji Oil Europe offers products with reduced amount of SAFA for

•  Wafer creams : BISCO CR 310

•  Ice cream

•  Milk fat replacers

Fuji Oil Europe is also developing tailor made solutions for different application areas.

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