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The ability to identify and quantify oils in a mixture is very important for the assessment of accurate food labelling. A wide variety of edible oils are available on the market, and some of these attract premium prices. This makes them an active target for adulteration.
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As fat spreads are frequently labelled as containing proportions of particular oils perceived to be beneficial to health, such as olive oil, the identification and quantification of oils and fats in a spread is also important for the assessment of food labelling. There is not much information available for fat spread mixtures, where the oils used are invariably processed before being blended into the final product.
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The completion of a literature review may uncover potential new approaches for the detection of adulteration of oils and the identification and quantification of oils and fats in a spread. New, more specific techniques would enable more stringent enforcement of the laws governing authenticity.
The proposed literature review will seek out possible new means of identifying and distinguishing adulteration of refined and unrefined speciality oils. It will assess the current knowledge of potential characteristics, chemical and biochemical markers such as flavour compounds, DNA, unusual fatty acids and sterols and other phytochemicals. To address the complications introduced by processing, the search will include terms intended to capture references dealing with these aspects of oil and fat chemistry.
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Literature will be gathered through carefully targeted online searches of a large number of databases describing the UK and EU trade in oils and spreadable fats. The data obtained through such searches will be stored and handled using 'Reference Manager' bibliographic software. A related paper filing system for hard copies of the references will also be set up.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.