Oils and Fats Update
Laurence Eyres FNZIFST
June 2022
Lipids Guru Frank Gunstone passes (1923-2021)
Professor Frank Gunstone made an enormous contribution to the science of fats and oils, at a time when this was not a fashionable subject. He was a pioneer in the chromatographic analysis of lipids, in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and in the chemistry of fatty acids and their synthesis. I believe he authored or co-authored 400 publications.
When I joined the industry 50 years ago, I received a copy of his classic book “the chemistry of Oils and Fats” (1988) and studied it from cover to cover.
Frank Gunstone was not just a great teacher, who taught the world about fats and oils, but spent a lifetime to investigate the nature of lipid molecules. He shared his vast knowledge of the subject with the chemical world through over four hundred publications, including research papers, review articles, and books.
The AOCS described him as the father of Lipid Chemistry. If he was the father then TP Hilditch (1956), Frank’s supervisor at Liverpool, can remain as the grandfather.
The Lipid Handbook, which Professor Gunstone authored with fellow AOCS members John Harwood and the late Albert Dijkstra, set the industry standard for those working in lipid science and technology. He retired on October 27th, 2013, the day when he celebrated his 90th birthday at home with his family in St. Andrews, Scotland, after serving “on the job” for 70 years. He was ninety-eight when he passed away in November 2021.
Frank made a couple of visits to New Zealand as a plenary guest lecturer at our conferences. A fellow Mancunian, we got on instantly and he was most enjoyable company.
Publications
The Chemistry of Oils and Fats, (2004) second edition, Blackwell publishing.
Hilditch, The Chemical Constitution of Natural Fats (1956), Chapman and Hall
Everything about avocado oil-from fruit to products (upcoming seminar)
The University of California Davis will be running an online course with presentations from members of the NZ Oils and Fats Group.
The course will provide an understanding of factors that affect chemical parameters of avocado oil and develop skills to interpret the laboratory results so the producers, professional buyers and importers will be able to make the best post-harvest, processing and purchasing decisions for their companies.
Professor Selina Wang has published key work on olive and avocado oil adulteration. The other key contributors are Dr. Allan Woolf, Professor Marie Wong, and Laurence Eyres.
The course registration is now open: https://ucfoodquality.ucdavis.edu/avocado-oil-short-course
Oil prices surge due to Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The financial shock from the war in Ukraine is being felt keenly in Industry and the kitchen as cooking oil prices hit record highs. This combined with the halt on Indonesian palm oil exports plus other negative events, are causing a shock wave with supply and pricing. About 80 per cent of sunflower oil exports come from Ukraine and Russia and estimates are that Ukrainian sunflower oil exports will fall by 40%. Sunflower oil is the third largest output in the world after palm and soybean oils. Food oils are crucial staple ingredients that are as ubiquitous in-home kitchens as they are in restaurants and packaged foods. In low-income countries, cooking oil represents one of the biggest weekly expenditures for poor families and the source of about 10 percent of the world’s daily calories, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Besides being a cupboard staple, cooking oil is used throughout the food industry – from biscuits and dressings to ready meals to long-life cream – so cost rises, and shortages have huge knock-on effects. There is huge scope to utilise more locally produced oils such as olive, canola, and flaxseed oils in NZ.
Many food producers are working on substitutes, but this work takes time and not all oils are interchangeable due to differences in stability and labelling.
Shortages always bring about innovation and this period is no exception. In New Zealand the appearance of freeze-dried avocado powder (65% healthy oil) into the market is raising great interest. (Ovavo NZ)
Food Fraud (a FAO paper)
International and national regulatory strategies to counter food fraud
While, currently, there is no agreed definition of food fraud, this publication follows the concept of food fraud which is described to occur when a fraudster intentionally deceives a customer about the quality and/or contents of the foods they wish to purchase, and such act is done to obtain an undue advantage, most often economic, for the fraudster. Food fraud has beset governments for centuries, and the legal responses to it have been uniquely suited to the sensibilities of the time, with no internationally recognized legal definition currently available. Effective regulation of food fraud today must account for modern complexities, including a growing global trade of varieties of food products and ingredients susceptible to fraud.
https://www.fao.org/3/cb9035en/cb9035en.pdf
Rapeseed cake may reduce cows emissions
The use of rapeseed cake in the production of livestock feed cuts methane and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 13%, without affecting digestibility in vitro, according to the initial results of a EU-funded research project.
https://www.feednavigator.com › Article › 2014/04/01
AOCS conference papers
Access sessions you missed at the 2022 AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo on demand with the online meeting platform
With an impressive program of over 650 presentations, the 2022 AOCS Annual Meeting & Expo provided expertise on developments and research in the edible oils and fats, surfactants and detergents, proteins and related sustainable materials industries. In case you missed any sessions of interest during the meeting, you can access on-demand recordings through June 30. Registered AOCS members receive extended access to on-demand content through Dec. 31.