Exclusive: Present-Day Oils Heed Current Trends
In recent years, more manufacturers have been choosing oils rich in monounsaturated fatty acids as in high oleic oils. In this article, I spoke to two major players on this segment, Cargill and Bunge Loders Croklaan to find out what are the current trends in frying oils and what role sustainability plays in choosing the right ingredients.
By Dan Orehov
During the past decade, there has been a move from the use of palm oil towards blends containing liquid oils like sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. Experts say that sustainability is also a key driver for consumer preference resulting in oils with associated sustainability solutions.
“Although palm oil is a very stable frying oil, moving away from palm is driven by health benefits, mostly reductions in SAFA. Seed oils have a significantly better nutritional profile and product image, however they often lack the required stability. Frying blends overcome the latter, resulting in more a stable frying oil. The benefits of sunflower or rapeseed oil are lower levels of saturated fats. To increase the stability of sunflower and/or rapeseed oil, we advise the use of high oleic variants in a blend,” says Nicolette Drieduite, technical business development manager foodservice, Cargill. Drieduite also suggests that during industrial frying, processors should use blends that can be used in further preparation of the foods, to ensure optimal performance. Frying oil performance can be greatly improved by applying good frying practices: fry at the right temperature, protect from air and water and remove carbon. In addition, it is important to fry with the right food to oil-ratio. Reduced oil volume fryers significantly improve the performance of the oil.
“In general, we see the lowering of saturated fats as a key driver for product reformulation, there is also a wish to reduce the amount of fats, however this should not impact taste and texture negatively. Alternative frying methods like for example oven baking and preparation by air frying offer the most significant reductions in fat content in French fries,” explains Lis de Groot, marketing manager foodservice, Cargill.
The company’s experts also say that another important aspect is that the capacity of the frying equipment has the right ratio to the amount of food fried (so called food-to-oil ratio). This is to ensure optimal uptake and refreshing of oil which minimizes the risk of oil remaining too long in the fryer equipment. Oil filtration is an important aspect to increase oil fry life, therefore any equipment that helps managing this is helpful.
Moreover, referring to the regeneration of oils, Cargill representatives believe that this is not a process that can be achieved 100%, as most oils cannot be brought to their original condition, once fried. “It is a false idea that oils can be regenerated. Oil cannot be regenerated to its original condition. Best practice is to manage oil in such a way that degeneration is slowed down as much as possible including recognizing the impact of each of the factors as described above and finding ways to reduce the impact. For example, this can be achieved by carefully controlling frying temperature to not exceed certain limits, keeping the system as closed as possible and ensuring staff follows operational procedures as advised,” explains Drieduite.
The complete article is available in the March-April 2019 issue of Potato Processing International.
