Trans fat-free production strategies for margarine Palsgaard has examined how crystallizers can step in to fill the production performance gap left by slowly crystallizing, trans fatty acid-free margarines. By Anders Mølbak Jensen, Product & Application Manager, Lipid & Fine Foods Palsgaard A/S. In the early nineties, a landmark Harvard Medical School paper1 concluded that trans fatty acids present a significant health risk, with higher risks of cardiovascular disease already registered at daily intake levels of just 5 grams to 6 grams. The impact of the study was powerful and, at least in Europe, instantaneous. Since 2004 in Denmark, for example, oils and fats used in food products have been permitted a maximum of 2% non-animal trans fat content. PUBLIC ENEMY: TRANS FATS The US, on the other hand, has been somewhat slower to react, though it introduced mandatory labelling for trans fats in 2006. Most recently however, in June 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized a determination that trans fats are not generally recognized as safe, and set a three-year time limit for their removal from all processed foods. the production process becomes more sensitive to a variety of factors that were comfortably handled by partially hydrogenated oils in the past. One such factor is the higher melting point of other fat types. For optimum flavor release, it’s best to use fats that melt at approximately mouth temperature: around 35o C (95 oF). In the old world, trans fats fitted the bill perfectly. In the new one, the only economically feasible, readily available fat type is palm oil, fractions of palm oil, or interestified fat types – but all lack comparable functionality. LIFE WITHOUT TRANS FATS Without trans fats, which is commonly derived from partly hydrogenated fats, it’s much more difficult to consistently produce high-quality margarine. In fact, every part of
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