The Skinny On Fats:
Better Functionality Equals Better Products

By Professor Vijai K. S. Shukla


Today, customers and processors alike are becoming more aware of good fats and bad fats when it comes to health. Processors must keep these health factors in mind, however, they also have to balance this with the good, better and best fats when it comes to functionality. While the conventional world has relied on chemically derived methods of creating functionality, organic processors have often had to get a little more creative—but today there are more options being developed than ever.

The Good, Bad and The Really Bad
Before discussing the ways to use fats, processors must look at the innate properties. Good fats, or unsaturated fats, include monounsaturated fats, which help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol while also boosting HDL (good) cholesterol, and polyunsaturated fats, also thought to help lower total and bad cholesterol. Some of these include olive, rape seed (canola) and avocado.

Polyunsaturated fats are also a good source of essential fatty acids (EFAs), which can be found in everything from flaxseed and hemp oil to fish oil (allowed in organic foods under section 205.606 of the National List.) Besides fighting cholesterol, EFAs such as omega-3 and omega-6 fight inflammation, lower blood pressure and protect the brain and nervous system. Hemp oil is the richest in essential fatty acids with 75 to 80 percent total EFAs, including a healthy ratio of omega-3s and omega-6s. Flax seed oil contains the highest amount of omega-3s (50 to 55 percent).

Then there are the bad fats, or saturated fats, which are known to clog arteries and directly raise total and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Palm and coconut oil have the highest levels of saturated fats. While these should be used in limited amounts, processors often cannot rule these out because of their functional attributes and stability, which will be discussed later in this article.

The worst of all are trans fats. Created through hydrogenation, these fats raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol at the same time. New York City and others have even put a ban on trans fats and conventional processors are scrambling to find alternatives. Organic processors have the upper hand on this issue because hydrogenation is not permitted in organic—thus most organic ingredients are trans fat free, with exception to small amounts of natural trans fats from animal fat.

Stability Considerations
Another factor to take into consideration is stability. The key to stability is preventing oxidation. Oils with higher saturated fat, such as palm and coconut, are going to be much less susceptible to oxidation. While those with less saturates, such as polyunsaturated omega 3s and omega 6s, are much more vulnerable. High-oleic (low linoleic) oils are also known to be more stable in the presence of heat and air because of the fewer number of unsaturates.

The level of antioxidants also plays a large part. Some oils are naturally high in antioxidants such as olive oil or argan oil, a lesser-known oil with twice the tocopherols of olive oil. Some suppliers also offer oils that have added antioxidants or a processor can add antioxidants to their formulation to give the product a longer shelf life.

Refining Organic Oils
The next step is to look at how fats are processed. The most unprocessed are termed “virgin” and must be cold-extracted from the seed or fruit by mechanical pressing only and must not incorporate any chemical or physical refining. The coinage “extra virgin” is applicable for olive oils where it is extracted as virgin quality and the acidity level is less than or equal to 1 percent. Lower acid means better quality oil.

Other terms associated with organic oils are “first pressing” which means that the oil has been cold pressed and then deodorized. “Cold first pressing” signifies extraction by cold mechanical pressing and no further refining.

With conventional methods that use solvents, up to 98 percent of the oil can be extracted, while without solvents the average is roughly 50 percent. However, because organic oils are not refined as rigorously as their conventional counterparts, they have much higher levels of valuable nutrients such as phospholipids, tocopherols, tocotrienols, carotenoids, chlorophyll and sterols. They also have a more favorable peroxide value (determines how easily the product will become rancid) and anicidine value (oxidative and thermal degradation). Also, solvent extraction methods retain traces of the chemical solvent.

The oil from the mechanical press contains moisture, waxes and other solid waste such as small fractions of grain shells which remain suspended in the oil. These are removed by filtration through cotton cloth and subsequent decanting into vats, which eliminates the waxes. A second filtration step is done using blotting paper to remove traces of moisture and wax.

The oil obtained so far has a high peroxide value and free fatty acid content, which can result in rancidity. Instead of conventional neutralization with an alkali, the oil is deodorized using steam under high vacuum at temperatures varying between 150 to 210°C. Under such conditions, both the free fatty acid content and the peroxide value drop considerably to acceptable percentages. Thus, the oil gets refined without the involvement of any kind of chemicals. In some cases the oil is bleached using naturally active bleaching and clarifying adsorbents (clays) which do not contain mineral acid or other chemical compounds.

Palm—Nature’s Ultimate Functional Fat
From ice cream to coffee creamer, many products require certain functional properties to achieve the right mouthfeel or melting points. To get these properties, conventional processors often chemically modify the fat using processes such as interesterification, solvent fractionation and hydrogenation. Organic processors cannot use these processes for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that they have to give up functionality.

Palm oil and palm kernel oil can be dry-fractionated (without a solvent) to provide a better range of functionality. This is done by heating and then cooling the parent oils without any solvents, which separates the oil into palm kernel stearin (hard fat) and palm kernel olein (soft fat). These can be used at different levels of fractionation, and/or combined with other oils to create a range of organic products. While organic palm oil and palm kernel have been around for a long time, scientific advances in the organic world are just now finding new ways to maximize the functionality of palm.

The one negative about palm that must be noted, though, is the high level of saturated fat. However, there really is no low saturated fat replacement for organic palm that has anywhere near the functionality. This means that processors and ingredient suppliers might have to do a bit of a balancing act and work with formulations that may include other fats with lower saturates. It may also just mean using these oils sparingly or for speciality items that are enjoyed in small quantities.

New Developments in Organic Fats
Many of the fats discussed below are prototypes developed at the International Food Science Centre (IFSC) in Denmark, a research and development organization. Processors can work with their ingredient supplier to create many of these functional fats. Other products discussed are already being made by some companies. Since palm oil has the most natural functionality, the majority of speciality fats are thus based on non-hydrogenated oils from the palm and palm kernel family.

Ice cream fats. Use of speciality fats of vegetable origin in ice cream fillings in place of milk fat reduces the cost and makes the texture of the ice cream easier to adjust as required, resulting in higher production outputs. From the nutritional point of view, vegetable fats may also have lower saturated fat and cholesterol compared to milk fats.

The behavior of a fat during the aging, freezing and aeration steps is vitally important in determining the structure of the ice cream and hence its texture. The fat maintains the smooth texture by forming small agglomerates on the surfaces of the incorporated air bubbles and stabilizing them. Another very important functional quality of fat is the melting behavior and the solid fat content (SFC), i.e., the ratio of liquid to solid fat at a given temperature. The SFC at different temperatures can be plotted on a chart to obtain the melting profile of a given fat. Keeping these parameters in mind, organic filling fats can be developed using organic vegetable oils such as palm kernel and palm olein to replace milk fat either partially, or totally, in ice cream recipes.

Ice cream coating. An ice cream bar is most often wrapped with a thin coating of chocolate or other flavoring. A chocolate coating is typically made of around 55 percent vegetable fat and some cocoa powder, sugar, lecithin and flavor. Occupying the lion’s share of the composition, the coating fat plays the dominant role behind the quality of the finished coating.

Ideally, a fat used in ice cream coating should melt at 30 +/- 2°C and exhibit a very sharp melting characteristic, otherwise the ice cream coating will not melt in the mouth as the tongue temperature drops while eating ice cream. A nonmelted coating gives a waxy mouthfeel and delays flavor release. The coating fat also needs to have a fast crystallization nature, i.e. a high rate of solidification, to form a nontransparent uniform thin coating layer (2 mm) on the ice cream bar in quick time.

A certain degree of plasticity of the coating fat is also desired to prevent the coating from breaking off from the ice cream. Rapid melting of the fats is very important for quick flavor release. If the fat melts in a wide range of temperatures, then it imparts a waxy taste. Palm kernel stearin, which has a higher melting point, or palm kernel oil can be used to develop these coatings.

Organic baking fats. A baking fat consisting of only the lipid phase (no water) is called “shortening.” The principal function of the fat phase is to provide lubrication and prevent adhesion of the gluten strands. A baking fat needs to crystallize to the correct consistency to provide good spreadability on the flour and to contribute to the desired dough consistency and coherence. Through the use of organic palm oil fractions and refractioning this functionality has been achieved.

Diehl Organics has also recently created a new powdered shortening (patent pending) for use in dry baking mixes or other products where you cannot use a liquid or plastic version of fat. This new product combines 75 percent fat (both palm and olive oil have been used) together with protein to stabilize, or emulsify, the fat. Conventional versions rely on casein, a chemically derived protein, as well as phosphates—which are both prohibited in organic foods.

Organic frying oil. Today there are ways to achieve a healthy balance of bioactive omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids along with the heat stability needed for frying. This is possible through dry fractionation of palm oil, resulting in palm olein, which retains the bulk of the natural antioxidants like the tocopherols and tocotrienols, which prolong its shelf life. Blending organic palm olein with organic rape seed oil, rich in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, gives a stable frying oil with high nutritional benefits.

Another development in frying fats currently on the market is an organic high-oleic sunflower oil, which is produced through a natural breeding process, mechanically pressed (expelled) without chemical solvents and then refined without caustics normally used in the refining process. Nexcel Ingredients’ version contains a unique antioxidant that adds extra stability for products that undergo extreme heat or require an extra long shelf life.

Organic bakery coatings. Manufacturing of chocolate coatings using a vegetable fat for bakery products is a very popular procedure because it’s more economic than cocoa butter based recipes. In many cases, a coating based on pure cocoa butter is too hard and brittle and flakes off very easily. Thus, a softer vegetable fat is more desirable. Speciality fats using organic palm kernel and palm kernel stearin have been developed and successfully used by various coating manufacturers in creating organic bakery coatings.

Organic fats for nondairy coffee creamer. A nondairy creamer is usually made up of fat, protein, carbohydrate, stabiliser and emulsifier. It is a homogenized product which disperses easily in coffee without any oil exudation. The fat used in such products should have a sharp melting profile. It should retain its solid state of aggregation in the creamer but should melt quick while in contact with hot liquids.

By using fractions of palm kernel oil, creamers have been formulated that prevent flavor deterioration, aggregation and lump formation. These fats have high oxidative stability and function as a moisture barrier too. While lower fat versions of this are perfect for coffee creamer, a higher fat version could be used in creamy soups or beverages.

Conclusions and Future Perspectives
The key to fats is finding the right balance for each individual product. Consider what the consumer is expecting from the product—from melt-in-your-mouth texture to a healthier label or longer shelf life—and then try out different blends and oils to see how you can better meet this expectation. Research and developments in the field of fats continue to offer more options for organic processing, creating a whole new world of possibilities to offer higher quality products that appeal to today’s organic consumer.

Professor Vijai K.S Shukla is the president of the International Food Science Centre in Denmark and a professor at the University of Illinois. He is a globally recognized authority in specialty fats, nutrition and metabolic diseases and co-editor of the book “Modern Developments in Food Lipids,” associate editor of the Journal of American Oil Chemists Society, the Journal of Food Science and Lipids and Lipid Technology and has written for more than 150 other publications. He has been named as one of the Who’s Who of the World and the 2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century. You can reach him at shukla@ifsc.dk.