Turning wheel on fats in food

Fatty acid composition of different edible fats and oils

Click on the image of the different fats and oils in the outer ring and see
how the fatty acid composition in the bottle changes.

The image above can be used interactively on devices with a larger screen (> 768).

Palm oil is widely used by food manufacturers because of its functional benefits and versatility. The suitability of a fat for food manufacturing depends on its physical properties, such as solidness, melting point and oxidative stability.

	Appearance and Taste Fats can make food more pleasant by enhancing its texture and mouthfeel, its appearance, and by releasing fat-soluble flavours
	Aeration Fats give cakes and mousses an airy and stable texture, by trapping bubbles of air
	Coating A crumbly texture found in some pastry and biscuits is maintained by fat coating the flour particles to prevent them from absorbing water
	Glazing Fats can give a glossy appearance to foods
	Moisture Retention Fats help retain a product´s moisture content and therefore prevent drying out
	Layering Effect Fats help separate the layers of gluten and starch formed in the dough when making puff pastries, like croissants
	Plasticity Fats can be processed to rearrange their melting point, suitable to produce spreads and cheeses ready spreadable from the fridge
	Heat Transfer Frying fat acts as an efficient heat-transfer medium