AOCS Releases Official Methods of Analysis for Fatty Acids

Ultimately, this work can help food manufacturers assure consistent oil quality and nutritional labeling, as well as save time and money as they work to create new consumer products.

18 April 2012 --- The AOCS (American Oil Chemists’ Society) and Cargill announced that updated official methods of analysis for total fat and fatty acids are now available to the food industry. Led by Cargill, the refinement of the official methods included the collaboration of food oils scientists and researchers across the industry to create and validate official analytical methods for total fat and fatty acids in foods, standard forms for data reporting, and a simplified sample preparation process. Ultimately, this work can help food manufacturers assure consistent oil quality and nutritional labeling, as well as save time and money as they work to create new consumer products.

“AOCS collaborates across the industry to investigate, adopt, and publish official methods of analysis in the field of oils, fats, and related materials,” said Richard Cantrill, AOCS Technical Director. “These new official methods for total fat and fatty acids in foods are a significant industry achievement in that they will enable faster formulation or reformulation of consumer products, especially as the industry looks to respond to demands from consumers for reduced fat food options.”

According to Steve Hansen, principal scientist at Cargill and leader of the group that developed the official methods, the industry is working hard to create lower fat products that taste great. “These official methods help us to be more efficient, since we don’t have to start from scratch to create new analytical methods each time,” he said. “The majority of adult consumers are concerned about fats in their diets, so fat information is among the most read on a product’s nutrition label. It was rewarding to work with my colleagues across the industry to develop tools that will help in the creation of consumer products with reduced amounts of fat.”

The AOCS methods, currently containing more than 400 fats, oils, and lipid-related methods critical for processing and trading, are used in hundreds of laboratories worldwide. The chromatography methods (AOCS Ce 1h-05, Ce 1i-07 and Ce 1j-07) and extraction methods (AOCS Ce 2b-11 alkali and Ce 2c-11acid/alkaline) referred to in this news release are now available from AOCS.

The chromatography spreadsheets are available to the industry for free at http://www.aocs.org/Methods/?navItemNumber=584