Fatty Acid Profile Including Trans Fatty Acid Content of Margarines Marketed in Mexico

Abstract

In this study, the fatty acid profile of 42 margarines marketed in Mexico was identified and quantified including the total trans fatty acids (TFA). The ratio of the sum of cholesterol-lowering fatty acids CLFA (cis-oleic, linoleic and a-linolenic fatty acids) to the sum of cholesterol-raising fatty acids CRFA (C12:0, C14:0, C16:0, TFA) and the x6/x3 ratio were calculated to evaluate the nutritional quality of the margarine samples. The results showed that the high content of C12:0, C14:0 and C16:0 fatty acids in some samples indicated the use of coconut and palm oils instead of partially hydrogenated fatty acids in order to decreased TFA content. Of the samples, 33% had less than 1 g/100 g of fat which could be considered as ''free from TFA'' according to the Danish Legislation. The x6/x3 ratio ranged between 5.85:1 and 25.85:1, the ideal relation being 5-10:1. The CLFA/CRFA ranged from 0.46 to 3.10, being the recommended ratio as high as possible. Of the 42 margarines, only five samples had an acceptable fatty acid profile, that is, low TFA and saturated fatty acids, high monounsaturated fatty acids content and adequate x6/x3 and CLFA/CRFA ratios.

Trans Fatty Acid Contents in Selected Dietary Fats in the Estonian Market

“…Trans‐18:1 isomers are considered to be quantitatively the major TFA in all dietary sources and, similarly to the results of previous studies (Aro and others 1998b; Bhanger and Anwar 2004; Hernández‐Martínez and others 2011), octadecenoic (C18:1) isomers were the main detected TFA in the current study. For dietary fats analyzed, with TFA content higher than 1 g per 100 g product, the contents of trans C18:1 varied from 2.4% to 31.6% (Table 1), whereas in all cases the quantity of trans PUFA were markedly lower, ranging from 0.14% to 5.83%.…”

“…It is known that the FA composition of margarines and shortenings depends mainly on the selection of oil plants used in their manufacture e.g. coconut, sunflower or palm oil (Hernández‐Martínez and others 2011). In blended spreads the FA profile reflects, in addition, the FA content of the milk fat.…”

(In)correct Use of Statistics

“…Fortunately, not all authors make this mistake. When I compile a similar table as above by using the values of A. J. Dijkstra (&) Carbougnères, 47210 St Eutrope-de-Born, France e-mail: albert@dijkstra-tucker.be cis-18:2 listed in Table 3 in a paper by Hernández-Martínez et al [2]., anomalies like the above hardly occur: 37.30 ± 0.24 f, g S13…”

“…The reason that I retabulated some experimental data from [1] and [2] is that the respective authors hardly indicated how they arrived at the significance (or lack of significance) of differences between the various samples. I therefore want to advocate that authors be more specific in explaining how they arrived at their conclusions and what standard errors they used.…”

Development of low and high lipid margarines with saturated fatty acid reduction using organogel technology

“…In HF65 and HF80A, SFA was responsible for why the AI was high, and this is besides palmitic acid, lauric acid, and myristic acid. Overall, the fatty acid composition of margarines is dependent on the lipid sources that are used, such as palm and coconut oil (Hernández-Martínez et al, 2011).…”