edible oils conference
Oilseeds - industry info
Wraking the cake
FDA move
What'sNewS Issue 9 September 1998
Peter Greenberg welcoming guests
In terms of European
resistance to the use of GMOs
and products deriving from
them, the consensus in Rio
was that basically this is a
luxury problem. Most
speakers put resistance to
GMOs down to fear of the
unknown and Diego Barhero
even suggested that it is an
indicator of imminent
segmentation in the global
edible oils market. 'There will
be boutique products for those
consumers who can afford to
pay a premium,' he argued,
'but the bulk industry will
remain for the poor fellows
kwho simply need to eat.' Jan
"de Rooij of Unilever was also
focusing on his company's use
of modern biotech in food
products. 'In the past,' he said,
'chemically based additives,
such as preservatives, were
inputs to benefit the end
product and thus the
consumer. Today, consumers
Diego Barbero, crossing borders
are looking for natural inputs,
but with the same effectiveness
as before. We are trying to
develop raw materials which
are both natural but contain
the favourable attributes of
chemically built additives.
They say you can't have your
cake and eat it - at Unilever
we're trying to do just that.'
The edible oils industry
was once exclusively
commodity-oriented. Now,
however, it appears to be
shifting increasingly towards
a more diversified product
range. Traditionally, the
edible oils industry covers
oilseeds, vegetable and
animal oils. Oilseeds are
crushed to produce oils and
meals. Of the top 10
oilseeds, the most important
are soybeans,
sunflowerseeds, rapeseeds
and cottonseed, with
soybeans as the most
significant. Vegetable oils are
further produced from the
oil palm, olives and maize.
Currently, animal oils,
including butter, lard,
tallow, grease and fish oil,
account for some 20 percent
of all edible oil use, but their
share has been declining
steadily - there were no
representatives of, for
example the dairy industry
at the Rio conference. In
addition to oils, oilseeds -
and especially the soybean -
also generate meals which
are attractive ingredients for
the compound feed industry.
It is this dual product and
The transfatty acid (TFAs)
issue also re-emerged in Rio.
TFAs hit the media around
three years ago when extensive
research suggested that they
presented a potentially greater
threat to health than saturated
fats. However, after the initial
media hype, the issue faded
into near obscurity. This will
probably change in the near
future as consumer concern
will be triggered by the fact
that the US Food and Drug
Administration will be
imposing a labelling change
on products containing
unsaturated fats treated
through a hydrogenation
production that makes this
industry so complex - and it
will become even more so as
biotechnology changes the
very structure of the sector.
Worldwide consumption of
edible oils is increasing with
an annual growth rate of
between 3 and 4 percent. The
two major oils, soybean oil
and palm oil, have been
increasing their share in total
consumption for the past 15
years; this in contrast to
forecasts only a few years
ago that palm oil would
quickly overtake soybean oil.
Consumption itself of all
types of edible oils is
influenced by a number of
factors. Growth in
population and income both
impact directly, but with
significant regional
differences. In the near-term,
most growth will occur in
Asia, where per capita
consumption is still relatively
low - and this inspite of the
current crisis. Increases can
also be expected in Europe
and the Americas, largely as
a result of economie growth
and changes in consumer
behaviour.
process. As the name suggests,
hydrogenation involves adding
hydrogen to these fats to make
them easier to process. The
reason for concern is that
hydrogenation transforms
unsaturated fats into harmful
TFAs.This is good news for
producers of palm oil which
requires no hydrogenation for
