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Vegetable Oil Processing

Health Articles | Health Products | Nutrition and Diet | Vegetable Oil

Vegetable Oils And Chemicals by Jane Thurnell-Read

 

Vegetable oil is just vegetable oil, isn't it? Well, the answer to this is it's not. Most vegetable oil production involves the use of various chemicals.

The starting ingredient will vary depending on which ones happen to be cheapest for the manufacturer at that time. Corn, soya beans, peanuts, cottonseeds, safflower seeds, rape/canola and sunflower seeds are commonly used.

The seeds are collected when ripe and then cleaned (possibly using chemicals). Unless the oil is cold-pressed, the seeds are cooked (to free the oil for efficient pressing) and then dried. The mixture is then pressed using a continuous screw press, filtered, and allowed to settle.

More oil is extracted from the sediment using solvents such as hexane or heptane. The solvent is then removed by distillation. The oil may be subject to further treatment to reduce the taste and smell of it. It is then sold as vegetable oil or according to ingredients (e.g. sunflower oil), and used in margarine, ice cream, chocolate, deep fat frying and processed foods. If you want to avoid the chemicals, look for 'cold pressed' oils. This may be more expensive, but it is worth it.

Copyright 2007 Jane Thurnell-Read Online Health Shop