Are chloropropanols and glycidyl esters a matter of concern in palm oil?

Albuquerque, T.G.; Oliveira, M.B.P.P.; Silva, M.A.; Costa, H.S.

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/5312

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Abstract(s)

Palm oil is the most used vegetable oil by food industry, not only as an oil itself, but also as ingredient in several foodstuffs. However, in the last years some concerns have arisen (for example chloropropanols/MCPD and glycidyl esters) leading to intensive scientific research, concerning the palm oil safety. Chloropropanols were firstly described in acid-hydrolysed vegetable proteins, and soy sauces. Afterwards, these compounds started to receive wider scientific and regulatory attention, since significant amounts were detected in several foods, including vegetable oils. Due to the importance for the food industry and the large use of palm oil, this raw material became the focus of attention. This work presents a review concerning palm oil and the presence of chloropropanols and glycidyl esters. Several aspects were covered, such as legislation and scientific opinions, health impact, formation routes, precursors, analytical methodologies, occurrence and mitigation strategies related to these contaminants. In 2001, the EC has set a regulatory limit of 0.02 mg/kg for 3-MCPD in hydrolysed vegetable protein and soy sauce, but up to now a legal limit for palm oil has not been set up. The IARC has classified 3-MCPD as a possible human carcinogen (group 2B). Nowadays, different formation routes, as well as precursors were identified. Concerning the occurrence of these compounds, huge variations between palm oils from different origins (3-MCPD between 1.3 and 14 mg/kg), as well as different steps of processing (crude vs. refined palm oil) were reported. Moreover, reasonable mitigation strategies have already been identified and applied. Nevertheless, this field of research is far from being solved, there are a lot of controversy between studies, and remains a challenge to all involved in this thematic.