[Fatty acids in 80 brands of edible vegetable oil and in 14 brands of mayonnaise (author's transl)]

Abstract

The fatty acid patterns have been defined in 80 commonly used table oils chosen at random and of 14 brands of mayonnaise commercially available in West Germany. In addition, sterols of the various mayonnaises were analysed. The oils could be grouped into 8 different categories: 12 oliver oils, 8 maize oils, 14 soya oils, 5 linseed oils, 22 sunflower oils, 3 safflower oils, 5 groundnut oils, and 8 rapeseed oils. As a result of the analyses, it is in almost every case a question of a pure variety of non-animal oils. The range of the values obtained for the composition of the fatty acids for each variety, which can be considerable, represents a modern complement to previous analyses. The fatty acid pattern of 3 additional commerical table oils suggest an amalgamation with fats of other types, among which are 2 cases of mixture with rapeseed oils. For mayonnaise, soya oil is used almost exclusively as a fat component. The presence of sunflower oil was only confirmed in one brand of mayonnaise. The concentrations of cholesterol which were determined lie between 17.0 and 72.3 mg (average 53 mg) per 100 g mayonnaise, so that even in the case of persons which present an elevated risk of atherosclerosis there can be no objection to the consumption of mayonnaise. The nutritive-physiological significance of these various oils for human nutrition is thoroughly discussed. A possible health hazard is the sale of vegetable oils rich in erucic acid permitted in the West German Republic (proportion of erucic acid in the 8 samples examined: 223-53%). These vegetable oils, as is shown by the additionally indicated trade names with the corresponding supplementary specifications are overwhelmingly labelled as vegetable oil (Pflanzenöl) or table oil (Speiseöl). The purchase prices indicated and paid by us for the oils examined are subject to considerable fluctuations even for oils of the same quality.