The ultimate goal of frying is to produce good-tasting food. This goal is universal; that is, it applies to both industrial frying and foodservice or restaurant operations. The key to producing high quality food is maintaining the frying oil in the best condition for as long as possible—Dr. Blumenthal’s optimum state. There are a number of means available to fryer operators to maintain and monitor oil quality. These include purchasing good equipment, operating that equipment properly, cleaning the fryers, filtering oil, and minimizing the potential for oxidizing the frying oil by keeping ultraviolet light and metals away from fryers. Unfortunately, there is no single end point for all fryer operators. Each operator will need to determine an end point for their own operation since everyone’s concept of food quality is a little different.
Recommendations of the 3rd International Symposium on Deep-Fat Frying
- Principle quality index for deep-fat frying should be sensory parameters of the food being fried.
- Analysis of suspect fats and oils should utilize two tests to confirm abuse. Recommended analyses should be:
- Total polar materials (<24%)
- Polymeric triglycerides (<12%)
- The use of rapid tests for monitoring oil quality is recommended:
- Correlate with internationally recognized standard methods;
- Provide an objective index;
- Be easy to use;
- Be safe for use in food processing/preparation area;
- Quantify oil degradation; and
- Be field rugged.
- Affirming previous work: There are no health concerns associated with consumption of frying fats and oils that have not been abused at normal frying conditions.
- Encourage development of new and improved methods that provide fats and oils chemists and the food industry with tools to conduct work more quickly and easily. Work should strive to develop methods that are environmentally friendly, and using lower quantities of less hazardous solvent systems.
- Encourage and support basic research focused on understanding the dynamics of deep-fat frying and the frying process. Research should be cross-discipline, encompassing oil chemistry, food engineering, sensory science, food chemistry, and nutritional sciences.
- One of the basic tools to ensure food and oil quality is the use of filtration. Filter materials should be used to maintain oil quality as needed.
- Used, but not abused, oils may be topped up or diluted with fresh oil with no adverse effects on quality. Abused fats and oils were defined in the first two recommendations developed during this program.
This event took place in Hagen, Germany in 2000.
Chemical Markers of Oil Degradation
- Total polar materials (TPM)
- Free fatty acids (FFA)
- Alkaline soaps
- Oil color
- Peroxide value (PV)
- Anisidine value (AV)
- Polymeric triglycerides
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