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Founder of the platform, with more than 11 years of experience in marketing within the oils and fats industry.
Social networking sites are full of inaccurate information about hydrogenation, not only from non-specialized consumers, but even doctors. Of course, doctors have a high level of credibility among the public, but what the public forgets is that a doctor can make mistakes in his specialty and cannot give an opinion on another medical specialty, not to mention another different field, which is oils and fats. It is a field in which specialists are professors of oils and fats. Therefore, we have prepared this article, which is not for specialists and will be free of complex scientific terms to explain everything related to hydrogenation, whether for those working in the field of vegetable oils or the average consumer.
hydrogenation
Simplified hydrogenation is a chemical industrial process in which liquid vegetable oils are turned into solid fat.
Solid fats have needs in many applications for which liquid oils such as baked goods are not suitable.
Its beginning
The hydrogenation process was invented in 1897 by the French chemist Paul Sabatier, who discovered that passing hydrogen gas over a nickel catalyst could effectively add hydrogen to other compounds. Later, in 1902, the German chemist Wilhelm Norman developed and patented a method for hydrogenating liquid oils, paving the way for their industrial use in food production and other applications.
Hydrogenation damage
In order to know the harm of hydrogenation, we must know the types of hydrogenation first. Hydrogenation is divided into two types, total hydrogenation, which converts liquid oil to completely solid oil, and partial hydrogenation, which results in semi-solid fat at room temperature. The most important use is in the production of margarine, margarine and shorts. The risk of partial hydrogenation is in producing trans fats harmful in concentrations of 25 to 45% on average. It should be avoided completely, while total hydrogenation does not result trans fats Therefore, consuming a fully processed product is safe for health.
Do we need partial hydrogenation?
There is no longer a need for partial hydrogenation. Manufacturers can achieve the desired consistency by mixing liquid oils with fully hydrogenated oils, or using semi-solid oils such as palm oil and derivatives. There are several efforts by many countries to prevent partial hydrogenation in food products.
