Question: Is fractionated oil harmful like trans fats?
I saw the definition of a fractionated oil, which I had never heard of, however how does it compare to a trans fat? Is it in foods we eat or just massage oils? Is it harmful like trans fats?
Annette - About.com User
Answer: Fractionated oils are used in some foods such as chocolate coatings. Since partially hydrogenated oils create unhealthy trans fats, food companies want to use different methods of changing liquid oils into thicker fats. Fractionated oil is heated, then cooled and this process separates the oil into separate fractions, the lower melting liquid fractions and the higher melting liquid fractions. The fractions with the higher melting points are thicker at room temperature than the lower melting point fractions. The thicker fractions may be used in margarine, shortenings and is commonly used in confections to keep chocolate coatings from melting at room temperature. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are two oils that are commonly fractionated.
Fresh palm oil is considered by some experts to be a healthy oil, but does fractionating the palm oil change that? Fractionating palm oil doesn't create any trans fats, but the thicker fractionated oil will have a higher concentration of saturated fats. Saturated fats from animal products have been linked to cardiovascular disease. A quick search for articles about fractionated palm oil on Pub Med only brings four results, so I am not sure how healthy fractionated palm oil will be.
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