High nutritional vegetable oils

Citation

(2009), "High nutritional vegetable oils", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 39 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2009.01739eab.035

High nutritional vegetable oils

Article Type: Food facts From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 39, Issue 5.

Satisfying manufacturers' demands, and the continuing consumer trend, for healthier food ingredients and food products, the Kerfoot Group is leading the development of bespoke vegetable oils that contribute to a series of health and nutritional benefits, especially when it comes to Omega fatty acids.

UK food producers are fast catching up to Continental and overseas rivals who have been adding omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) into a variety of foods from milk to spreads for some time in recognition of the deficiency of this vital EFA in the western diet over the past five decades. Kerfoot provides companies with a range of high-quality vegetable oils containing the all important EFAs, in quantities to suit their production needs. The range of oils includes cold pressed camelina, flax and rapeseed oil.

To gain the maximum nutrition and health benefits from the omega-rich seed oils Kerfoot has invested in dedicated cold-pressing and bottling plants. Cold pressing literally squeezes the oil from the seeds like rapeseed and camelina at a low temperature. This results in more of the prized EFAs, vitamins and minerals remaining in the oil. The bottling plant is set up to bottle the ideally sized 250 and 500 ml glass bottles.

Nimrit Hayre, Commercial Manager for The Kerfoot Group Speciality Oils Division, explained how the business is growing its capabilities to provide very high-quality vegetable oils, “Cold-pressing is very good at delivering the high nutritional content from omega EFAs that add value to products and it also maintains the flavour more naturally than more common vegetable oil extraction solutions. In addition the new bottling equipment we have invested in allows customers the option to buy nutritional EFA rich oil in popular retail pack sizes”.

Kerfoot's focus on Camelina seed oil is interesting because its production was largely sidelined in Europe after the Second World War by rapeseed oil, which is cheaper to produce. But, the fact that Camelina contains almost four times as much omega-3 fatty acid than oils like soyabean and rapeseed oil has encouraged Kerfoot to develop the growing and processing of this rich oil seed crop. It is also a crop that can grow well in the UK climate.

The group is also supporting the growing of rapeseed in Yorkshire to source the raw material as close to the processing site as possible. Kerfoot is tapping into a niche as they know that most rapeseed oil in the marketplace is not cold pressed but produced in bulk often via solvent extraction. The cold pressing provides a much more natural and therefore a sought after premium oil. Consumers are taking to using rapespeed in the kitchen in growing numbers. They are using it in food preparation and as an ingredient that delivers a good source of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs and is low in saturated fats and is a good source of vitamin E.

Kerfoot has a track record of pioneering markets and products and their attention to developing niche vegetable oils with high nutritional values is no exception. They are keen to work with suppliers and retailers who want to supply growing consumer demand for omega-rich products.