SAFETY
ALERT
101
SEP 2017 FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
1
TypeofOil
Choosecrisps thatare friedwithoilscontainingunsaturated
fatty acids that have antioxidant benefits as it will create better health
benefit.
Fatty acids can be divided into twomajor types of biochemical
structure as follows:
• Saturated fatty acid -
The fats are most often found in animal
products such asmeat with awhite layer or poultry skin, egg yolks, pork
fat,milkbutter,dairyproducts,aswellassomevegetableoils; forexample,
cooking palm oil, coconut oil, which are source of palmitic fatty acids.
Without double bonds or other functional groups, these fatty acids are
nearly chemically inert and thus can be subjected to drastic chemical
conditions (temperature,oxidation). It is likely toprecipitate inbloodvessels,
making high fat in blood and causing risk of arterial blockage, which is
cause of high blood pressure, heart disease, and cerebral ischemia,
hemiplegia, and paralysis, etc.
• Unsaturated fattyacid–
Ithelps to reducecholesterol in thehuman
blood. Unsaturated fatty acid is such as rice bran oil, which is vegetable
oil made from rice bran. Rice bran oil has oryzanol, which is antioxidant
and prevent high oxidation. Thus, manufacturers do not need to put on
rancidity or fill nitrogen in rice bran oil, as the process create Trans-fat,
which is bad for health.
Trans-fat is the fatty acid that is caused by the processing procedure
of unsaturated fatty acids into high-saturated fatty acid. For example, a
process to replenish hydrogen into vegetable oil is called hydrogenation.
Thisprocesshasbeenused invegetableoil suchaspalmoil, soybeanoil
or evensemi-solidprocessingproceduresuchasmargarine,whitebutter,
and coffee creamer, etc. These ingredients are named on the food label
as trans fatty acids, or hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oil.
Factors that affect oil absorption
• Oil temperature used for frying potato -
the high friction oil
temperatureaffects thecrisps faster.Moisturewill bedecreased following
fryingperiod. Theproportionof absorbedoil with reducedmoisture is not
directlyproportional toeachother,but the remainingmoisture in theproduct
depends on the temperature used for frying.
• Thicknessof crisps -
potatoeswitha specificgravity valueof>1.0
and a dry matter> 24%will result in lower oil absorption of crisps (Lulai
andOrr, 1979).The thicker crispshave lesssurfaceareacompared to the
volumeof the crisps, consequence it absorbs less oil than thin sheets.
• Pre- frying treatment -
Water amount in chipsbefore fryinghasan
effectonoilabsorption.Theprocess todehydratecrispsbefore fryingsuch
as blanching canhelp reduceoil absorption. However, blanchinghas not
createdsignificant onoil absorption, but it canonlyhelp thecrispshavea
consistent color,makes the absorption of less oil bymaking the starch in
thepotato tobecomegel, help reduce frying time, and improve textureof
crisps.Moreover, therearealsoother typesof heatingsuchasmicrowave
andhot air dried.Thehot air driedwill helpcrispsabsorb lessoil compare
withmicrowave,while freeze friedcrispswill causepotatoesabsorbmore
oil after frying.
• Oil quality -
theuseof lowquality fryingoilmakes thepotatoes look
oily (Oilier), although the oil content after frying is in the same amount
compared to frying with new oil. Due to the low-quality oil will have high
densityon the surfaceof crisps; thus, it couldnot drain from crispsduring
cooling. (Tsenget al., 1996)
2
Flavors
For thehealthyconcern,consumersshouldchoose theoriginal
flavor suchassalt flavor.Saltedcrispsarebetter thanseasoningflavor
because seasoned potato chips aremostly usedmixed oil between new
and used cooking oil, while seasoning powder may have higher sodium
than salted flavor.
3
Colorafter frying
Choose lightcolorcrisps inorder toavoidacrylamide,
which iscausedbycarbohydrate rich-foodssuchascereal grain, tuber
crop like potato. Acrylamide also occurred after low humidity food being
processedwithhigh temperaturesabove120 °Candoccurwhen foodhas
lowmoisture, such as frying, baking, roasting, toasting, and grilling, etc.
The research outcome in the laboratory found that acrylamide is a
carcinogen inexperimentalanimals.And there isa riskofcancer inhumans.
Acrylamide is a chemical hazard.
4
Ingredient with noMSG (Monosodium glutamate)
One option for
consumers is toconsider the ingredient informationof theproduct that
does not containMSG. The study has shown that themajor reason that
madeMSG isharmful whenconsumed in largequantitiesbecauseof
rawmaterialsandproductionprocedure,whichare included fermented
anduseofvariouschemicals includinghydrochloricacid,sulfuric,urea
(essential compounds in human urine), and alkaline caustic. Those
substances have impact on human body systems. It causes many
diseases such as damage immune system, the frontal brain
dysfunction, affects the optic nerve, destroy bone and bonemarrow,
causeweakskin,andabnormalities in the fetus, increase riskofkidney
disease, and high blood pressure.
5
Chooserealpotatorather thanpotato-starchsnack
Togetdirect
benefit from potato tubers, choose the real crisps. It is stated on
the label that ‘original’. Real potato is better than fried potato-starch
snack or other flours because other starch have passed many
processing procedure comparedwith crisps.
Potato tuber ishighnutritious foodsas ithascarbohydrate,proteins,
minerals, andsomevitamins. It canbeadailyconsumption food.The
population inEurope and theUnitedStates eat potatoes as a staple
food insteadof rice.Potato iscookedbymanymethodssuchasboiled,
fried, baked, etc.Also, the study found that potato has higher quality
proteincomparedwithpeanutaspotatoes rich invitaminsandminerals,
nutritionist is believed that if people stuck on a deserted island and
growpotatoesas their food, theywill never starve todeath.This is the
reasonwhy in the past captains like to stock potatoes on their ships
during their travelling.
Topurchasepotatoes fromcertifiedmanufacturers isanotheroption
forwiseconsumersso that theycanensure that theproduct hashigh
standardizedproductionprocess ineverystep from taking rawmaterial
toproductionandcontrollingofproductionqualityuntil thefinalproduct
reachconsumers.Moreover, consumerscanalsoseek for foodsafety
standardandcertificationsuchasGMP&HACCP, ISO22000, FSSC
22000 or BRC food standards so they can know about many things
suchasoilqualitystandards,whichhavecontrolonacidvalue,peroxide
value, and polar value, as well as other hazards to ensure that the
product has both quality and safe for consumers.
