Fatty acid composition testing is an essential component of nutritional testing. All fats in foods provide mixtures of three types of fatty acids, which are the building blocks of fats. Fatty acids are the primary constituents of all dietary fats. Based on their chemical nature, the fatty acids are broadly grouped as saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.
Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are the unhealthier of the two types of fats in discussion; however, your body still needs a slight amount each day. Unfortunately, most people eat more than the recommended amounts. The average people should consume 11% of their daily calories from saturated fats; however, the average person is at 12.6%, slightly above the recommended amount.
- Average male: less than 30g of saturated fats a day
- Average woman: less than 20g of saturated fats a day
- Children should consume even less
Unsaturated Fats
One step that you can take toward reducing your risk of heart disease is swapping saturated fats for unsaturated fats, and lowering the amount of fat that you consume on a daily basis. There are several studies that have proved making the swap will help lower your cholesterol levels as well.
Most of the time, the average person will get their unsaturated fats from plant oils. Unsaturated fats come in two types polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.
- Monounsaturated fats aid in heart health by maintaining appropriate HDL levels while lowering your LDL cholesterol levels. These can be found in olive and rapeseed oils, avocados, almonds, Brazil nuts, and peanuts.
- The polyunsaturated fats help lower your LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These are your omega-3 and omega-6 oils which can be found in vegetable oils and oily fish. Most of the time it is easy to get omega-6 by using cooking oils; however, you have to be more persistent to get your omega-3 by ensuring you are including the proper types of foods in your diet.
Trans Fats
Trans fats, or trans-unsaturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, are a type of unsaturated fats that are uncommon in nature but became commonly produced industrially from vegetable fats for use in margarine, snack food, packaged baked goods and frying fast foods. Trans fat has been shown to consistently be associated, in an intake-dependent way, with risk of coronary heart disease, the worldwide leading cause of death.
Therefore, proper quantification of fatty acid composition provides an unbeatable edge in marketing your products by identifying and emphasizing specific beneficial fatty acids.
AES Laboratories provides comprehensive analysis of fatty acid composition. Our ISO accredited laboratory offers a full suite of testing options for your products including:
Fatty acid composition testing includes:
- Total Fat
- Saturated Fat
- Monounsaturated Fats (MUFA)
- Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFA)
- Trans Fats