Safety and nutritional quality of commonly consumed commercial edible oils in Addis Ababa

Abstract

Background: Keeping food safety and quality are the major components of food security and protecting human health. Directly or indirectly, edible oils are involved in every day dish; and due to this, long time preference on the type of edible oil should pay off to the health and development of individuals.

Objective: To analyze physicochemical quality and safety of commonly consumed commercially available oils in Addis Ababa.

Methods: Sixteen different types of solid and liquid edible oils were collected from main shops and supermarkets in Addis Ababa from October to December, 2015. Following the sample collection, physicochemical properties were analyzed using standard methods.

Results: The solid oils have significantly higher iodine value, saturated, monounsaturated, Poly unsaturated fatty acids, Cis, Trans, Omega-6 fats (p<0.05) as compared with the liquid. Palm oils have significantly higher (p<0.05) trans, saturated, monounsaturated and lower omega-6 and cis fats.

Conclusion: Imported palm oils contain surplus amount of saturated fatty acid; and according to the consumption, it is usually surpass the WHO daily recommendation amount. Consequently, to avoid the long term health effect, substituting liquid oils in place of solid is recommended for their many health benefits. Locally produced edible oils contain good Poly unsaturated fatty acids, omega fats, vitamin A and vitamin E; however they need to pass through all the necessary refinery processes such as degumming, , deacidification, bleaching, filtration and deodorization steps.