DEEP FRYING The food service, deep frying and snack food manufacturing industries are facing tight supplies and high prices across the vegetable oils market, which is impacting the availability of frying oils such as high oleic sunflower oil Gary Lewis Tight supplies and high prices across the global oils and fats market – exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February – is having a significant impact on the food service and deep frying industries. Vegetable oil prices have soared more than 50% in the past six months due to labour shortages in Malaysia, droughts in Argentina and Canada, and the RussiaUkraine conflict. Ukraine is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil and is responsible for up to 31% of sunflowerseed and safflower oil production, while Russia accounts for around 27%. The conflict has also impacted the global market for high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO) for fryers – with prices up, and availability low.
High oleic sunflower oil
Derived from special varieties of sunflowerseed bred to contain higher levels of oleic acid, HOSO has become increasingly popular with deep fryers. While regular sunflower oil is relatively high in polyunsaturated (PUFA) linoleic acid, which makes it unsuitable for commercial frying since it oxidises rapidly, HOSO has a lower PUFA content but nearly 80% monounsaturated oleic acid, ideal for high temperature frying. It resists oxidation and despite being 10% more expensive than ordinary sunflower oil, it lasts two to three times longer, with a comparable lifespan to other popular deep frying oils such as palm oil, palm olein and beef dripping. HOSO has a lower level of saturated fat than these alternatives. It also has a neutral flavour profile that does not impact on the flavour of ingredients, and does not suffer from the controversial reputation of palm oil. Prior to the Ukraine crisis, HOSO provided a good value, cost-effective option for frying. While the current geopolitical situation and supply chain challenges have 22 OFI – JULY/AUGUST 2022
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Fryers face supply significantly affected HOSO supplies, the oil should see continued growth when the situation stabilises.
Alternatives to HOSO
With HOSO in short supply, deep fryers, snack food manufacturers and food service users have already been forced to switch to alternatives. Although both high oleic rapeseed oil (HORO) and high oleic soybean oil (H-OSBO) do exist – these are not widely available, and global markets are too small to provide a viable widespread alternative to HOSO in the near term. In food service, most outlets are switching to direct alternatives for deep frying, such as palm oil and palm olein. In the UK snack food sector and specifically with potato crisps, which depended heavily on HOSO, many major players have switched to rapeseed – despite the fact it is not an ideal alternative. Due to the state of the market, the industry has been prepared to sacrifice some performance and lifespan for an
increased surety in supply. Some producers are also switching to blended oils. Frozen food potato giant McCain Foods GB & Ireland, for example, announced in late June that it would be using a blend of rapeseed and sunflower oils from 1 July. “This will allow us to continue operating as normal, maintaining competitive prices for consumers,” said Howard Snape, regional president of McCain Foods GB & Ireland. “Rapeseed oil, like sunflower oil, is naturally low in saturated fat and high in unsaturated fat and a widely used alternative around the world. With any change to our products, our priority is to ensure they remain at the same high level of quality and taste consumers expect, and we believe the transition we have outlined will achieve that.”
High performance frying blends Another solution lies in specialist deep frying blends. High performance frying blends are a type of long-life oil which are better
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25/07/2022 13:31:08
