Shenjia Hydraulic

People's three meals a day cannot do without cooking oil, which can add color and flavor to dishes and is also an important source of fatty acids needed by the human body. According to the "Chinese Dietary Guidelines for Residents (2022)", the energy provided by total fat in the diet of people aged 4 and above should account for 20% to 30% of the total energy, and adults should consume 25-30g of cooking oil per day.

According to the source, edible oil can be divided into vegetable oil and animal oil. Common vegetable oils come from high oil content plant seeds, such as soybean oil, peanut oil, rapeseed oil, sesame oil, corn oil, etc; Common animal oils are derived from animal adipose tissue, including lard, butter, sheep fat, fish oil, etc. The fat content of vegetable oil is usually above 99%, and it also contains abundant vitamin E, small amounts of potassium, sodium, calcium, and trace elements.

The fat content of animal oil is generally around 90% before extraction, and can reach over 99% after extraction.

The vitamin E content in animal oil is not as high as that in vegetable oil, but it contains a small amount of vitamin A, and other nutrients are similar to those in vegetable oil.

Both vegetable and animal oils contain three types of fatty acids: saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Due to the significant differences in the fatty acid composition of different edible oils, it is important to regularly switch between different varieties when purchasing edible oils at home to meet the human body's needs for various fatty acids.

How to classify the nutritional types of edible oil? Choosing edible oil with "three looks" as the soul of food. Choosing and using it incorrectly can have an impact on health. So, how to choose edible oil correctly?

01. Check the nutritional composition

All edible oil packaging is labeled with nutritional information, so be sure to pay extra attention when buying oil.

Firstly, it is important to focus on the content of fat and vitamin E. The higher the content of these two components, the better the nutritional value and quality of the oil.

Secondly, it is necessary to check the cholesterol and sodium content, which must be zero. If not, the quality is relatively poor and it is not recommended for middle-aged and elderly people to consume.

02. Check the processing technology

The processing technology of edible oil is generally divided into two types: pressing and leaching. Pressed oil is the process of directly separating oil and fat from raw materials through physical pressure, without involving any chemical additives, ensuring product safety, hygiene, pollution-free, and natural nutrition is not damaged.

From the perspective of safety and environmental protection, pressed oil has a relative advantage over extracted oil due to its ability to maintain the original nutrition of the raw materials and the relatively pure quality of the oil.

Leaching oil is produced by fully immersing oil and fat raw materials in solvent oil, followed by high-temperature extraction, and processing through the "six de" process (i.e. degreasing, degumming, dehydration, decolorization, deodorization, and deacidification). It has the advantages of low residual oil in the meal, high oil yield, low processing cost, good production conditions, good cake quality, and full utilization of oil resources.

The key to determining whether the oil produced by this process is harmful to the human body is to control the amount of residual substances generated by the solvent to meet the standards. The extracted oil that meets the corresponding standards is harmless to the human body.

03. Check the grade of edible oil

The quality grade standards for edible oil in our country are divided according to the degree of refining: from high to low, they are first grade oil, second grade oil, third grade oil, and fourth grade oil.

It should be noted that the higher the grade, the higher the quality of the oil. The refining degree of primary and secondary oils is relatively high, with characteristics such as odorless, light color, high smoke point, and less cooking fumes. After refining, although the content of harmful components in primary and secondary oils is relatively low and safe, many nutrients are also lost, such as carotenoids in soybean oil, which are lost during the decolorization process.

Third grade and fourth grade oils have a lower degree of refinement, darker color, lower smoke point, larger oil fumes during cooking, and higher impurities in the oil. However, they also retain some nutrients such as carotenoids, chlorophyll, and vitamin E.

In terms of quality and safety and hygiene:

Of course, choose first and second grade oils because the higher the standard, the better the quality, the higher the safety factor, and the less impurities they contain. They are more suitable for high-temperature cooking, such as stir frying, but it is also not recommended to fry for a long time.

From the perspective of nutrient retention:

It is advisable to choose third or fourth grade oil, which has a low degree of refinement and retains more nutrients. The resulting dishes are fragrant, but not suitable for high temperature heating. It is suitable for making soups and stews, or for filling.