EFEMA - Mitigation of glycidyl esters in food emulsifiers

Abstract: Glycidyl fatty acid esters (GE) are unwanted by-products primarily found in refined vegetable fats and oils. However, also the manufacturing process for certain food emulsifiers - mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids - can lead to the formation of GE. GEs are substances of genotoxic concern. The members of the European Food Emulsifiers Manufacturers Association (EFEMA) have developed and implemented efficient mitigation measures based on thermal post treatment of the mono- and diglyceride products which have demonstrated to reduce GE content to levels below values of toxicological concern. This presentation will review the thermal post treatment process and associated reaction kinetics and discuss some of the challenges associated with GE degradation while maintaining all other quality parameters for the emulsifier products. Also addressed in this presentation will be the analytical challenges associated with determination of the concentration of the instable GE molecule in complex sample matrices.