NEWS

U.K. fat spreads-trends, potential reviewed(The following report was prepared

for INFORM by Andrew Mifler, edi-tor of Chemistry & Industry, SCI'smembership publication.]

the newest products.Moran reviewed the technical vari-

ables in both the fur and aqueousphases of spreads. emphasizing someof the opportunities that remain toimprove attributes such as cost, tex-ture, taste. multifuncrionaliry andnutritional quality. For example. henoted thai there is a lot more work 10be done to make the rheology of theaqueous phase match that of the fatphase. Possibilities 10 modify. say, theviscosity of the aqueous phase includethe use of novel proteins such as peaprotein or incorporating extracellularmicrobial polysaccharides. Among the

Technical developments in the way fatspreads are made and analyzed. alongwith changing consumer preferencesand a U.K. government review of yel-low fats legislation were among thetopics discussed at a London meetingof the Oils and Fats Group of theSociety of Chemical Industry (SCI)held in early October.

During the past quarter-century, thevariety of yellow fats spreads hasincreased enormously. David Moran.formerly at Unllevees Col worthresearch laboratory and now a consul-tant. pointed out that there are nowsome 16 types of fat spreads availablein Great Britain-including butter,margarine and numerous blends ofmilk fat and vegetable oils-whereonce there were only three. The fatcontent of these products varies from80% to as low as 5-8% for some of

options for modifying the fat phase,Moran suggested separating the emul-sion control properties of fats fromtheir spreading propenies by selectingdifferent fats for the two functions.

While some new products such aswater-continuous. limited inversionand bicontinuous spreads have beendeveloped. Moran said there was a"vast area of possible products whichno one has developed." particularly inthe realm of varying protein content.He also pointed out some of thepotential process improvements thatcould be explored. including multi-stream processing, cold sterilizationusing microfiltration. or coatingequipment surfaces with specializedmaterials. On the nutritional front.Moran predicted thai blends of fatsperceived to be nutritionally desirable.such as fish and olive oils. would

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INFORM,Vol. 1, no. 12 (December 1990)

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NEWS

appear on the market, while fat subsri-lutes might actually have a role withinsome fat-containing spreads-replac-ing the aqueous phase. "We don'thave to have additives," he also sug-gested, particularly if some of the con-stituents of cream are used imagina-tively.

The harmonization of EuropeanCommunity (EC) law by 1992 willbring increased competition. tougherlabeling requirements. and positivenutritional demands, Moran said.Low-fat spreads with full flavor, natu-ral products. multifunctional spreads.and novel microstructures are amongsome of the possibilities for the Euro-pean market. he concluded.

The size of the market is changing.In the U.K., the yellow fats market hasdeclined sharply since 1988. fromaround 498,000 metric tons (MT) to461,000 MT (valued at about $1.3million/£680 million) for the yearending June 1990. Kunes Rajah. mar-keting manager for Dairy Crest Ingre-dients, reviewed the market trends inthe U.K. and European Community. aswell as some of the factors influencingthose trends (Table I).

During the first half of 1990. con-sumption of yellow fats in the U.K.fell 5%, with the largest volumedecrease occurring in butter (down10% to just over 100,000 MT). Mar-garine consumption fell 5%, to264,000 MT. while low-fat spreadconsumption rose 3%, to 61,000 MT.Figures for blended spreads were notavailable, but combined with low-fatspreads. volume growth was 2%,Rajah said. attributable primarily tonew product introductions.

Rajah commented on the growth ofblended spreads since their introduc-tion into the U.K. market in 1983. not-ing that successful management of themarketing drive had been an impcr-tan! factor in their success. Noting thatmargarine had been invented sometime ago. he commented, "A hundredyears on, and the edible oils industryis still attempting to match butter."Margarines containing polyunsaturat-ed fatty acids have been increasingtheir volume share of the margarinemarket to 57% (worth £263 millionl$525 million) in the wake of govern-ment advice on saturated/unsaturated

TA.BLE 1

U.K. Yellow Fats Market ('II share by volume)

Yearto Yearto Yearto YeartoJune 1987 June 1988 Sept. 1989 June 9. 1990

Butter 27.3 25.6 22.0 21.7Packet margarine 9.9 8.4 7.0 } 57.3Soft margarine 47.9 49.t 51.0Blended spreads 5.6 6.5 8.0 7.8Low-fat spreads \0.0 10.4 12.0 13.2Total volume (metric tons) 500,417 497.762 480.000 461.563

fat consumption in the mid·198Ds.Another oil "rearing its head" is fishoil. Rajah said. If it catches the popu-lar imagination of the public. "thesunflower oil experience would wellbe repeated." he commented.

Meanwhile. U.K. butter consump-tion continues to decline, Rajah said.It now accounts for just under 22% ofthe U.K. yellow fats market. with avalue of £247 ($590 million). downfrom a 33% market share in 1986.Household purchases account for justover half of the consumption in thecountry, and a little more than a quar-ter goes into food manufactures. But-ter production also has fallen. from202,000 MT in 1985 to 131.000 MTin 1989.

Rajah predicted that the decline inthe yellow fats market would deceler-ate to around 3% annually. He con-cluded that the advent of a singleEuropean market could provide"exciting challenges" in the yearsahead. Some of the challenges will beregulatory challenges. as the EC mem-ber states align their national legisln-tion under harmonizing directives pro-posed by the EC Commission. How-ever, in the yellow fats area. KeithMiller of U.K. Ministry of Agricul-ture. Fisheries and Food (MAFF)pointed out that "as yet there is noharmonized Community law" thoughbuller is included in a 1987 EC regu-lation on dairy designations.

In view of the legislative vacuum.Denmark and Germany both put for-ward proposals for regulating runt-garine and ether sprcads. whichincluded the idea of "deadzones"-middling ranges of fat con-tent which would be prohibited in

order 10 create a significant composi-tional distinction. The purpose wouldbe to make it possible for consumersto distinguish clearly between low-fatand higher fat products. The U.K. hasobjected to these proposals. portly onthe grounds that there are no healthreasons for the dead zones. whichwould be a barrier to trade and wouldrestrict consumer choice.

The EC Commission indicated lastyear. in a report on the dairy market.that the fat spreads would be consid-ered. but nothing has been heardsince, Miller said. It appears that con-Ilicting objectives within the Commis-sion between the agriculture direc-torate and the internal market direc-torate may be delaying matters. Theagriculture directorate-unlike theinternal market directorate-favorsdead zones and also is anxious to linkany legislation on fat spreads to theobjectives of the EC Common Agn-cultural Policy. which includes subsi-dies for butter production.

In the U.K. meanwhile, MAFF hasbeen reviewing the subject for itself,after dropping its earlier proposal forfat spreads production regulations.Public comments on an MAFF discus-sion paper circulated a year ago arenow almost all in. and will be put for-ward to U.K. ministers for their con-sideration soon. The discussion papersolicited comments on the definitionsof butter and margarine, the use of theterm "fat spread." vitamin fortifica-tion, use of emulsifiers and stabilizers.and fat-content labeling.

The science of fat spreads washighlighted by Brian Brooker. fromthe Institute of Food Research labora-tory at Reading. England. He suggest-

INFORM,Vol. 1.no. 12(December 1990)

1063

ed that if there was a clear understand-ing of the relationship between thephysical, rheological and sensorypropenies of spreads. it would be pos-sible 10 develop new products in apredictable way. He described the var-ious microscopic methods for study-ing spreads. including electronmicroscopy and confocal laser scan-ning microscopy. Finally, David Gre-gory of Grinstead Products and RonDay of DeSmet Rosedowns reviewedthe current technology used in the pro-duction of spreads.

NutraSweet asks FDAto broaden Simplesse useThe Nutrasweer company has askedthe Food and Drug Administration(FDA) 10 pennit use of its fat substi-tute Simplesse in such foods ascheese, sour cream, refrigerateddesserts. yogurt, salad dressing andmayonnaise.

Current FDA rules permit the useof Simplesse in frozen desserts; thecompany's petition to the FDA asksfor GRAS (generally recognized assafe) status for the fat substitute in"additional food categories,"

The company has introduced itsown frozen dessert, "Simple Plea-sures," using Simplesse. positioningthe dessert with the "super-premium"ice creams. NutraSweet has not yetdecided whether to follow that routewith other products or to license theuse of Simplessc, but "are exploring allits options," according to NutraSweer'smanager of public affairs MargueriteCopel. The only exception is the may-onnaise category; Nutru.Sweet hasgranted Kraft exclusive use of Simp-lesse in that product. NutraSweet hasalready signed an agreement with eski-mo Pie Corporation for the use of Sim-pie sse in Fat Freedom Eskimo Piesandwiches: national distribution isexpected in 1991.

P&G seeks to narrowscope of olestra petitionThe Procter & Gamble Company hasasked the Food and Drug Administra-tion (FDA) to narrow its Food Addi-

NEWS

live Petition for olestra to "savorysnacks" preparation, deferring consid-eration of retail and foodservice short-ening and oil use of the fat substitute.

P&G is now asking FDA to approve100% olestra substitution for conven-tional fat in the preparation of suchsnacks as flavored and unnavoredchips and crisps made from potatoes orcom meal, and extruded snacks.

P&G does not intend this definitionto include popcorn: home- or foodser-vice-fried foods: doughnuts. cookiesand other sweet snacks; crackers; friedpork rinds and onion rings.

Low-palmitic soybeanssucceed in field testsA new soybean variety yielding oilwith 6-6.5% saturated fat developedby Iowa Slate University researchershas been successfully tested this yearin plantings in Iowa. Pioneer Hi-BredInternational Inc. has signed an agree-ment with the university 10 commer-cialize the seed.

James Miller, Pioneer's director ofself-pollinated crops, said the compa-ny hopes to have seed available forcommercial production as early as1993. The company will be producingseed this winter at a Pioneer researchfacility in Chile for further oil extrac-tion testing and for plantings during1991 in other soybean-producingareas in the United States. This year.field studies at Iowa centered both onpalmitic content and yield from thegenn plasm developed at Iowa State.

Saturated fat content of the oil isabout half the saturated fat content ofoil from current commercial soybeanvarieties. Palmitic acid content or-theoil is 3.5% or less. sharply lower thanthe 10% palmitic acid in standard soy-bean oil and slightly lower than the3.9% palmitic acid found in canolaoil. Stearic acid content, meanwhile.remains around 2.5%. The Iowa StateUniversity Research Foundation hasapplied for a parent on the soybeanline, according 10 Walter Fehr, anagronomy professor at the university.

Miller said the yields. although notas high as the best commercial soy-bean varieties available in the UnitedSlates. were promising. "It will be

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NEWS

Cargill opens officesin Moscow, Warsaw

council and its trade ministerial coun-cil. Agricultural ministers were report-ed to favor a proposalthat was devel-oped by the EC farm bureaucracy call-ing for approximately a 30% reduc-tion in farm supports and which mightpermit trade controls on oilseeds. TheUnited Stales and developing nationswere favoring proposals with deepercuts in agricultural support payments.

The Uruguay Round talks cover allphases of international trade. but theagricultural sector was given specialemphasis in this round. along withinternational trade in services andcommunications.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congressapproved a farm bill that couldincrease oilseed acreage because ofthe acreage controls on other crops.Acreage forecasts were purely specu-lative, however. as the Congress alsowas still trying to approve a budgetfor the federal fiscal year that beganOct. I, 1990, that President GeorgeBush would sign.

competitive:' Miller said. noting thatthe company believes it will be able toincrease yield in the next several years.

Under the licensing agreementwith Iowa State. Pioneer has world-wide rights to commercialize the soy-bean line.

Uruguay GATT talksshould end this monthThe multiyear Uruguay Round of theGeneral Agreement on Trade and Tar-iffs is scheduled to end during Decem-ber, but as of the INFORM deadline inmid-October, no consensus had beenreached on agricultural trade policyand there was speculation the talksmight founder because of that dis-agreement.

All major agricultural proposalswere to be submitted by OcL [6, butat that time the European Communityhad not formulated a policy endorsedby both its agricultural ministerial

World Fats/Oils Food Products Production (MMT)

'8ITmnw15

'2 +---11-+--+1-1-+--+-1-+--1

a

o'90 '89 '88 '87 '86 '65 '84 '83 '82

• Margarine

o Salad/CookingOil

• Compound Fat, Shortening

Total

INFORM, Vol. 1. no. 12 (December 1990)

Cargill Inc. based in Minneapolis,Minnesota, has opened an office inWarsaw. Poland, and expects to estab-lish an office in Moscow by early1991.

Edgar T. Savidge, fonnerly accountmanager for Cargill's soybean process-ing plant in Liverpool, England. isheading the Warsaw office. whichopened in early October. Juels Carson.who had been president of Cargill'sworldwide molasses operations, willmanage the Moscow office. LeonardAlderson, chairman of Cargill lntema-tional S.A., will supervise both offices.

According to Alderson, the initialtask will be to determine the viabilityof making investments in such areasas commodity merchandising and pro-cessing, agricultural products andindustrial products in these countries.

Cargill has had trading relation-ships with Poland and the SovietUnion for more than 25 years but nophysical presence there. Cargill'sannual sales of grain, oilseeds andoilseed products to the Soviet Unionover the past 15 years have rangedbetween 4 and 8.5 million metric tons,Alderson said. The company has soldgrain and soybean meal to Poland formore than 25 years.

C & T buildingoil packaging plantC & T Refinery has broken ground inCharlotte. North Carolina. for a state-of-the-art vegetable oil packagingplant, which it plans to have in opera-lion by July I, 1991.

The 70,OOO-square-foot facilitywill produce a full line of packagedproducts for the industrial. bakery androod-service industries. These willinclude cubed shortening, liquid oilsand frying shortenings. pan 'n grillproducts, flavored oils and specialtyproducts.

The company, which has a refineryand a packaging plant, currently hasan annual capacity of approximately400 million pounds. The new facilitywill increase packaging capacity by50 million pounds.

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Fuji's Georgia plantto open in JanuaryFuji Vegetable Oil Inc. will beginoperations at its new Savannah, Gear- 1-------gin. refinery in January 1991.

The company is a joint venture ofFuji Oil Co. Ltd. of Japan and C. Itohand Co. Ltd., a major Japanese gener-al trading company.

Fuji Vegetable Oil offers cookingoils and fats. fractionated hard butters.and specialty oils and fills 10 the NorthAmerican market. Company officialsdeclined to provide estimates on plantcapacity or production.

AOeS member Charles R. Brant-ley is manager of the plant.

Fewer snack producersusing 'tropical oils'A survey conducted by Snack Foodmagazine early in 1990 indicates thatthere's been a further shift away fromusing so-called tropical oils in prepar-ing snack foods.

Of the 77 snack producers whoresponded to the survey (mailed toapproximately 450 snuck producersthroughout the United States). nine 1-------(12%) said they were using tropicaloils. Almost 24% of 1988 surveyrespondents had reponed using tropi-cal oils.

Two-thirds of the 1990 respondentsfelt that consumers are "very much"concerned about health issues relatingto tropical oils, 28% chose "slightly"concerned and 5% thought there wasno consumer concern at all. The sur-vey showed 81 % of the producersenvisioned eventual wide use bysnack producers of olestra and otherfat substitutes now under developmentfor the food industry; 58% plan toconsider their use by their own com-panies.

One respondent commented: "Let's

C & T. a wholly owned subsidiaryof The c.F. Sauer Co .. is a major pro-cessor of soybean. conon. corn,peanut, canota and coconut oils. Itcurrently offers bulk and liquid oilsand shortenings to customers in allsectors of the food industry.

not lose sight of the fact that snackswere meant to enjoy. Changing ingre-dients to conform to a better healthconcept is fine, but many of the restric-tions and substitutions ure way out ofproportion to the risks of reducedenjoyment." This and other informn-lion is available in Snactc F(}(J(J maga-zine's June 1990 State of the SnackFood lndustries Report. The SnackFood Association has also published a1990 state-of-the-industry report.

Central Soya createsoilseeds products groupThe early retirement of C. LockwoodMarine. senior vice-president for com-modities at Central Soya Co. Inc .. hasprompted the company to reorganizeits oilseed operations by creating anew oilseed products group.

Marine's responsibilities. whichincluded overseeing Central Soya'ssoybean processing division. havebeen handed to L.D. Williams.Williams also will continue to headthe company's chemurgy and refinedoil divisions. These divisions havebeen consolidated into the new oilseedproducts group, which replaces theprocessing and refined soya productsgroups.

Marine will continue as 11 consul-tant for the company. Williams. whohas been an AOCS member since1963, was one of the first AOCS Hon-ored Students.

Palm oil marketers aimat China, Mexico, CubaChina. Mexico and Cuba are viewedby Malaysia as areas where palm oilmarkets may increase, according to areport from USDA observers in KualaLumpur.

The report said Palm Oil ResearchInstitute of Malaysia (PORIM) offi-cials hope to increase cooperativeresearch and establish joint venturesin Cbina. PORIM reportedly is con-sidering establishing a permanenttechnical office in China.

Palm oil exports to China duringthe first five months of 1990 wereapproximately 224,000 metric tons

(MT), the report said. compared toabout 164.000 MT for the same periodthe previous year.

PORIM's director general. AbdulHalim Hassan, has reported a goodreaction to technical promotions inMexico and Cuba. Exports to Mexicoduring the first five months of 1990were nearly 30,000 MT compared toabout 3.000 MT for the same periodthe previous year.

Mexico, Cuba and China wereamong several nations that sent partic-ipants to a ID-day palm oil familiar-ization course held during Septemberat PORIM. So was Saudi Arabia and.after the course. USDA said thatSaudi Arabia's sole importer ofMalaysian palm oil reported plans toincrease imports to supply a new pre-cessing plant in Bahrain. The plant isscheduled to open within a year. thereport said. with eventual capacitybeing 60.000 tons of oil a year.

Japan to establishrecycling programThe Japanese Ministry of Agriculture.Forestry and Fisheries plans to selectseven cities and towns in which toestablish model recycling programsfor frying oils.

The program will work withmunicipal governments. consumergroups. food institutions and recyclingoperations to study recycling systems.

Eurosoja meetingattracts 350(The following report 011 EurosojaConference 1990 wus provided bylong-time AOeS member A/doUzzan.)This international conference tookplace in Straus bourg, France, at thePalais des Congres on Sept. 5-7, 1990.

Organized by the French interpro-fessional organization ONlDOL andthe French Technical Research Centeron Oilseeds (CETIOM), this eventwas completely devoted to soybeansand protein-rich products derivedfrom them for human consumption.More than 350 participants workingon soybeans and products, including

INFORM, Vol. 1. no. 12 <December 1990)

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producers. farmers, scientists andtechnicians, from the European Com-munity nations and several non-ECnations, including the United Statesand China. attended.

The technical program for the firsttwo days consisted of two symposia.

The first was devoted to "the latestagronomical data on soybean cultiva-tion:' including three sessions on (a)nitrogen balance and environment; (b)soy cultivation development and phy-tcsanitary risks; and (c) breeding pri-orities for future soybean varieties.

The first portion of the secondsymposium was organized by GEPY,the French Association on VegetableProteins, with several papers on soyfood product preparation; quality andstandards; properties of soy proteinflours, concentrates and isolates aswell as their use for functional andnutritional purposes: and governmen-tal regulatory matters and labelingrules.

The second portion of this sympo-sium was organized by the FrenchAssociation on Soyfoods (SOJAXA)on "Soyfoods in the EC Today," withpapers on soymilks, tofu, soymilkconcentrated by ultrafiltration,soymilk in powder as well as otherpapers on the nutritional properties ofsoy proteins and fibers.

Market share for soy food productswas described as relatively small,especially when compared to marketshare for meat protein. But withexpected efforts by the soy foodindustry in marketing and communi-cation, and a positive change in regu-lntion at the EC level, the situationcould quickly change in a positivemanner due to soy protein's nutrition-al attributes.

The third day of the conference, theEuropean Soybean Congress, had amore economical and political orienta-tion. The main question discussed waswhat would be the future of the-soy-bean in the EC. Are the national gov-ernment and the Community willingand ready to help expand soy produc-tion? What effect will the GATT regu-lations have? No specific answerscould be provided.

EC soybean production in 1989reached 1.765 million metric tons ofsoybeans, most of that being produced

in Italy and France. But this represent-ed only a small part of European con-sumption of soybean producrs-c-whether for human foodstuffs or ani-mal feeds.

(More information on the confer-ence may be available by writing 10

Eurosoja 90. cia ONIDOL, 5 BId de/0 Mediterranee, F-31400. Toulouse,France. Fax: 6/-56-08-37.)

Europeans form newtropical oil bureauThe Bureau for the Development ofResearch on Tropical Perennial OilCrops (BuroTrop) has been created atthe initiative of the EEC and six mem-ber countries.

The purpose is to encourage devel-opment of perennial oil crops and 10increase income of producers of suchcrops. Primary goals are to facilitateinformation exchange, help defineresearch and development priorities,provide help 10 strengthen national,regional and international projects.and to foster network activities. Dur-ing its first year, BuroTrop intends toorganize two seminars in Africa, oneon coconut and the other on oil palm.The organization also is seeking 10identify common concerns in Asia,Latin America and the Caribbean. Thebureau's mailing address is 17 rue dela Tour, 75116 Paris, France (fax: 1-40-50-7130),

Nisshin reducingsoy meal productionNisshin Oil Mills announced plansearlier this year (0 reduce soybeanmeal production by as much as 15%during the final quarter of the yearbecause of reduced demand, particu-larly in the poultry industry.

Severe heat and drought during thepast summer killed large numbers ofbroilers and layers, reducing soy mealdemand and thereby increasing stocks.As of September, soybean meal stocksin JApan were about twice as high asat the same time a year ago. Increasedsoy meal imports from China alsohave affected the market.

Mexican labelling lawsto take effect Jan. 1Increased competition in retail sales ofcooking oils is expected in Mexicowhen new "truth in labelling" regula-tions take effect Jan. I. 1991, accord-ing to a U.S. Department of Agricul-ture report.

Increased retail price competitionand product differentiation may forcesome firms to close, the report said.Previously labelling regulations did notrequire full identification of all oils in aproduct. In October, some metropolitansupermarkets were selling vegetableoils at 27% below the maximum per-mitted price. the report said.

Liberalization of oilseed importpolicies has spurred oilseed imports.the report said, with crushers stockpil-ing oilseeds for use during the periodwhen a seasonal import tariff wouldbe in effect. Oilseed import patterns,which favored rapeseed during thethird quarter of 1990, may changeafter the new labeling rules takeeffect, the report said

Australia to increasewinter oilseed acreageWinter oilseed acreage in Australia for1990-1991 is expected 10 increase 10

118,000 hectares (292.000 acres), anincrease of about 30,000 hectares.according to a report from the Aus-

INFORM, Vol. 1, no. 12 (December 1990)

Showa Sangyo openssoy facility in KashimaShowa Sangyo Co. of Japan hasbegun production at its new soy facili-ty in Kashima, Ibaragi Prefecture ofJapan.

The firm has begun productionthere of high-purity soybean lecithin,with current capacity of 120 IOns ayear with expansion to 240 tons annu-ally after three years.

The finn is relocating its soy pro-tein production facilities from Yoko-hama 10 Kashima to a 2 billion yenfacility. Soy protein sales are project-ed at 300 million yen for the first year.

I

-

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NEWS

rralian Bureau of Agricultural andResource Economics.

Canota acreage in New SouthWales was expected [0 increase inresponse [0 relatively good prices, thereport said, with safflowerseedacreage rising because of good plant-ing conditions.

Anticipated acreages for 1990/91(with 1989/90 acreage in parentheses)oilseed crops were listed as: sunflow-erseed. 166 million hectares (77 mil-lion): soybeans. 47 million ha (56 mil-lion); peanuts. 20 million ha (18 mil-lion). Total area devoted 10oilseeds in1990{91 was forecast ar 15.9 millionhectares. compared [0 14.5 million theprevious year, but down from the 18.4million of the 1985/86 crop year.

World fish mealstocks should declineFish meal supplies for 1990 arcexpected to be less than consumption,meaning stocks at the end of the yearwill be lower than they were at thebeginning of 1990.

Those estimates were made by theFish Meal Exporters Association dur-ing a meeting of the InternationalAssociation of Fish Meal Manufactur-ers in Reykjavik, Iceland. duringSeptember.

For the first half of 1990, fish mealproduction was 1.84 million metrictons (MMT) compared to 2.06 MMTfor the same period a year ago. Pro-duction for the full year was forecastat 3.12 MMT (3.35 MMT a year ago).which would leave 0.21 MMT stocksat the end of the year, down from 0.40MMT a year ago.

In a report on vegetable and fish oilsupply-and-demand. John Barterbee of

Unilever's oils and fats buying divi-sion said demand for fish oil dependsprimarily on Western Europe, whichaccounts for 85% of total worldimports. Prices are expected to remainin check. he said, but Japanese fisher-men in northern islands have beenattempting to restrict daily catch.

Felipe Zaldivar, president of Cor-pesca in Chile, succeeded Hali Gisla-son of Iceland. as IAFMM president.Gislason had been president for thepast three years.

Cholesterol-reduction,violence linked in studyAlthough a number of studies haveshown that reducing blood cholesterolreduces the incidence of major coro-nary events (both fatal and nonfatal)in men, none has shown that suchinterventions lower mortality from allcauses.

The conclusion of a new studypublished in the Aug. II, 1990. issueof the British Medicol Journal mayshed some light on these findings:men participating in cholesterol-reduction programs, whether by diet.drugs or both. have a higher incidenceof deaths from accidents. suicide orviolence.

The study's authors. Matthew F.Muldoon, Stephen B. Manuck andKaren A. Matthews of the Universityof Pittsburgh, evaluated the results ofsix primary prevention trials using atechnique called meta-analysis, inessence pooling the data from all ofthe studies. They found that thechance of dying from suicide or vio-lence was nearly twice as high amongindividuals in the intervention groupsas in me control groups: the difference

was highly significant. "Thoughseemingly disparate entities. suicideand accidental or violent death havebeen linked epidemiologically,"according to the authors, "and it hasbeen postulated that people dying fromcauses not related to illness may sharecommon dispositional, behavioral orneurochemical characteristics."

There are no experimental investi-gations of the influences of blood lipidconcentrations on neurochemistry andbehavior, according to the authors,who noted that several clinical studieshave reported "low serum cholesterolconcentrations among criminals, peo-ple with diagnoses of violent oraggressive conduct disorders. homici-dal offenders with histories of vio-lence and suicide attempts related toalcohol. and people with poorly inter-nalized social norms and low self-con-trol." In addition, they said, monkeysfed a diet low in saturated fat andcholesterol were significantly moreaggressive than controls consuming adiet high in fat and cholesterol.

The authors concluded that thefindings justify a more cautiousapproach to population-based inter-venrions for control of blood cbcles-terot.

Fat vs. lean may reflectsource of caloriesWhat makes fat people fat and leanpeople lean? A study published in theSeptember issue of the AmericanJournal of Clinical Nutrition indicatesthat fat people derive a higher percent-age of their calories from fat than dolean people.

Wayne C. Miller and his colleaguesat lndiana University surveyed diets

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INFORM,Vol. 1, no. 12 (December 1990)

1070

NEWS

and exercise among 107 men and 109women. After instructing their volun-leers on how to estimate dietary per-lions. the researchers asked them torecall their food consumption over thepast day, log consumption over aneth-er two days, and indicate their dietarypreferences.

They found that lean men andwomen derived about 29% of theircalories from fat and 53% from carbo-hydrates. Obese subjects got about35% of their calories from fat andonly 46% from carbohydrates. More-over. fatter individuals ate fewer calo-ries per pound of body weight than theslimmer subjects.

The results make intuitive sense.according to David Kritcbevsky, asso-ciate director of the Wistar Institute inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania. The bodymust expend a certain amount of ener-gy in order to convert carbohydratesto body fat, whereas dietary fats canbe deposited directly, without addi-tional energy requirements.

Backhauling billpasses SenateAfter idling for months, legislation toprevent truckers and railroad operatorsfrom alternating shipments of foodwith garbage and hazardous chemicalspassed the U.S. Senate on Sept. 20.\990.

Differences must be resolved withthe U.S. House. which passed its ver-sion on March 27. 1990. The measurewould have to be signed by PresidentBush before becoming law. The Sen-ale and House bills are similar: bothwould require the TransportationDepanment to set standards for whatmaterials can be shipped in trucks andrail cars used to haul food. as well aswhat cleaning procedures must beused between loads.

Fann state lawmakers amended theSenate version to allow states toexempt from comrnercial-Iicenserequirements drivers of vehicles whodeliver agricultural equipment or pro-vide harvesting assistance to fanners.The Senate bill also includes truck-safety language from a bill the Senatepassed August 3. 1989.

New von den Belg/'l froellonotlon Ioclllty

Van den Bergh opens fractionation plantCeremonial opening of Van den BerghFoods Company's new $20 million.computer-controlled fractionationfacility near Joliet. Illinois. was heldin mid-September with company offi-cials from the United States and TheNetherlands participating,

Van den Bergh Food IngredientsGroup and its Loders Croklaan divi-sion will market the production to thespecialty fats industries.

The plant is the first step in anover-all improvement plan for the site.part of the formerDurkee organiza-tion. and will in-elude significantimprovements tothe adjacent veg-etable oil refinerywhich providesfeedstock. primari-ly soybean oil. 10the fractionationplant. Total im-provements. in- Controlatollon InIIc» new frocllonotlon planteluding the frac-tionation plant. may eventually total$50 million.

Officials declined to announceplant capacity, but one LodersCroklaan official said the plantincreases Unilevers fractionationcapacity by about 25%. Unilever has

three fractionation plants in Europe.Even so, one tour guide estimatedabout 20% of the plant's first-yearproduction will be exported, primarily10 Europe. Plant products include Vanden Bergh's Kaomel coating fat.Durkex 500 high stability oils and themore recently introduced CLSP 870coaling fat.

Proprietary technology was used inbuilding the plant. which has threesections: utility building. controlbuilding and processing building. The

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computer control system is a key panof the plant. During a tour. companyofficials noted that 10 years ago whena new Irucnonmion plant was openedin The Netherlands. the control panelsfilled an entire wall, filling an areaabout four feet out from the wall. In

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Joliet. tWOcomputer terminals andkeyboards sit on desks in a second-floor control room with operators ableto instantly access operating condi-tions throughout the plant. The plantoperates three shifts a day. seven daysa week with two operators on duty."Two (operators) are there in case onefaints." a company employee said.Computer records provide instantrecall of previous operating condi-lions. useful in trouble-shooting. Oneinnovation for processing plant com-puter control centers: the control roomhas windows to the outside.

An adjacent minilab with electron-ic analytical equipment permits planttechnicians 10 do rapid checks on pro-duction. A full quality control lob inthe adjacent refinery performs fullanalysis on each botch of productionbefore any materials are released or

shipped to customers. a tour guide said.Van den Bergh president and chief

operating officer John Muellerdescribed the plant as "the only one ofits kind in North America."

Loders Croklaan chairman Bramden Bandt commented that "With'light" products being ever more pop-ular, it is essential that fats used asingredients be able to do more for theend product while we use less of it ina recipe of formulation due to our newcalorie consciousness. However. at thesame time. all the functional proper-ties such as mouthfeel. texture. lubri-cation. etc. will still have to be provid-ed. thus projecting a 101more respon-sibility on the remaining lipids toensure the desired finished product."

One tour guide noted that while themarket for specialty fats in the devel-oped countries normally would grow

Itom den 80ndt (Ieft). John O'Connor and.John Mueller (right)

If the tax man cometh, he may develop cavitiesRather than have a ribbon-cuning to ceremonially open its new specialtyfats plant, the Van den Bergh/Croklaan organizations decided to involveconfectionery fats.

So with Loders Croklaan chief Brant den Bandt at one end of alarge pruning saw and Van den Bergh chief John Mueller as well as JohnO'Connor of Illinois' Department of Commercial and Community Affairsat the other. there was a "candy-bar cutting."

The pseudo-lumberjack crosscut saw team bisected a IO-poundAmbrosia chocolate bar that was sitting astride two tables.

O'Connor was walking away with about half the bisected bar whena company official called to him. "That's in lieu of taxes. of course."

in proportion to population growth.the challenge to specialty fat manufac-turers is to discover new uses for theirproducts or new ways for food manu-facturers to apply them.

Names in the newsAOCS member James Clouse hasbeen named plant superintendent incharge of all mill and refinery opera-tions for Liberty Vegetable Oil Mill,Santa Fe Springs. California. He for-merly had been mill manager forRanchers Cotton Oil in Fresno. Cali-fornia. He had been with RanchersCotton Oil since 1959.

AOCS member Gail M. Qualeatti hasbeen promoted to manager of UOP'sanalytical laboratories at Des Plaines.Illinois. She fonnerly was an analyti-cal specialist at the laboratories.

AOCS member Petros Loutas is thenew plant manager for Alberta Termi-nals Canota Crushers Ltd. in Sex-smith, Alberta, Canada. He was for-merly senior processing engineer atCentral Soya Canada Ltd.

AOCS member Karl Fangaur hasretired as director of the AmericanSoybean Association's Northern Euro-pean office in Hamburg. Germany.Fangauf was a 30-year veteran withASA and had served on the organiza-tional committees for AOCS-spon-sored world conferences.

Mark Kierstan has been nameddirector of the Leatherhead FoodR.A.. succeeding Alan Holmes. whohad held the post since 1%7. Leather-head is a rood research center inLeatherhead. Surrey, United King-dom.

John L. Medina has been appointedvice-president and business managerfor perxoygen chemicals. part ofDegussa Corporation's chemicalgroup.

Wesley D. Lee has been appointedpresident and chief executive officerfor Eagle-Picher Minerals Inc .. a

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division of Eagle-Picher IndustriesInc. The division produces diatamu-ceous earth filter aids and absorbents.

H. Michael Wehr has been electedpresident of the Association of Offi-cial Analytical Chemists for 1990-91.Wehr is administrator of the laborato-ry service division of Oregon's depart-ment of agriculture.

Business briefsSouthern Testing & Research Labo-ratories Inc. has completed its moveto a new 19.000-square-footlaboraloryfaciliry in Wilson, North Carolina. Thefirm's new mailing address is: 3709Airport Dr., Wilson, NC 27893. Thetelephone number is now 919-237-4175; fax number is 919-237-9341.

Minnesota's state-sponsored lottery isnow using soy-bused inks to print itsgaming tickets on recyclable paper.Minnesota's Environment and NaturalResources Trust Fund gels 40% of netlottery proceeds; the Greater Minneso-ta Corporation, 25%: higher education,approximately 28%: environmental-related capital projects. about 7%.

SURFACTANTS & DETERGENTS

Akzo to close McCook research laboratories• Akzo N.V. based in The Netherlands,

has announced plans to close itsMcCook. Illinois, research facility bythe end of March 1991. The move willaffect about 90 Akzo employees.

Akzo says manufacturing opera-tions at McCook will continue,including the production of surfac-tants. fatty amines, fatty acids andpaper chemicals.

Some McCook research activitieswill be transferred to the company'sother U.S. research facility in DobbsFerry. New York, and some employ-ees will be offered the opportunity tomove. How many, however, wasuncertain as of mid-October. An Akzospokesman said decisions on whomight be transferred to' Dobbs Ferrywould be made by the first of 1991.

Research at McCook has concen-trated on basic and applicationsresearch chiefly for fany amines andrelated chemicals. In recent years, thishas included work with enzymes andhow they relate to fatty acids and fats.

The closing will end an era ofresearch activities begun years ago inChicago by the Armour organization.The McCook facility-now part ofAkzo Chemicals Inc.-was opened in1961 by Annour Chemicals.

Armour and Company, founded in1859. first produced fatty aminescommercially in 1938 and inventedfabric softener in the 1940s. In theearly years. Armour's main chemicalslaboratory was in the Chicago stock-yards with an auxiliary research labo-ratory for soaps and related materialsat 31 st Street and Ashland Avenue.

"The central research laboratory at thestockyards and the Armour industrialchemicals research at 31st Street wereconsolidated at the McCook facility in1961," long-time Abo employee lin-coln Metcalfe recalled. noting thatwith the closing of McCook. the lastof the research activities originated byArmour will have moved from Chica-go. Offshoots of other Armour groupswhich already have moved includethose for food research, Armour-Dialand pharmaceutical research, Metcalfesaid.

In 1970. the former Armour Indus-trial Chemical Division was renamedArmak when it was sold to Akzona.In January 1984, the Armak namewas changed to Akzo Chernie Ameri-ca and in January 1988. to AkzoChemicals Inc.

In 1987. Akzo acquired the special-ty chemical business of StaufferChemical Co .. which owned theDobbs Ferry research facility.

Shutdown of the McCook laborato-ry is part of a reorganization that willconsolidate the eight business units ofAkzo's chemicals division into six.effective Jan. I. 1991. Under the plan.the company's industrial chemicalsgroup will be incorporated into thefunctional chemicals unit; the paperchemicals unit will be combined withpolymer processing. Group vice-presi-dents named to head these worldwidegroups are: Hans Arnoldy. polymerproduction chemicals; Vincent Oakes,polymer processing and paper chemi-cals: Kees Bakker. rubber processingchemicals; Martin E. Hartman, cata-

tysrs: Arend-Jan Kortenhorst, deter-gents and surfucrarus: and GeorgeMiller. functional chemicals.

Conrad S. Kent will continue aspresident of Akzo's North Americanchemicals division and will be a mem-ber of Akzo's worldwide chemicalsmanagement team.

Personal care oilsface toxicology testsThe National Toxicology Program(NTP) has announced it will conductstudies on mice and rats to determinewhether there is reason to be con-cerned about potential long-term toxi-cology of lauric and oleic acids andcoconut oil.

"We have no reason to suspect thatthere is any problem with long-termexposure to these products," saidWilliam Eastin of the NTP. "We aretesting them simply because the con-sumer is exposed 10 them in such largequantities in cosmetics and personalcare products." NTP expects to awarda contract for the studies in March1991.

Anyone wishing to share relevantinformation (including ongoing toxi-cological studies, current or futuretrends in production and import, usepattern, human exposure levels, andtoxicological data) with the NTPshould contact Eastin. at NlEHS/NTP.PO Box 12233. Research TrianglePark, NC 27709: or by telephone at919-541-7941.

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