High oleic oil supply and their impact on human health

Abstract: High-oleic oils (including oils from sunflower, canola and soybean) were developed as early as the 1980s with the goal of improving oil shelf-stability especially for fryer applications.  Advancements in the development of these oils were made in the 1990s, using biotechnologies, with the added goal of developing oils that could be used as alternatives for partially hydrogenated oils in order to remove trans-fatty acids from the food supply.  Partially hydrogenated oil replacement is important especially for bakery applications.  Improved stability of high-oleic oils in a variety of fryer applications has been demonstrated.  In addition, use of high-oleic oils in baking applications shows superior functionality for baking and icing applications.  Importantly, changes in oil consumption from partially hydrogenated oils to high-oleic oils results in lower circulating total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in people, which can reduce individual and population-based risk for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular diseases, and type 2 diabetes.  Concomitant with improved health, decreased health care costs can be realized.  Additional cost benefits come from the extended time of use achieved from to longer shelf-life and longer fry-life (and reduced labor costs associated with fryer cleaning).  Given these health and lifecycle benefits, production and demand for high oleic oils is growing.  This growth is supported by processes for identity preservation from production, harvest, storage, handling, and transport.  The development of high-oleic oils is an example of how changes in human health recommendations have intersected with plant breeding to develop new opportunities for food manufacturing and enhance sustainability.