Basic Oil Information The terms “fat” and “oil” are interchangeable, though fats are commonly described as solid at room temperature, in contrast to oils which are liquid at room temperature. Not all fat is bad. Fats are actually needed so our bodies can work properly. Some are essential, meaning they must be eaten in foods as our bodies can not make them. Not only do they help keep us warm and provide energy, in foods, fats carry flavors, aromas and the fat-soluble vitamins. For more good reasons why everyone needs some fat in their daily diet, see Canola! Six Reasons to Put a Little Fat in Your Diet.

Fats/oils are used extensively in the foodservice industry. Each type of fat/oil has unique characteristics.

Fats/oils are composed of fatty acids bonded to a backbone structure, commonly glycerol. This structure looks something like the letter ‘E’ with the horizontal lines representing chains of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms (called fatty acids) and the vertical backbone (glue) being a molecule of glycerol molecule.

The differences between fats/oils (flavor, mouth feel, smoke point, shelf life and health attributes) are related to the way the chains of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms are hooked together.

Fats / oils can be characterized as ‘saturated’ or ‘unsaturated’, depending on the number of hydrogen atoms holding the fatty acids together. If the fatty acids contain the maximum number of hydrogen atoms, the fat / oil is considered saturated. If they are missing some hydrogen atoms they are considered unsaturated. When a fatty acid is missing two hydrogen atoms it is called ‘monounsaturated’. If more than two hydrogen atoms are missing, it is called ‘ polyunsaturated’. Each fat / oil has a different amount of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. Generally, saturated fats are solid at room temperature, while unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature.

The chart below shows the percent of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in common fats / oils. You can see that each fat/oil has a unique combination of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.