Peterborough, Jan 25 - British farmers were encouraged to grow more healthy oils, particularly high oleic rapeseed, as food manufacturers look to replace harmful trans fatty acids, a leading oilseed processor said on Thursday.
"High oleic, low linolenic oils are the future," Steven Zehr, general manager of ADM - Pura Food Ltd, said at a conference organised by the Home-Grown Cereals Authority.
Trans fatty acids, formed during the hydrogenation process, help bring stability and increase the shelf life of many products. They have, however, been linked to coronary heart disease, said Zehr, whose company is a unit of ADM.
He noted that ADM UK is due to close its hydrogenation facility at the end of March and demand for hydrogenated fats had fallen to almost zero.
Rapeseed has been bred by non-genetically modified methods to produce the sought-after high oleic trait. Varieties are available for both winter and spring rapeseed although yields are slightly below some rivals.
Zehr said that some high oleic rapeseed oil was grown already in Britain but volumes were "woefully low."
"If we can produce sufficient quantities the demand is there," he said.
Zehr said the market would determine the future level of the premium which would be paid for high oleic rapeseed, adding that last year it was about 30 pounds ($59.10) a tonne.
He also noted high oleic, low linolenic oils were low in saturates which can raise cholesterol, adding that Britain's Food Standards Agency was looking closely at saturates.
Zehr said palm oil had more than 50 percent saturates.
Food manufacturers are also turning to high oleic sunflower and mid oleic sunflower but these are not grown in Britain.
British consumers have been increasingly turning to a more healthy diet. A government report issued last week showed that consumption of fruit and vegetables was rising while consumers are cutting back on confectionery and switching from whole milk to semi-skimmed.