A Comparative Study of the Fatty Acid Composition of Dairy Products and Margarines with Reduced or Substituted Fat Content

The objective of this study was to survey the fatty acid profiles of fat spreads, margarines, shortenings, vegetable fat ice creams, vegetable fat milk-based cream substitutes, vegetable fat cheese substitutes, and reduced-fat cheeses on the Finnish market. The evaluation of the nutritional quality of fat in these products is of significance to dieticians and to the development of fat products with enhanced nutritional value. Remarkable differences between fatty acid profiles of vegetable fat products were found. Vegetable fat ice creams may have a lot of saturated fat and, in addition, the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids may be very low. Vegetable fat half creams had, in general, less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fatty acids than cream. The spreads and shortenings studied contained less than 2% trans fatty acids of total fatty acids. Consumption of reduced-fat cheese in place of full-fat cheese does not negatively affect the nutritional quality of the consumed fat.