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Kinds of Fats

Animal Fat:

contains cholesterol and mainly saturated fatty acids (exception: fish). It has a higher melting point than vegetable fat and is difficult to digest.
These fats belong to the animal fats:

  • Liver oil and fish-liver oil
  • Butter and clarified butter
  • Goose dripping
  • Lard
  • Beef suet

Vegetable Fat:

contains more unsaturated fatty acids, has a low melting point, is easily digestible, gets rancid very quickly.
These fats belong to the vegetable fats:

  • Cotton seed oil
  • Thistle and saflor oil
  • Peanut oil
  • Hemp oil
  • Milk margarine
  • Enriched cream
  • Fat for spreading
  • Coconut oil
  • Palm oil
  • Walnut oil
  • Wheat germ oil
  • Pumpkin seed oil
  • Linseed oil

Vegetable Oils

  • can only be used for hot meals, if the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids is not too high.
  • are not suitable for baking.
  • are as suitable for deep-frying as refined oils, if they are cold pressed.
  • By using cold pressed oils, the typical flavour of the respective foods is preserved.
  • From a physiological and nutritional point of view, vegetable oils should be preferred to animal fats, as they contain less saturated fatty acids and more polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Use of Fats