Soy oil

Description

Soy oil is a by-product of the procession of soy in the oil mills. There, most of all fodder (soy grit) is made from protein-rich soybeans. The concentration of oil in soybeans amounts to about twenty percent.

• Soy cannot be eaten raw. To remove bitter constituents and other unwanted substances (e.g. trypsin-Inhibitors, which lead to digestive disorders), soy oil must be refined. Therefore, soy oil is almost pure oil without a taste of its own.
  During refinement, the inherited material DNA of the plant is degraded. Therefore, the possible derivation from genetically modified plants is not detectable in refined oils.

Application

Especially used as:

• cooking oil, in a hydrogenated (firm and/or spreadable) form mainly with margarine, as shortening and frying fat (see also: vegetable oils)
• for confectionary and for cocoa containing icing especially with ice cream and bakery products; in mayonnaise, salat dressing, finished products
• soy oils are also used for the preperation of chips and other potato products as well as in canned fish.

Gene technology

Soybeans: normally, the internationally traded raw materials of soy come, entirely or partially, from genetically modified plants. GM soybeans are cultivated on large areas in the USA and Argentina. From these countries the EU imports annually more then thirteen million tons of soya and the raw material of soya.

Some food companies exclusively process the conventional raw material of soy. However, a total separation based on all processing stages between conventional and GM soybeans is technically not possible. Therefore, also certified "non-genetically modified" raw materials may contain small amounts of GMOs. This may be as much as 0.9 per cent.

Cultivation and permission

• Only very little cultivation of soy exists in the EU. So far no GM soybeans are permitted for cultivation.
• Since 1996 food and ingredients from GM soybeans (herbicide resistant, RoundupReady) are permitted in the EU.
• Further applications for the importation and processing of GM soybeans have been made.

Enzymes: for a further procession of the soy oil, it must possibly be hardened - for instance, for the production of margarine. For this purpose, the oil is traditionally hydrogenated. Today, certain and possibly genetically modified enzymes (lipase), are also used.

Labelling: oils and fats from genetically modified soybeans are liable to be labelled. It does not matter, whether or not used GM soybeans are detectable in the ready-to-eat oils.
Random and technically unavoidable GMO additions of up to 0.9 per cent of the soy raw material does not result in a labelling of the produced food. Generally, enzymes (and the manner in which they were produced) are not mentioned on the list of ingredients.