Glycidyl ester and 3‐MCPD ester content in esters of monoglyceride and polyglycerol esters

Abstract

It is a well‐established fact that 3‐MCPD esters and glycidyl esters (GE) are groups of food‐processing contaminants, which presents several health issues and that their presence should be reduced to the lowest possible level. The public focus has been on edible oils and fats, but in this work the 3‐MCPDE and GE formation or reduction effect of the esterification is investigated in the synthesis of the food emulsifiers ACETEM, CITREM, LACTEM, PGE, and PGPR. It is shown through factory productions that the content of glycidol, 3‐MCPD and their esters as a sum is most often below 5 mg/kg MCPD equivalents. This is even the case when the raw material contains considerable amounts and in cases up to 75 mg/kg. It is also indicated that the content of glycidol + GE changes much more than 3‐MCPD +3‐MCPD ester, and that the total sum is always reduced through the esterification process. Lab‐scale results on CITREM suggest that 3‐MCPD +3‐MCPD ester comprise a significant part of the total content of 3‐MCPD equivalents in the end‐product. That is, it is likely that the glycidol + GE content in the end‐product is most often well below 1 mg/kg (quantified as free glycidol). The emulsifier ester production processes are characterized by acidic conditions, and this fits nicely with other reports that e.g. acid activated bleaching earth is effective for glycidol/GE reduction in edible oils.