| Abstract: | Daily Consumption of trans-Isomeric Fatty Acids - A Calculation Based on Composition of Commercial Fats and of Various Human Depot Fats When highly efficient and selective packed columns (Silar 10C, SP 2340) are used in the gas chromatographic analysis of cis/trans-isomeric fatty acids present in partially hydrogenated fats for human consumption, the measurements of the relative trans-octadecenate content are regularly too low by several percent in favor of the respective cis-octadecenate fraction. This methodological error is due to the fact that the heterogeneity of the trans-component is greater than that of the cis-fraction with regard to the positional isomers present. It is assumed that the ingestion of trans-octadecenate with food averages 4.5 g to 6.4 g per capita and day in Western Germany. This assumption is based on individual fatty acid analyses performed on a total of 110 different brands of fat purchased in 1973/74 and again in 1976, on the individual market share of these fats, and on the average consumption of fat including ruminant products. Approximately 35% to 45% of the above amount are taken up with ruminant products, the main part results from the ingestion of partially hardened fats. The value determined for the ingestion of trans-fatty acids correlates relatively well with a mean trans-octadecenate content of 2% (1.0-4.3%) measured post mortem in the subcutaneous, mesenterial, perirenal and subepicardial adipose tissue of 16 males of normal weight. |
