Question

Fat plays an essential role in milk and baby formula quality. Adding palm oil can be considered as food adulteration (food fraud) in dairy products, especially for baby formula. Explain why?

Answer 1

We call foods adultered when the food manufactured fails to meet the legeal standards it offer.

Addition of palm oil in baby foods and dairy products considered adulteration. This is because babyfoods and other products are considered good for nourishment and are not to cause any sideeffects. Addition of palm oil in these food items can lead to decrease in bone density. Palm oil contains palmitic acid and unabsorbed palmitic acid can combine with calcium ions in the intestine to form insoluble salts. Thus as a result calcium absorption decreases and can cause low bone density. Thus the addition of palm oil is considered adulteration.