Glossary of Bulk Oil Terms

GRAS is an acronym for the phrase Generally Recognized As Safe. This list is presented by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and explains if a particular food or food additive has been shown by experts to be safe for use.  This list a complex way of answering the question, “Is this food safe to eat?”  If it is, the product should be listed.  In 2018, the FDA removed partially-hydrogenated oils from the GRAS list, and as a result PHOs have been recently removed from the diet of Americans across the board after years of health debates.

Types or qualities of a product, in this case, oil.  Olive oil grades differentiate between qualities like Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Olive Pomace Oil.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) is a system for food manufacturers and processors to document that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards.  It details all basic best manufacturing practices related to food safety.

This term is often used interchangeably with non-GMO.  However, most certifying bodies (including the Non-GMO Project Verification) don’t like this term as it isn’t in line with their verification parameters.  Rather, they prefer “non-GMO” or “GMO avoidance”.

See Genetic Modification.

In the case of food oils, genetic modification (GM) is the use of science to adjust the traits of seeds.  In recent years, genetic modification has been used to allow seeds to be more resistant to the herbicide RoundUp.  The prevalence of GM crops have led to the rise of the Non-GMO (or non-GM) trends in the natural food industry.  The most commonly genetically modified crops are: canola, soy, corn, cottonseed and sugarbeets.

A term related to the CBOT and contracts booked for commodities delivered in a future date.  “Futures” is a term referring to the current board value for a particular commodity (like soybean oil) at a future date.

FTL stands for Full TruckLoad, or shipments that reserve an entire 18-wheeler or 53 ft. trailer for shipment.  FTL freight doesn’t denote how far it’s going or what it is inside the truck — just that one shipment is using up all of the space in the truck, and the driver only has to make one stop to empty the materials inside.  This is in comparison to LTL freight (Less than TruckLoad), where individual pallets are shipping to multiple locations, and a driver will need to make a number of delivery stops on his route.

A fry oil is different from a salad oil in that it usually contains an anti-foam agent.  This additive is usually only a few parts per million, and its purpose is to break the surface tension of the hot oil in the fryer as it bubbles. This anti-foam agent, often dimethylpolysiloxane, helps to avoid splattering and popping of the oil — and burning chefs in the kitchen as a result!

The acid value (AV) is a common parameter in the specification of fats and oils. It is defined as the weight of KOH in mg needed to neutralize the organic acids present in 1g of fat and it is a measure of the free fatty acids (FFA) present in the fat or oil.