The rising gap between demand and production of edible oils has led to a fast rise in imports of vegetable oils since the eighties. About one half of current consumption of edible oils in recent years (1998-2002) is being met through imports. The policy of self-sufficiency in edible oils resulted in higher level of protection of oilseeds.

The business of food is not restricted to processed food. Today, Indian homes increasingly buy processed or packaged cereals and processed edible oils to cook food.

Nine different brands of commercial vanaspati were analyzed for their various physicochemical characteristics. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra showed the characteristic peak at 966/cm corresponding to trans compounds for all the samples examined. The fatty acid composition showed that the trans fatty acid (elaidic acid) content ranged from 5.9 to 30.0%.

Edible oils such as coconut, groundnut, hydrogenated vegetable, linseed, mustard, olive, palm, refined vegetable, rice bran, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower were analyzed for the presence of light and heavy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) residues using liquid-liquid extraction, cleanup on a silica gel column, and resolution and determination by HPLC using a fluorescence detector. Ten PAH viz. acenaphthene, anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(e)pyrene, benz(ghi)perylene, chrysene, coronene, cyclopenta(def)phenanthrene, phenanthrene, and pyrene were monitored.