On Thursday 22 April 2021 RSC Belgium section members and friends enjoyed a fascinating webinar with Dr. Albert J. Dijkstra on the topic of ‘Edible oils and fats: Origin, chemistry, production, health’. Dr Dijkstra has had a long and varied career in this area and the presentation highlighted his expertise in particular during the question and answer session.
Because edible oils and fats contain fatty acids that the human body needs but cannot synthesize, they form an essential part of the human diet. Fortunately, nature provides a wide choice of edible oils and fats. Albert’s presentation discussed what oils and fats people used in distant times, how their supply has changed, and described current production figures and methods. The talk will outlined and explained the various processes used to refine the crude oils and to modify them to meet demand for particular properties in specific products. The final topic of the presentation was the various health claims that have been made at different times for various edible oil products: many based more in the minds of the marketing department than any clear nutritional or health benefits.
Dr Dijkstra (pictured during the transmission, above right, with RSC Belgium chairman Bob Crichton) obtained his PhD in gas kinetics from Leiden University in the mid-Sixties and subsequently enjoyed a decade working for ICI in the UK, the Netherlands and eventually as a Senior R&D Project Leader in ICI Europa. He then worked as a freelancer in chemical market research for Charles H Kline before being appointed as R&D Director of the Vandemoortele Group in Belgium from 1978 to 1997. Since then, Albert has been active as a scientific consultant, author, editor, lecturer, and reviewer in the field of edible oil processing.
You can access Albert's presentation as a pdf file here and a video of the webinar is available on the RSC Belgium Youtube channel here and is embedded below.
