¶ … vegetable oil and fried foods. There are two references used for this paper.

There are a number of foods which are causing health concerns today. It is important to examine whether foods fried in vegetable oil contain a toxic compound.

Fried Foods

Frying foods in vegetable oil is a common practice throughout the United States, and has previously been considered good for the heart due to the oil's high concentration of linoleic acid.

However, researchers are discovering this can result in the formation of a toxic compound. "University of Minnesota researchers A. Saari Csallany, a professor of food chemistry and nutritional biochemistry, and graduate student Christine Seppanen has shown that when highly unsaturated vegetable oils are heated at frying temperature (365 F) for extended periods -- or even for half an hour -- a highly toxic compound, HNE (4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal) forms in the oil. Csallany and her colleagues have found three toxic HNE-related compounds (known as HHE, HOE, and HDE) in heated soybean oil. HNE is a well-known, highly toxic compound that is easily absorbed from the diet (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050502190054.htm)."

The compound is able to become toxic due to the fact that it is "highly reactive with proteins, nucleic acids -- DNA and RNA -- and other biomolecules (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050502190054.htm)." When linoleic acid oxides, the compound HNE develops. The compound has been linked to a number of diseases such as "atherosclerosis, stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's and liver diseases (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050502190054.htm)."

Other research has shown that the concentration amount of unsaturated fatty acids in vegetable oil may be at a level that "can react with oxygen and the water in raw foods to produce a toxic compound such as malondialdehyde, and repeated frying with the same oil can aggravate the situation (www.theexoticblends.com/research/research.html)."

Conclusion

Science is discovering that foods originally considered healthy may now pose a number of health risks. Researchers have found this is true of foods fried with vegetable oil, as a toxic compound forms when the oil is heated.

Works Cited

The Exotic Blends Co.: R & D. (accessed 03 May, 2005). www.theexoticblends.com/research/research.html).

Unknown. "Food Fried in Vegetable Oil May Contain Toxic Compound."

Science Daily. 02 May, 2005. University of Minnesota. (accessed 03 May, 2005). www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050502190054.htm).