Palm Oil Engineering Bulletin No.136 (Jan - Apr 2021) p15-19
Code of Practice for Reduction of 3-MCPD Esters and Glycidyl Esters by Codex: Are We Ready to Adopt?
Nuzul Amri Ibrahim*; Che Rahmat Che Mat*; Mohd Shahrin Rahami*; Mohd Zulhilmi Wan Salleh* and Muhamad Roddy Ramli*

The 3-monochloropropanediol esters (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters (GE) are processed food contaminants formed when vegetable oil is heated to 180oC (Hrncirik and van Duijin, 2011). The precursors are chlorine or chloride for the former and diacylglycerol for the latter (Destaillats, 2012a and 2012b). When consumed, 3-MCPDE will be hydrolysed to 3-MCPD whilst GE to glycidol in the gastrointestinal tract (JECFA, 2016). Both hydrolysed products are reported to be potentially carcinogenic to human (IARC Monographs, 2000 and 2012). A study by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, 2018) concluded that 3-MCPDE could induce reduced sperm mortility and kidney tubular hyperplasia.





Author information:
nuzul@mpob.gov.my