Standards Development

Scope

This document specifies the requirements for test rooms, sensory assessors, sensory evaluation methods, and data processing for sensory evaluation of vegetable oils, and defines relevant terms and definitions.

This document is applicable to the sensory evaluation of soybean oil, rapeseed oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, corn oil and other vegetable oils.

Purpose

Annex 1 Purpose and justification of the proposal Fat is one of the six main nutrients needed by the human body. Vegetable oils and fats are important sources through which the human body takes fats in. Also, they are important heat transfer media for daily cooking and carriers of fat-soluble nutrients, which contribute to the aroma of dishes. Therefore, the important evaluation indicators of vegetable oils and fats include their sensory quality. Fats and oils with good flavor can make the dishes more delicious, while those with undesirable flavors may degrade the consumers' experiences of using, cooking and dining. Although a sound evaluation technology has been provided for the sensory quality of vegetable oils and fats, an internationally authoritative regulation on systematic sensory quality evaluation is not yet available, which makes it difficult to achieve consistent terms and definitions for sensory attributes of vegetable oils and fats (especially those highly flavored), standardized sensory quality evaluation, and sensory quality grading under international standards. As a result, there are barriers to communication between enterprises, consumers, and academic and research institutes. In addition, the import and export enterprises cannot effectively communicate the sensory quality of bulk vegetable oils and fats, so the vegetable oils and fats with superior flavor are not highlighted in the international market.