General Mills, Inc.

Steven S Marschner

Jeffrey B Fine

Disclosed are physical processes for fats and oils, especially fish oils and dairy oils and fats, involving deodorization and/or cholesterol level reduction. Either freshly refined oils or stored oils that have oxidized (such as reverted fish oil) can be treated. When processing fish oil, the fish oil is preferably deaerated, mixed with steam, heated, flash vaporized, thin-film stripped with countercurrent steam, cooled (all steps being performed under vacuum), and then stored under oxygen free conditions. When processing dairy and various other oils and fats, certain of the above steps such as initial deaeration and final storage under oxygen free conditions may be eliminated. The process provides oils and fats from which all or a substantial portion of the free or non-esterified cholesterol has been removed and which, at least in the case of fish oils, are clean tasting.

Physical process for the deodorization and/or cholesterol reduction of

Disclosed are physical processes for fats and oils, especially fish oil, involving simultaneous deodorization and cholesterol level reduction. Either freshly refined or stored oils that have oxidized (reverted fish oil) can be treated. In the process the fish oil is deaerated, mixed with steam, heated, flash vaporized, thin-film stripped with countercurrent steam, cooled (all steps being performed under vacuum), and then stored under oxygen free conditions. The process provides fish oils which are clean tasting and from which has been removed substantially all of the free or non-esterified cholesterol.

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Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

Steven S Marschner