0 TRANS FAT FRYER OIL
This might not seem significant to someone who doesn't understand the effects of trans fats in the body, but because we are using this fryer oil in all of our venues we are able to help support a healthier way of eating and strengthen our efforts in supporting purveyors who supply a healthier alternative.
What are the health effects of trans fats?
Concerns have been raised for several decades that consumption of trans fatty acids might have contributed to the 20th century epidemic of coronary heart disease.
Metabolic studies have shown that trans fats have adverse effects on blood lipid levels--increasing LDL ("bad") cholesterol while decreasing HDL ("good") cholesterol. This combined effect on the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol is double that of saturated fatty acids.
Trans fats have also been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease in epidemiologic studies.
Based on the available metabolic studies, we estimated in a 1994 report that approximately 30,000 premature coronary heart disease deaths annually could be attributable to consumption of trans fatty acids. In response to these reports, a 1995 review sponsored by the food industry concluded that the evidence was insufficient to take action and that further research was needed. Since that time many more metabolic studies have been conducted and additional prospective epidemiologic studies have been reported.
To learn more visit www.hsph.harvard.edu/reviews/transfats.html.
REUSABLE VEGETABLE OIL
We ventured into uncharted waters when we committed to using only vegetable based fryer oils with 0 trans fats in all of our venues and allowed faculty members to filter this used discarded oil to power their Grease vehicles.
What is Vegetable Fuel?
In 1898, when Rudolph Diesel first demonstrated his compression ignition engine at the World's Exhibition in Paris, he used peanut oil - the original biodiesel. Diesel believed biomass fuel to be viable alternative to the resource consuming steam engine. Vegetable oils were used in diesel engines until the 1920's when an alteration was made to the engine, enabling it to use a residue of petroleum - what is now known as diesel #2.
Concurrent histories of the diesel engine and biofuels are necessary to understand the foundation for today's perception of biofuels, in general, and biodiesel, in particular. The history of biofuel is more political and economical than technological. The process for making fuel from biomass feedstock used in the 1800's is basically the same one used today. It was the influences of the industrial magnates during the 1920's and 1930's on both the politics and economics of those times that created the foundation for our perceptions today.
Transesterification of vegetable oils has been in use since the mid-1800's. More than likely, it was originally used to distill out the glycerin used for making soap. The "by-products" of this process are methyl and ethyl esters. Biodiesel is composed of these esters. Ethyle esters are grain based while methyl esters are wood based. They are the residues of creating glycerin, or vice versa. Any source of complex fatty acid can be used to create biodiesel and glycerin. Early on, peanut oil, hemp oil, corn oil, and tallow were used as sources for the complex fatty acids used in the separation process. Currently, soybeans, rapeseed (or its cousin, canola oil), corn, recycled fryer oil, tallow, forest wastes, and sugar cane are common resources for the complex fatty acids and their by-product, biofuels. Research is being done into oil production from algae, which could have yields greater than any feedstock known today.
To learn about converting your diesel to a grease car visit www.greasecar.com.
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