Palm oil is widely used in the food industry, for example in products such as margarine, spreads, chocolate, or pure as oil.

Various studies carried out during the last years have proven the presence of 3-monochloropropane-1, 2-diol (3-MCPD) fatty acid ester in refined palm oil, which is suspected to raise the risk of cancer. 3-MCPD is formed when fats and oils are exposed to high temperatures, in the presence of organic and inorganic bound chlorine. This often happens during the refining process. By elemental analysis, which combines oxidative combustion with micro-coulometric detection, easy risk assessment for 3-MCPD formation is available by monitoring chlorine contents in raw palm oil and diverse process streams.

The elemental analyzer multi EA® 5000 from Analytik Jena provides a fast, safe and reliable solution for the analysis of Cl traces in palm oil and related matrices. Its automatic boat drive and its flame sensor technology, allow a time- and matrix-optimized digestion, which ensures the quantitative combustion of any sample component.

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