General Conclusions and Recommendations

Abstract

Fats and oils contain many different fatty acids, both saturated and unsaturated, which can have various physiological effects. This Task Force recommends that research workers define much more carefully which fatty acids they are considering. General terms such as fish oils, vegetable oils or polyunsaturated fats should be avoided. Ideally, the effects of each of the different types of unsaturated fatty acids should be investigated independently so that the effects of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFA) and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) can be documented separately. This is somewhat unrealistic because they do not occur separately in foods. Specifying the fatty acid composition of oils, is however, more realistic.