GLOSSARY

Fatty Acid Composition describes fatty-acid types and proportions in a food, tissue or sample fraction, requiring a clear measurement basis.

A fatty-acid profile may report percentages of total fatty acids rather than grams per food serving. A higher percentage need not mean a higher gram intake when total fat differs. Extraction method and sample fraction also matter. Product comparisons require total fat and portion size alongside percentages, distinct from cholesterol or total-fat labelling.

A food's individual fatty-acid content varies with species, animal feed, plant variety and processing; a food name does not establish a universal constant. Use suitable composition data or product information for calculations. Finding a fatty acid in the body also does not prove direct intake from that food, because endogenous synthesis and conversion occur.

Most foods contain mixtures of fatty acids: olive oil is not exclusively monounsaturated, and nuts do not contain only one fat type. Naming a food after its predominant fraction does not imply purity. Food selection should consider the overall composition, portion, accompanying fibre or protein and what the food replaces.