The conflict between Ukraine y Russia has caused a great fear of shortages in Spain. The protagonist of this situation has been the sunflower oil. Your purchase is limited and its price has multiplied. Looking for an alternative to this oil? You are in the perfect place, we tell you everything.
Are we out of sunflower oil?
The current situation in supermarkets brings back memories of mid-March 2020. Just when the rumors of product shortages due to covid began. However, now we are brought to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. And it has caused a high impact in the supply of wheat, corn y sunflower oil. As prevention is better than cure, citizens have rushed to the markets to get hold of a bottle, at least, of oil. under the excuse of don't run out of it.
The OCU has assured that there is nothing to fear, that there are reservations. However, given the growing demand for oil, supermarkets have limited their sales. For example, Mercadona has reported that only five liters of this product per person can be purchased. In this same way, their prices have gone up. Today you can find 2,50 euros per liter sunflower oil. While in summer it cost just over a euro.
A rise that, according to the Food Consumption Report, prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has been occurring since 2018. An increase of benefits which has also been used olive oil. The result of this has been that it has increased its sales. In our country, the most demanded oil with a 35% has been olive. Follow him sunflower with 30%. With 26,8% extra virgin olive oil and the rest, 8,2%, is divided between corn and other oils such as olive pomace.
Beyond olive and sunflower oil
"There is a lot of alternatives to sunflower oil. In fact, it is not the best seller in the world. There are others that are more in demand and some have a very similar chemical composition.” The scientist Javier Sánchez Perona clarifies. As can be seen in the Spanish Food Composition Database (BEDCA), there is an oil whose composition is very similar to sunflower oil. This is the soy oil. Here it is: "the third most consumed, but very far from olive and sunflower" assures Sánchez Perona.
However, "Soybean oil, the most consumed throughout the American continent. It is rich in linoleic acid (omega-6). Also, a little behind, we can find: corn, peanut, cotton, grape seeds, avocado and olive pomace. The latter, at a price very similar to that of olive and sunflower oil, is one of the expert favorites. “From my point of view, rapeseed oil and olive pomace are very good alternatives, but they carry a bad reputation for decades."
The bad reputation of these oils is due to a poisoning in 2001. Caused by an adulteration of both. This problem was resolved, but the population has not forgotten it and it still carries this discredit.
And… which is the best?
"Pomace oil would be the best alternative and the absolute competitor of sunflower oil. Since we are the world's largest producers and exporters. We have it in our country and it is an olive oil”, assures the scientist. Regarding the nutritional value, the characteristics of soybean and corn equate it to that of sunflower. Since they have a high content of linoleic acid (omega-6).
However, "rapeseed has a high content of oleic acid (double that of sunflower and very close to the olive and pomace). It is a good oil, but since we had the toxic syndrome, we don't want to consume it”. Javier Sánchez Perona confesses.
Social panic is often responsible for causing the damage. In our opinion, this is what has happened with the sunflower oil en Spain. And it is that the desire to get a bottle of this liquid gold has led to its depletion in the markets. As well as its price increase. The good? This situation has presented us other alternatives, such as soybean oil and pomace, which at another time we would not have tried.
