Shortenings have become an essential ingredient in the confectionary industry with wide applications in cakes, biscuits, and cookies

 

Shortenings are any edible fat that's quickly consumed and then turned into lard, oil, or butter. Though shortening is usually used in cooking, the word shortening rarely refers to shortening butter, in fact, it rather is more often related to margarine, which is also very similar. Margarine is a white, cold substance derived from fat extracted from milk. Butter is often the first ingredient in foods, especially commercial ones. For instance, vegetable-based bread and rolls usually contain margarine. Shortening can be found in many foods such as cookies, cakes, biscuits, and ice cream. These products aren't the only source of shortening, though.

Shortenings can be defined as any edible fat obtained from beef, pork, or poultry that's added to food for the purpose of extending its shelf life. Cooking with such fats presents problems in terms of using environmentally friendly methods of food preparation. Most environmentalists would view butter and shortenings as animal fats, as it's typically derived from killing animals. The most common type of shortening used today is margarine. Margarine is an unrefined cooking oil that can be solid or partially liquid and is commonly mixed with other oils, such as palm oil and peanut oil. In addition to these types of solids, there are also a variety of "butter esters" that are created by adding certain chemicals during the heating process.

Some of these ingredients are considered synthetic Shortenings since they are derived from petroleum. However, there are some "natural" butter esters out there, as well. Most of these products, however, fall under the category of "super-low" or "non-refined" vegetable oils, which are generally recognized by the USDA as having low amounts of trans-fatty acids (the chemical that could potentially raise your cholesterol level). Recently, in February 2019, Cargill Inc., a U.S.-based food & beverage company, launched a palm oil shortening line ‘PalmAgility’ for the bakery industry named.