FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1933 21 



This moans that it is ])()ssibh\ clieinically, to use practically aiw 

 animal or veijotahlo oil or fat in soap manufacture or in some of the 

 other possible consuming industries of these commodities. There- 

 fore, the actual practice of the interchangeability of the uses of oils 

 and fats is a matter of prices or other economic considerations. 

 Formerly, certain technical and economic obstacles prevented any 

 great interchangeability. At the jHesent time, certainly no technical 

 obstacles exist, and it is doubtful that there arc many economic 

 obstacles which would liinder complete potential interchangeability. 



It is quite true that the specifications of the finished product may 

 to a certain extent govern interchangeability. However, in many 

 instances, favorable economic influences will overcome even these 

 requirements or specifications. 



The statement is quite often made that this or that particular oil 

 or fat is not suitable for the manufacture of soap or other finished 

 products, because of the relatively high or low content of the partic- 

 ular oil or fat in some specific fatty acid. This statement is not 

 true for the following reasons: Animal and vegetable fats and fatty 

 oils are of similar general composition since they are mixtures of 

 compounds of glycerin and certain organic acids, which, due to their 

 presence in fats, are called fatty acids. Obviously, the variable in 

 the composition of these materials is the fatty acid portion. For 

 this reason, the properties of the various fats and oils, and conse- 

 quently theii- desirabilit}^ for a particular use, depend primarily upon 

 their constituent fatty acids and the proportion of these various 

 acids present. This situation applies to all oils and fats, both marine 

 animal, terrestrial animal, and vegetable. Without making the dis- 

 cussion too involved, it is a known fact among chemists and tech- 

 nologists that developments in hydrogenation processes have made 

 it possible to convert unsaturated liquid oils to any desired degree 

 of hardness. Consequently, the apparent difference in the natural 

 qualities of various fats and oils has resolved itself into little actual 

 difference insofar as the possibilities for the interchangeability of 

 these materials is concerned, or where hard fats are required for the 

 particular use in question. It is, therefore, readily seen that, when- 

 ever economic considerations enter into the industrial picture, or in 

 other words, when the price of a particular oil or fat is relatively low, 

 it is quite often advantageous and economically attractive to sub- 

 stitute as an ingredient of the finished product a cheaper oil or fat 

 than the one formerly used. It is commonly known among those 

 familiar with the uses of oils and fats that such substitution or inter- 

 changeability is actually practiced in the consuming industries when- 

 ever market conditions are sufficiently favorable. 



Statistics show that there is a world surplus of oils and fats. There 

 is a domestic surplus of oils and fats for nearly all domestic uses. 

 With the great possibilities for the interchangeability of the uses of 

 these oils and fats as discussed above, it is readily apparent that a 

 highly complicated and competitive market for these raw materials 

 exists. Even though a particular oil or fat, because of some special 

 natural propert}^, is favored for certain specific uses, this specific oil 

 or fat will be affected either directly or indirectly by changes in the 

 market for these commodities as a whole. In other words, if the 

 supply of oils or fats intended for shortenings, for other edible use, 

 lor a source of vitamins for use in either human or animal nutrition, 



