Abstract: A new method to determine free fat in whippable dairy emulsions was developed based on the principle that a lipid dye solution added to an oil-in-water will be diluted by thefree fat but not by the emulsified fat. Oil Red O, a lipid soluble dye, diluted in corn oil was selected for this study. It was shown the dye does not partition into typical aqueous food surfactant systems and the same surfactants. Finally the destabilization of the whipped topping mix during whipping was mersuerd by dye dilution and compared to other methods.

Key words: Oil Red O, whippable dairy emulsions, free fat, method