Crystallization in Food Emulsions

Povey M.J.W., Hindle S. and Smith K.W., Crystallization in Food Emulsions, In Food Colloids – Fundamentals of Formulation, Ed. Dickinson E & Miller R, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge (2001)

In foods, emulsion crystallization was discovered accidentally, first as part of the butter churning process and then in margarine manufacture. Margarine and fatty spreads are oil-in-water emulsions in which a crystal network stabilizes and structures what is basically a liquid, giving it solid properties. Margarine manufacture is a little more complicated than simple emulsion crystallization.