Please contact IFIC's Media Relations Office if you would like help in identifying independent scientific experts who are willing to be media sources on food safety, nutrition, diet and health related stories. Dietary fats are the fats found in foods. They are an essential part of a healthful diet. Fatty acids are the building blocks of dietary fats.
All dietary fats contain a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.
The type of fatty acid that predominates determines whether a fat is solid or liquid, and whether it is characterized as saturated or unsaturated. Fats such as tallow, lard and butter, which are harder at room temperature, contain higher levels of saturated fatty acids. They are considered saturated fats. Oils such as soybean, canola, cottonseed, corn and other vegetable oils, which are liquid at room temperature, contain higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids. They are considered unsaturated fats.