Fats and Oils at the Nexus of Sustainability, Technology and Global Health

ABSTRACT

The strategic role of fats and oils within the global sustainability agenda, highlighting their interconnected contributions to human health, food security, and environmental management. Increasing demand for lipid‐based products, coupled with the overexploitation of natural resources and biodiversity, has intensified the need to evaluate lipid systems through an integrated perspective. In this review, we analyze lipid utilization and production under a sustainability, technology and health nexus framework, highlighting the dynamic interactions, synergies and trade‐offs among these three dimensions. From a sustainability perspective, conventional oil crops remain dominant but are associated with land use change and environmental pressures, while alternative lipid sources such as microbial, algal, and insect‐derived oils offer potential advantages but face limitations in scalability and cost. Technologically, it continues to define industrial efficiency as the conventional hexane‐based extraction, whereas emerging green extraction technologies show promise for high‐value compounds but remain limited in large scale implementation. In parallel, bioactive lipids, including tocopherols, phytosterols, omega‐3 fatty acids and complex lipid derivatives play essential roles in human health, although their effectiveness depends on processing, bioavailability and individual variability. A central contribution of this analysis is the integration of these domains to elucidate key system level tensions between environmental performance, process efficiency and health outcomes. Furthermore, we discuss economic and regulatory implications, including the role of lipid systems in achieving sustainable development goals related to food security, health, and responsible production. Finally, key knowledge gaps are identified, including the need for standardized sustainability metrics, improved clinical evidence for bioactive lipids, and scalable technological solutions. This work provides a structured framework to guide future research and policy toward more sustainable and health‐oriented lipid systems.