Groundnut oil

The question that has still to be answered is whether hydrogenated oil continues even after the change to be “groundnut oil”. If it is, it would be entitled to the benefit of the deduction from the turnover, or to put it slightly differently, the benefit of the deduction from the turnover cannot be denied, unless the hydrogenated groundnut oil has ceased to be “groundnut oil”.

To be groundnut oil, two conditions have to be satisfied. The oil in question must be from groundnut and secondly the commodity must be “oil”. That the hydrogenated oil sold by the appellants was out of groundnut not being in dispute, the only point is whether it continues to be oil even after hydrogenation. Oil is a chemical compound of glycerin with fatty acids, or rather a glyceride of a mixture of fatty acids-principally oleic, linoleic, stearic and palmitic, the proportion of the particular fat varying in the case of the oil from different oil-seeds and it remains a glyceride of fatty acids even after the hardening process, though the relative proportion of the different types of fatty acids undergoes a slight change. In its essential nature therefore no change has occurred and it remains an oil-a glyceride of fatty acids-that it was when it issued out of the press.