Book excerpt: This book focuses on the developments in the field of lipid analysis, providing an up-to-date review of the analytical techniques available to chemists and technologists to identify complex molecules. The requisite theoretical background will be provided for individual techniques, together with their strengths and weaknesses, and a guide to the enormous range of commercial applications. It will be an invaluable reference source to all sectors of the oils and fats industry where accurate labeling of foods, food contamination and adulteration are issues of increasing interest and concern.