One of the strengths of the UK's Society of Chemical Industry has always been that it combined the best of mainstream science with the applied aspects so necessary to enable society to benefit from laboratory discoveries. This conference and the proceedings from it illustrate that very well.

From the early days of the Eskimo work of Dyerberg and Bang, which sparked off the whole held of research into the health effects of the omega-3 polyunsaturates, to the present day is only some 30 years. In that time, the focus has gradually shifted from the epidemiological and clinical investigations in areas such as heart disease, stroke and inflammatory diseases, which characterised the early years, towards efforts aimed at helping people put into practice the recommendations of the recent UK COMA (Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy) report, namely to double average intakes of the long chain omega-3 polyunsaturates. The application of the science of Sinclair, Dyerberg and Holman to the task of educating and encouraging the population to adopt this measure is the current pre-occupation of many scientists and technologists. Others are hard at work developing products to facilitate this process. The SCI Oils & Fats Group, by bringing together experts in these various fields for this conference, has achieved a stimulating and valuable contribution to the successful completion of these tasks.