A process for preparing polyol fatty acid partial esters

The invention concerns a method of preparing polyol fatty-acid partial esters with a high yield of the mono-ester, in particular fatty-acid partial esters of saccharose. A polyol is reacted with fatty-acid alkyl esters in the presence of an alkaline catalyst, in the absence of solvent and without the addition of a soap, initiallly at elevated temperatures and optionally in the presence of an emulsifier, and the product thus obtained is then treated with a lower monohydric alcohol. The invention also concerns a method of reacting, in the presence of an alkaline catalyst, a polyol fatty-acid ester having a mean degree of substitution of about 2 to 8 with a monohydric alcohol to give a polyol fatty-acid partial ester with a high yield of the mono-ester, the product thus obtained then being treated with a lower monohydric alcohol.