KUALA LUMPUR (March 30): Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) said Malaysia is ready to help and cater to the requirements on sustainable palm oil to substitute for sunflower oil amid an acute shortage in Iceland supermarkets.

“Sustainable palm oil is a viable substitute for sunflower oil, and while the war in Ukraine impacts supply and inevitably food prices, Malaysia stands ready to help,” MPOC chairman Larry Sng Wei Shien said in a statement on Wednesday.

On Monday, a United Kingdom broadsheet Daily Telegraph reported that the supermarket company Iceland Foods Ltd had been forced to reverse a ban on palm oil from its products and shelves amid an acute shortage of sunflower oil, a staple ingredient in various food products.

In 2018, Iceland supermarket pledged to remove palm oil from all its own-brand foods due to the allegation that palm oil was one of the major drivers of deforestation.

Sng said Iceland Foods’ campaign against palm oil has always ignored the industry’s shift towards sustainability, relying instead on outdated stereotypes to generate headlines.

“The reality is that palm oil is more efficient than sunflower oil, so we can meet British and European demand using less land and achieve our ambition of 100% sustainable palm oil in Europe in the process,” he added.

Source : The Edge Markets