Doctors, pharmacists, and medical students from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), were among those who attended the event. This event serves as a platform to share recent information on palm oil nutrition and its health benefits and impact to human health.

Two papers were presented at the event. The first paper, titled “Health-Promoting Benefits of Red Palm Oil,” was delivered by Dr. Radhika Loganathan, a Research Officer at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The manufacturing of red palm oil, its nutrient contents (especially carotenoids and vitamin E tocotrienols), as well as the health benefits of red palm oil, were covered by Dr. Radhika. She also discussed the intervention research using red palm oil biscuits to combat vitamin A deficiency among children in developing countries.

Dr Radhika Loganathan, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)

The second speaker, Associate Professor Dr. Zulfitri ‘Azuan Mat Daud, is a practising dietitian, and also a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). In his lecture, Dr. Zulfitri emphasised the roles of palm vitamin E tocotrienols in renal disease management. He also presented to the audience the preliminary findings of his ongoing research on Palm Tocotrienols in Chronic Hemodialysis (PATCH-Malaysia) project.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Zulfitri ‘Azuan, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

The Q&A session was moderated by Dr. Ruslan Abdullah, Director of MPOC’s Science, Environment & Sustainability Division. The session was very interactive with questions raised and actively discussed.  Among the questions asked include:

1. What is the practical temperature to use red palm oil for food preparation that will not affect its benefits?
2. What are the determining factors from your study on dyslipidemia?
3. What is the form of Coenzyme Q10 that is present in palm oil, is it ubiquinone or ubiquinol?
4. What is your hypothesis in regards to vitamin E to glomerular and jugular function in chronic kidney disease?
5. Can the two types of red palm oil processing methods be used as a marketing gimmicks to equate it to be similar to extra virgin olive oil?
6. Is there a possibility of producing Malaysian Extra Virgin Red Palm Oil? 
7. What are the chemicals used in the chemical refining of red palm oil if any?
8. Palm oil causes deforestation, endangering orangutan species and also there are numerous child labour issues linked to palm oil. Apart from that there is also an anti-palm oil campaign going on, especially in the UK. What are your responses on these in supporting palm oil?
9. What are the steps taken by MOH and MPOC to raise awareness of palm oil among Malaysian citizens?

Q&A session moderated by Dr Ruslan Abdullah, featuring the two speakers, Dr Radhika and Assoc. Prof. Dr Zulfitri ‘Azuan

Snapshots of participants during the Q&A session

In addition to the seminar, exhibitions were also set up to display palm-based products. Apart from MPOC, two other companies took part in the exhibition, namely SOP Foods Sdn Bhd and Hovid Sdn Bhd. The MPOC booth featured palm-based non-food products (e.g. soap, hand lotion, laundry detergents), cosmetics (e.g. lipstick, lip balm, foundation, sunblock, moisturizer), personal care products, and palm-based food products (e.g. peanut butter, margarine, high-fibre crackers, cereals, infant formula). Besides providing participants with free red palm oil cookies, SOP Foods Sdn Bhd also promoted its recently developed margarine, premium red palm oil, and classic red palm oil. Hovid Sdn Bhd promotes Tocovid Suprabio – Promemo, a new supplement for general health that combines palm vitamin E tocotrienols, vitamin B, and folic acid, during the event.