DESPITE all the available scientific evidence, published in peer-reviewed journals, there are still groups questioning palm oil’s health status.
At a recent talk by Dr Kalyana Sundram, from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), we were told there are now initiatives brewing in Europe to discredit palm oil.
At one time, such adverse comments on palm oil were confined only to the United States.
However, nowadays, consumers in the US, after learning about the new science of palm oil nutrition, are now much less negative.
Much of the shift in perception can be traced back to the revelation in the early 1990s about the negative health consequences of trans fats. That proved to be a rude awakening for US critics of palm oil.
Prior to the findings linking trans fats to heart disease, all earlier blame was placed on saturated fats.
Labels on saturated fats content of food products were then made compulsory.
That was a challenging time for palm oil since it contains 50 per cent saturates. But now the blame is on trans fats. How things can change.
What exactly are trans fats? How are they produced? What is the scientific evidence that has led to the conclusion that they are not good for health? What has been the impact of the revelations on fat choices in the US? What has been the consequence on palm oil use in the US? Why is palm oil now the preferred fat in a country where at one time it was even branded as poison?
Actually trans fats are not new. They have been around since man started making margarine and shortening to replace butter.
Butter was getting rather expensive during the war years. It was also hard to come by. Someone developed an alternative to butter by a process called partial hydrogenation of seed oils. The product was margarine.
It was unfortunate that palm oil was not around then. If not, palm oil would have been ideal for making margarine because of its natural semi-solid property. At that time, palm oil was produced on a small scale by small farmers in West Africa.
Not much of palm oil was traded then. The little that was traded was mainly exported from West Africa to Europe. Most ended as either lubricating oil or in making soap. This explains why many outside the palm oil producing states in West Africa knew little about palm oil. Palm oil only started making its appearance on the international scene when Malaysia invested in palm oil in a big way.
When seed oils like soya or sunflower are partially hydrogenated to harden the fats, trans fats are produced. And this has been consumed in large amounts in all kinds of products, including biscuits and confectionery.
Interest in investigating the role of trans fats came when scientists could not understand why despite the low consumption of saturated fats in the US, the incidence of heart diseases continued to rise.
Some curious nutritionists took a closer look at trans fats. And what they found was most surprising to many. They came out with very convincing data that trans fats are worse than saturates when it comes to raising cholesterol in the body.
The studies that were done showed that trans fats not only raised the bad cholesterol, but also suppressed the good cholesterol.
There was disbelief at first. But eventually the evidence was too convincing to ignore. Labelling of trans fats soon became mandatory.
More consumers became aware of the deleterious nature of trans fats. And palm oil was seen as the optimal option for margarine and shortening manufacturers to suppress the content of trans fats in their products.
Gradually, palm oil was seen in a better light. And exports of palm oil to the US started showing signs of increasing. Next, we were told that trans fats will eventually no longer be classified as GRAS (generally regarded as safe). That will surely deliver more good news for palm oil exports to the US.
Now trans fats have quickly earned the name “a silent killer” and is to be avoided at all cost! One thing is for sure. Trans fats make palm oil even more popular.
Source : New Straits Times
