Hello guys,

Hope you all are doing well and good!

I recently attended a fun virtual bloggers event and discussed some interesting things about Palm oil. I thought to share some beneficial information with my wonderful readers to debunk some myths about palm oil.

Take a look at some of the widespread myths and factual information.

• Palm oil is unhealthy and should be avoided – well palm oil is present in almost every product available in the market and it is free from cholesterol and trans-fat, it is vegetable oil and composes of 50% saturated and 50% unsaturated fatty acids. It has a high beta-carotene content due to which it is red-orange in colour. It decreases the low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol) in the blood and it contains Vitamin E tocotrienols which act as natural antioxidants and prevents chronic diseases and support the health of the brain.
• Palm oil shouldn’t be used for frying/baking – well palm oil is perfect and highly suitable for frying or baking purposes as it has a high smoke point of 235’C which is stable at higher temperatures. It is really important to match oil’s heat tolerance with the temperature which will be used for deep frying while choosing cooking oil. Balanced palm oil is resistant to oxidation as compared to different vegetable oils. These days palm oil is increasingly used by the global commercial food industry for its high stability at high temperatures and high levels of natural antioxidants.

• Palm oil is used only in the food industry – palm oil is unlike any other oil and it is so versatile in its nature that it is used in so many different products like cosmetics, soap, detergent, biodiesel, candles are just a few of the products that use palm oil as one of its natural ingredients. Most of the products that you see in markets use palm oil so, whether you use it for cooking or not, but you definitely might be using it in different ways you might not have even thought about
  • I was recently eating Nutella and while checking the ingredients I spotted palm oil in it. well, so don’t be surprised as it’s used even in most exquisite and luxurious items. 

• Palm oil plantations are only in Malaysia and Indonesia – Majority plantations are in Malaysia and Indonesia but so many other countries are trying to cultivate oil palm, even Indian government is in discussion with MPOC to cultivate it along the eastern side of India.
• Palm oil production needs large-scale plantations – it can be cultivated on both large-scale plantations as well as small-scale family farms. Almost 40% of palm oil production is been done by smallholders worldwide. Palm oil significantly contributes to poverty reduction and economic growth, especially in rural areas. There are around 3.5 million smallholders just in Malaysia and Indonesia.
• Palm oil is accountable for global deforestation – well deforestation can be both human or naturally driven. There are many other contributors for global deforestation like mining, logging, urban sprawl, livestock ranching, agriculture expansion, paper/rubber production, frequent wildfire and constant climatic changes. Palm oil only accounted for 2.3% for the global share amount of embodied deforestation. Even the environmentalists believe that boycotting palm oil isn’t the way to go as it is economical and more resourceful than other vegetable oils but in fact, should increase the product yield by cultivating the oil palm sustainably in the future.

I hope now you know the factual information and you are better informed about palm oil.

To know more details about the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, check out – MPOC

you might also love to read – Amazing things you should know about the Palm Oil

I hope you had a good time reading my informative post,

See you soon and take care

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