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The Oil Palm

Interview with Dr. Jean Graille

Dr Jean Graille is a scientific expert of biotechnology with a focus on fats and lipids. Dr Graille completed his studies at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Marseille [National Chemical Engineering Institute of Marseilles]. He began working as a researcher at the Institut des Corps Gras [Institute for Fats and Oils] (ITERG) before continuing his extensive scientific career in the Agribusiness Program of CIRAD where he managed the team for “Food and Non-Food Substances – Lipid Technology Sciences.” Dr Graille won the Chevreul medal in 1997 and went on to receive the Kaufmann prize in 1999; he was the first French person to be awarded this prize. He is a renowned authority on fats and oils in France, Europe, and around the world.

In his first interview with The Oil Palm, Dr Graille discusses the poor understanding of fats and oils in France and Europe more generally, and the “unfair demonization” of palm oil. Dr Graille also emphasizes that palm oil does not contain trans fatty acids and addresses the issue of disseminating incorrect information, as in the case of recent statements by three Belgian senators and Swiss MP Dominique de Buman. He concludes by showcasing the importance of palm oil for the food industry and consumers in Europe and the need to promote correct scientific information on this healthy and nutritious product.

1. In your opinion, do the French have an adequate understanding of oils and fats?

Absolutely not! Like all global consumers, the French are far from having a good understanding of foods that are commercially available to them, and fats and oils are no exception.

Two statements that are often made to illustrate this point:

  • Butter contains more fat than sunflower or canola oil. Not true! Butter contains 20 per cent water. It is a “water-in-oil” emulsion containing 80 per cent fat, whereas sunflower and canola oils contain 100 per cent fat.
  • Olive oil contains more fat than hazelnut oil. Wrong! Both consist of 100 per cent fat.

However, it is interesting to note that both beliefs come from sensory perceptions and have to do with the appearance of these products and how they feel in our mouths. Beliefs based on sensory perceptions have nothing to do with scientific evidence. Tobacco and alcohol are deadly; it is dangerous to consume too much sugar; you need to exercise and eat 4 to 6 servings of fruit or vegetables per day and avoid over eating too much fat; oils containing omega 3 and 6 are healthy, etc – these are accurate claims supported by scientific research.

The following two beliefs are not backed by scientific evidence and lead us toward misinformation:

  • Palm oil is responsible for cancers and cardiovascular diseases because it contains a lot of saturated fat.
  • Palm kernel oil is also responsible for this type of disease.

Unfortunately, consumers assimilate this information and although few of them read the labels on food items on the shelves, these types of claims grow to unfairly demonize an entire segment of the agro-food industry.

The idea that something may damage your health is a powerful factor in the spread of false information.

2. Two Belgian Senators, Sabine de Bethune and Cindy Frassen, have proposed to limit the content of palm oil in food products to 2g per 100g. They have argued that using palm oil is as dangerous as using trans fats. Is there any evidence for this claim? What negative effects could there be from the Senators’ proposal to limit palm oil?

There is no scientific evidence that support the Honorable Senators’ comments. However, there is plenty of research and global scientific literature that demonstrates that the regular consumption of trans fatty acids is dangerous. Scientific studies all lead to the same conclusion, the consumption of trans fats induces cardiovascular disease and cancer, particularly breast cancer. Conversely, palm oil is completely free of trans fats. Palm oil contains a balance of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and its consumption is not linked to any forms of cancers.

When the Honorable Senators proposed to limit the content of palm oil to 2 per cent, they were undoubtedly confused with the decision by several EU Member States to limit the content of trans fats in fats and oils; in fact, Denmark has set this limit to 2 per cent.

Note that palm oil is a natural product that does not cause health problems given its unique chemical structure. Furthermore, palm oil contains Vitamin E, and is the most significant source of tocotrienols, which offer protection against cancer, and pro-Vitamin A.

Finally, do not forget that we need saturated fats as our cell membranes must be very fluid in order to allow waste to exit and nutrients to enter our cells. Mother nature designed the lipid composition of cell membranes to include a precise and smart ratio between saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

These simple reminders show how sorely mistaken these two Honorable Senators are in tabling such proposals and engaging in scare mongering.

3. Another Belgian senator Muriel Targnion recently stated that the consumption of palm oil increases the risk of breast cancer. Is this true?

Absolutely not! Senator Targnion makes an erroneous statement when citing the joint report by the Institut national de la Santé et de la Recherche médicale (Inserm) and the Institut Gustave Roussy. The joint report published by these two research bodies finds that trans-oleic acid and trans-palmitoleic acid are suspected of causing cancer – especially breast and colorectal cancers – but Senator Targnion erroneously claims that these fatty acids are found in palm oil. This is completely false! Like all common vegetable oils, palm oil does not contain these trans fatty acids and it is in fact completely free of all trans fats. Only partially hydrogenated (i.e. processed) soy and canola oils contain trans fats in significant amounts.

It should be pointed out that the trans fatty acids referred to by Senator Targnion are found in products of ruminant origin, in particular in dairy products such as butter, creams, and cheeses, as well as in the fat found in meat. These trans fatty acids are a result of natural hydrogenation caused by the anaerobic microbial flora inside the stomach of ruminants.

What Senator Targnion should have pointed out was that palm oil is the only oil that contains tocotrienols, which are believed to offer strong protection against cancers, especially breast cancer. Many medical research studies have been performed on tocotrienols from palm oil and all have demonstrated good protection against cancers, including breast cancer. Some studies have even shown a clear association between palm oil consumption and cancer remission.

4. Swiss MP Dominique de Buman claims that rapeseed oil produced in Switzerland is healthier than palm oil. Is this true? MP de Buman believes that rapeseed oil and butter could easily replace palm oil in food products in Switzerland. What are the benefits of using palm oil, and what are the potential risks for Swiss consumers of replacing palm oil in their food?

Swiss MP Dominique de Buman’s statement is not scientifically acceptable. The best option for consumers is to make use of a range oils and fats to ensure a balanced intake of saturated fats as well as omega 9, omega 6 and omega 3 fats.

In fact, all fats are not equal and all have their advantages and disadvantages. Rapeseed oil contains all types of fatty acids and in particular linolenic acid (omega 3), which is also found in soy and oils derived from nuts. However, this makes it sensitive to oxidation and heat. This is why scientists advise to consume this oil fresh because the combinations of oxidative and thermal effects generate unnatural toxic molecules. This is also why it is recommended to use a far more stable oil, like palm oil, for frying and to prolong the shelf life of foods. Palm oil also has numerous other qualities; it is a “naturally hydrogenated” oil that is free of trans fatty acids and is also GMO-free. In addition, palm oil’s unique physical properties make it very attractive for a wide range of food application to accentuate the taste and texture of foods.

The preparation of margarines containing suitable quantities of sunflower, rapeseed and palm are a perfect example of products that offer a balanced intake of the four types of natural fatty acids.

Regarding MP de Buman’s comments on butter, on the nutritional level, butter contains many short fatty acids that are quickly metabolized to make energy, but also very long chain fatty acids that have been found to cause cardiovascular problems. The complete replacement of palm oil in food products is unwelcome because it will change the taste of foods and it will also lead to Swiss consumers consuming more dangerous trans fats. It seems that while MP de Buman wants to stop using certain types of imported products in order to further promote its rapeseed and dairy industries, he has not fully considered the implications of his erroneous statement on the health of Swiss consumers.

5. In light of the remarks made by Belgian Senators de Bethune, Frassen and Targnion and Swiss MP de Buman, do you think that certain people may be guilty of making alarmist claims regarding palm oil?

Unfortunately, yes. Certain people have taken advantage of their own position to make alarmist claims while certain members of the anti-palm lobby have an interest in denigrating the image of palm oil so that other vegetable oils or dairy fats may benefit.

However, this is a dangerous game and may ultimately result in more damage to competing vegetable oils, if a malicious campaign were to be launched against these oils evoking the dangers of GMOs and their inferior yields resulting in the need to deforest 10 times more land to produce comparable amounts. Specifically, soy has resulted in the loss of 10 times more biodiversity in the Amazon than the cultivation of oil palm trees.

6. What are trans fatty acids? How do they relate to palm oil?

Let us start by reiterating that palm oil does not contain trans fats. Trans fatty acids in their natural state can be found in the fats of ruminants and therefore in milk and dairy products, butter, cream, cheeses, etc. However, they are present in small amounts. They are formed through the partial hydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids in the rumen of cattle by the microbial flora inside this organ.

Trans fatty acids are also found in partially hydrogenated oils – but in significant amounts. Thanks to the use of naturally hydrogenated oils like palm oil – which is entirely trans fat free – we have been able to develop a wide range of margarines and spreads and cooking fats that do not contain hydrogenated oils.

7. You wrote a scientific paper entitled “Palm oil, another point of view.” Could you give us a brief summary?

The key point in this paper is the observation by biochemists and organic chemists, applying their knowledge of living systems they have studied for more than half a century.

Vegetable oils such as palm oil and cocoa butter, which are widely consumed and rich in saturated fatty acids, are not unhealthy under normal consumption conditions.

Oils known as lauric oils, such as palm kernel oils (from the nut of the oil palm fruit) contain 90 per cent saturated fatty acids, 80 per cent of which are short chain fatty acids and they are a special case in terms of digestion. Because of their short chain fatty acids, they cross the intestinal wall very quickly and are transported directly to the liver by the portal vein to make energy. Thus lauric oils have a neutral impact on cardiovascular diseases and cancers.

8. Regarding the myths surrounding palm oil, what are the key points that French consumers need to remember about palm oil and its effects on health?

Consumers need to remember that scientific researchers consider refined palm oil as having a neutral or positive effect on health; its saturated fatty acids are not dangerous; it contains a small amount of compounds such as carotenes, tocopherols and above all tocotrienols that have a powerful protective effect against cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

Palm oil is a valuable ingredient for the European food industry because it enables an enormous range of manufacturing processes at a lower cost and at no health risk to the consumer.

9. In your scientific paper, reference is made to anti-palm oil lobbies and the ridiculousness of the current debate. What is your opinion on the demonization of palm oil by certain players in the retail sector?

Palm oil has been targeted unfairly in a campaign to demonize it, primarily through the activities of anti-palm oil lobbies that can be clearly identified, namely: sunflower and canola for Europe. In fact, palm oil is the most popular vegetable oil in the world with global production in 2012 reaching 51 million tons (MT) compared to 41 MT for soy, followed by canola at 23 MT and sunflower at 14 MT. This supremacy in the global vegetable oil market has not pleased producers of competing vegetable oils.

Anti-palm oil lobbies know that it is very easy to make false claims on a certain topic and target these claims at uninformed consumers who quickly assimilate them to become accepted beliefs. Once they have been disseminated, these claims can only be countered and eradicated by a laborious process of education centered on the promotion of scientific facts.

Communication professionals know very well how this works and, in an age where correct and false information can circulate globally in real-time thanks to the Internet, television, and newspapers, it has become extremely easy to reach out and cause alarm among a great number of consumers by providing them with ‘information’ on a particular subject. This is particularly effective when a supposed health-risk is emphasized and associated with the consumption of a particular product.

In the case of the anti-palm oil lobbies, their misinformation activities reach their apex when major television channels decide to address a topic like “the effect of palm oil on human health and the environment” and provide a platform for doctors who are self-professed “nutritionists” or to environmentalists who try to educate us on how ‘healthy living’ or how to be responsible citizens.

In France, the success of such communication or misinformation campaigns did not go unnoticed by players in the retail sector who ultimately distribute products containing palm oil. Given the significant financial interests at stake, they saw the attacks on palm oil as an opportunity to promote their own range of ‘palm oil-free’ products. Under the pretext of consumer health, which remains paramount, certain brands took “social action” by declaring that they would no longer offer any products containing palm oil to their customers. In doing so, the brands believed that they had regained their credibility and increased their influence on customers through cheap, opportunistic advertising.

10. France is famous for having banned GMO agriculture from its territory. Do you think that most French consumers know that palm oil does not contain GMOs?

Palm oil actually has the advantage of not containing GMOs. The oil palm has been improved through traditional breeding selection techniques.

In Southeast Asia, the palm species Elaeis guineensis, originally from West Africa, has been successfully cultivated. There are extremely high yields per hectare, often exceeding 4 tons per hectare in certain areas.

To this day, palm oil has never been produced from transgenic crops. On the other hand, soy, canola and corn oil from both the North and South American continents likely come from transgenic crops.

11. Why do food producers like palm oil so much?

Palm oil is a key ingredient for many food producers because it has many desirable qualities. For instance, it is used to give certain foods a specific textures and consistency. In addition, palm oil is popular because, not only does palm oil require limited processing, but it stands up well against the thermal and oxidative stress that is encountered during cooking and frying, due to the fact that it contains few polyunsaturated fatty acids which are very sensitive to heat and oxygen. Finally, palm oil gives foods a longer shelf life as its tocopherols (vitamin E) and tocotrienols (vitamin E analogs) protect against thermo-oxidative degradation.

12. Why do food manufacturers prefer palm oil and its derivatives to hydrogenated oils (soy and canola)?

Producing goods with palm oil or its derivatives results in products that are more stable without any off flavors or unpleasant odors when cooking or reheating, which is not at all the case when shortenings manufactured from liquid oils are used.

In essence, industrial manufacturers prefer palm oil and its derivatives because they provide a broader range of applications at a lower cost – for instance, very specialized stearins are obtained through fractionation of palm oil. For example, cocoa butter equivalents (CBE) are produced with thermoplastic characteristics identical to cocoa butter. CBEs costs 5 to 10 times less than cocoa butter and are very important from a technical point of view. The European Union has authorized the use of CBE in cocoa butter by up to 5 per cent maximum. Excellent 100 per cent CBE chocolate can be found in Malaysia, which is not surprising because the cocoa is what gives the flavors, not the fat, which only provides the “melt in the mouth” sensation due to the properties of cocoa butter or CBEs.

13. What do food manufacturers and retailers need to do in order to prevent the spread of misinformation on fats and oils in France?

Unfortunately, the spread of incorrect information and misinformation is a serious problem. While it is true that it is more complicated to provide information on a formulated food that contains 10 to 20 different ingredients than on a basic product; producers can counter the spread of misinformation by providing scientifically accurate information on their labels.

Categories
The Oil Palm

Interview with Mr. Kurt G. Berger

Mr Kurt G. Berger is a food technology expert based in the United Kingdom. Mr Berger first studied palm oil and its use in food applications in the 1950s, while working in the London research laboratory of a large food manufacturer. Mr Berger has spent 50 years researching the quality, function and practical application of the best food ingredients with the aim of continuously improving food products, positioning himself as a leading expert in the role and function of palm oil in the food market.

Over the course of his research, Mr Berger found people to be unduly suspicious of palm oil, an ingredient they were unfamiliar with. However, once the functional and economic advantages of this ‘more natural product’ were explained to them, people become significantly more confident in the role and benefits of palm oil in their daily diet.

In this first Q&A with The Oil Palm, Mr Berger discusses the properties of palm oil, the dangers of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, the popularity of palm oil in food application and its role in ‘enhancing the nutritional quality of cooked food’, as well as the superior efficiency of the oil palm.

Should you wish to find out more about palm oil or receive additional information on any of these questions/answers, please contact: info@theoilpalm.org

What properties of palm oil make it so different from other vegetable oil?

Palm oil is semi-solid at ambient temperature, melting at about 35 ºC, when all the other major vegetable oils are liquid. This is due to its content of about 50% saturated acids, mainly palmitic and stearic.

Why is palm oil so widely used in food applications in Europe?

Historically, the fats available for food preparation in Europe until the end of the 19th century were primarily animal fat products from the farmyard, i.e. butter, beef fat and lard. Traditional methods evolved to use these semi-solid fats to prepare cakes, pastry and biscuits. Liquid oils do not function well in these products.

With growth in population, fat supplies became inadequate, leading, for instance, to the invention of margarine to replace butter. Margarine was originally formulated from beef fat. At the beginning of the 20th century, vegetable oils could be imported and technology developed to ‘clean them up’ in the refinery and ‘hydrogenation’ to replace semi-solid animal fat sources.

What is hydrogenation?

To function in traditional confectionery products, a solid content is required of fats. Hydrogenation enables some or all of the unsaturated fatty acids in vegetable oils to be converted to saturated fatty acids. Partial hydrogenation limits this conversion to a chosen amount of solids, regulating the consistency of the processed oils/fats. However, the chemical process also produces unnatural trans-fatty acids (trans fats). Trans fats adversely affects blood lipids, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, including increased LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and contributing the hardening of arteries (artherosclerosis). Authorities strongly discourage the use of trans fats, even going to the extent of banning their presence in vegetable oils.

Are there alternatives to Hydrogenation?

Instead of partially hydrogenating vegetable oils, the required solid fat content can be easily supplied by blending liquid oils with palm oil, or its high melting point components. In many cases this may also be more economical. These blends are entirely free of trans fats.

Today palm oil is coming under attack in France. Has this happened before?

During the 1980s a virulent anti-palm oil campaign developed in the USA, promoted in part by soya bean and other interests. Whole page adverts appeared: ‘Palm oil is what kills Americans’, when in fact it formed only about 1% of their fat consumption. Supermarkets had ‘We use no palm oil’ notices in the window. The use of palm oil in foods plummeted as a result.

What happened to palm oil consumption in the US after the late 1980s?

Despite the severe consumer and industry backlash against palm oil in the 1980s, regulators dealt a severe blow against the campaigns in 1994. USA’s Food and Drug Administration ruled against the use of ‘no palm oil’ labels. The regulator concluded that while the label did not explicitly criticize palm oil consumption, the implication was sufficient to mislead consumers.

While anti-palm oil interests enjoyed tremendous success into the 1990s, recognition of the adverse impact that partially hydrogenated vegetable oils were having on the health of consumers resulted in a renewed appreciation for natural imported vegetable oils. Most recently, palm oil consumption levels have grown to over 1 million tons in the US alone.

Palm oil is a key ingredient for shortening. Why shortening and why is it so important for baking?

Key ingredients of flour confectionery are wheat flour, fat and sugar. Many other components give specific character. Shortenings are usually blends of liquid oil with a ‘hard stock’, be it hydrogenated oil or palm oil or palm stearin.

To make bread, an aerated structure is formed, in which the air bubbles are contained by a thin film of gluten (a component of the protein we find in wheat flour). The gluten is toughened through the baking process. In pastry and biscuits we do not want to produce tough gluten strands, we want to finish with a crumbly, soft, melt-in-the-mouth character – a ‘short’ pastry. To obtain this we use a fat which spreads efficiently over the flour during mixing. Different textures are obtained by varying the amount of fat (‘shortening’) and water in the mixing process. To perform, the shortening must be soft for mixing. A liquid oil would tend to stay in drops failing to protect the gluten effectively like palm oil does.

Palm oil is also commonly used for frying. Why is this?

Frying is a traditional culinary practice worldwide. It contributes to interesting flavours and can enhance the nutritional quality of food.

Palm oil and palm olein (the more liquid fraction) are particularly good for frying where re-use of the oil is involved. They have moderate amounts of sensitive polyunsaturated fatty acids which can otherwise become unstable through prolonged exposure to high heat, while palm oil also contains large amounts of natural antioxidants. As a result they can withstand frying conditions very well and do not breakdown into toxic compounds. Palm oil and its by-products are also used worldwide in the manufacture of instant noodles, doughnuts, frozen fried foods, etc. and for snacks like potato crisps.

Why do food manufacturers prefer to use palm oil?

Snack foods must have a long shelf life after packaging. In major research sponsored by the European Union a high oleic acid containing sunflower oil was tested for snack food manufacture. Palm olein was used as the reference standard. Both oils performed well. However, the palm olein product had a longer shelf life, and was also significantly less expensive.

Why is palm oil more cost effective?

For several reasons:

a) It is more economical to produce. Palm oil is produced by simple steaming and pressing, with relatively limited use of expensive solvents for extraction as for other oils. It is also available as a refined oil, requiring at most a mild additional processing before use. It avoids the cost of full refining required for other oils.

b) It has a higher yield per hectare than other vegetable oil (see table below) and is a perennial crop that is harvested year-round. This high productivity of the oil palm makes the oil profitable at a price below that of the other oils (which are also subsidised by governments in various ways).

The following table shows the approximate oil yield in tons per hectare per year of major oil crops.

Crop Oil/tons per hectare
Palm – fresh oil 4
Palm – kernel oil 0.5
Soya bean 0.4
Sunflower 0.5
Rapeseed 0.7

 

What about environmental concerns linked to oil palm cultivation?

Palm oil is now available with independent certification demonstrating that it has been produced in a sustainable manner without damage to the environment. This addresses the concerns that some consumers have regarding forest conversion and greenhouse gas emissions.

What is the role of palm oil in global food security?

There is a great deal of talk about food security – for good reason. We know the world population is growing, with experts predicting at least another 2 billion people by 2050. As the vast populations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Africa and South America become more prosperous, demand for fats will continue to rise.

Research undertaken by international organizations like the World Bank and the UN’s FAO have concluded that vegetable oil demand will rise by more than 100 million tonnes.

How to satisfy this demand in a world with finite agricultural land, already under pressure? Clearly the most efficient oil crops in land use terms are vital to meeting this demand, as will relying on the most efficient crops available in other food sectors.