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Palm Oil
Do you really want to eat it?
Palm oil plantation
Photo by Lucy Wisdom |
Palm oil is set to overtake soya bean oil as the most highly produced vegetable oil.
It's high in vitamin E, a natural anti-oxidant, and palm oil is generally perceived by consumers as being quite healthy.
What's prompted the increase in palm oil production? |
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With the bad press about hydrogenated vegetable oils, food producers have been looking for an alternative, non-dairy, saturated fat. They need saturated fats, which stay solid at room temperature, to produce the texture in their pre-prepared foods.
So ingredients labels all over the country are suddenly seeing this previously unusual ingredient, as hydrogenated fats are phased out.
What's the problem?
Firstly, palm oil, although a vegetable oil, isn't as saintly as its other vegetable oil cousins, such as olive oil or sunflower oil.
Palm oil is high in saturated fats, meaning it can increase your risk of diseases such as heart disease, just like too much butter or lard would.
Secondly, as demand increases, environmental campaign groups are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential impact of farming palm oil.
Huge swathes of rainforest are being cleared for palm oil monoculture plantations.
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Abdul the Orangutan
Photo by Jo Curtis |
This is having a significant impact on the plant and animal species that used to live in the rainforests.
For example, in many areas, the native orangutan is close to extinction, due to the growth of timber and palm plantations. |
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To find out more about how you can make a difference to reduce the environmental impact of palm oil, visit the Friends Of The Earth campaign update site.
If you want to find out more about the crisis with Orangutans (in Borneo 80% of their natural habitat has disappeared for timber and palm production in the last 20 years), visit The Sumatran Orangutan Society.
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