If you look at the ingredients lists on your favorite processed goods, you will unfortunately find palm oil in many of them: Oreos, Cheez-Its, instant noodles, and even Girl Scout cookies are culprits. Palm oil is a nuisance for two main reasons.
First, palm oil is unhealthy. U.S. imports of palm oil doubled between 2005 and 2012, a trend that reflects its increased use as a substitute for trans fat. However, palm oil is high in saturated fat and is also associated with high LDL cholesterol levels. While canola oil and soybean oil are healthier alternatives to trans fat and palm oil, the latter are nevertheless used due to their cheapness. Palm oil can even hide behind aliases like “vegetable oil” and “stearate.” Secondly, such widespread use of palm oil is environmentally unsustainable. Palm oil plantations infringe upon Malaysian and Indonesian rainforests, and they therefore disturb the habitats of endangered species like tigers, rhinos, elephants, and (perhaps the most well-known species threatened by palm oil production) orangutans. Palm oil has infiltrated more than just the food on our plates. It is found in biofuel (which may have a worse impact on climate than fossil fuels), detergent, lipstick, and more. Use this resource to find out more about which products contain palm oil and why. So, what can we do? Avoiding palm oil entirely is nearly impossible, but since I learned about the terrible effects of palm oil production and consumption, I have made an effort to compare products and choose ones that do not contain the oil whenever possible. Products using certified sustainable palm oil are labeled with the RSPO label, and the Green Palm label indicates that some profit from the product will benefit the transition to sustainable palm oil production. Perhaps one of the best things to do is simply raise awareness about the unsustainability of palm oil; you can even write to companies asking them to move away from the use of palm oil or to source it from reliable and sustainable plantations. I won’t lie: I’m still going to have an Oreo here and there. For the most part, though, I am doing my best to be aware of and limit how much palm oil I consume, and I encourage you to do the same!
1 Comment
Betty Beamguard
4/14/2017 11:54:06 am
Thanks for the reminder. I put a dab of olive oil in a ceramic skillet each morning to cook my egg, so I put a little extra and rubbed one side of my whole wheat bread in it before toasting it. That worked. I like it! So that will eliminate some of the I Can't Believe It's Butter spread I usually use which contains some palm oil.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
October 2018
Categories
All
|