What IS Palm Oil?

[RedDiamond]

I have just read a thread that says eating a Terrys Chocolate Orange is equivalent to eating a candle! Point me in the right direction please.

Palm oil is in masses and masses of products to the extent its hard to avoid.

Its especially in toiletries and processed foods.

Its a cheap oil that is easy to grow.

However rainforests are being dug up to be replaced by palm oil plantations.

This is bad news for climate change, bad news for the people who live there who become exploited plantation workers and catastrophic for the plants and animals who live in the forests.

Orang-utans in particular are being wiped out by palm oil.

www.wwf.org.uk/updates/8-things-know-about-palm-oil

I didn't say it was equivalent to eating a candle.
I said a candle would be nicer.
How have you missed all the information about deforestation due to palm plantations?!

@ADialgaAteMyDog

OP was asking what palm oil is. I’m sure they’re not an idiot so no need to accuse them of being oblivious to the issues of it.

@ADialgaAteMyDog Sorry! Was no way pin pointing you. I was triggered by the Terrys Orange post to educate myself more.

The wwf link above is a good one.
Palm oil is a type of vegetable oil, which is much more efficient/cheaper to produce than other vegetable oils - which is why it’s so ubiquitous.
The issues: deforestation, contribution to climate change, destroying habitat of endangered species and worker exploitation.
What can we do about it? Only buy products using SUSTAINABLE palm oil. Do not boycott palm oil - the alternatives would be even worse for the environnement.

We should not eat things containing palm oil, they cut down animal habitats to get the palm oil.

Palm oil is a scandal and it's everywhere.

From detergents, soaps and mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids, we rely heavily on it, due to it's enormous yield.

Not just in foodstuffs, but cosmetics, beauty products and things you wouldn't credit.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil is notoriously corrupt and a large portion of the palm oil listed is from 'illegal' plantations or the result of enslavement, intimidation or bribery.

pulitzercenter.org/stories/rspo-over-hundred-complaints-fail-curb-palm-oils-impact-rainforests

palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/26/treespiracy/

news.mongabay.com/2021/11/at-a-certified-palm-oil-plantation-in-nigeria-soldiers-and-conflict-over-land/

chinadialogue.net/en/food/sierra-leones-conflict-palm-oil-certified-as-sustainable/

The Ukraine War means that sunflower oil is scarce, so palm oil is in even greater demand

www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2022/march/war-forces-switch-from-sunflower-to-palm-oil-as-costs-rocket-1000/

Environmental and ethical issues aside, It’s a fat.

www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/03/palm-oil-and-saturated-fat-are-healthy

www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/effect-of-palm-olein-intake-on-lipid-profile-and-fat-deposition/

www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/effect-of-palm-olein-intake-on-lipid-profile-and-appetite-regulation/

Not that I’m saying environmental & ethical issues aren’t important……just that op was asking what it is, not if it’s wrong to eat it iyswim

It's a fat.

It's cheap, it's tasteless, it's very stable and it can extend shelf life of the products it goes into- which is surprising, given it has a short shelf life as a stand alone oil (about 14 days, far far less than other veg oils)

And it's in increasingly short supply now that sunflower lecithin is hard to source (Ukraine).

Not great for humans to consume either:
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/palm-oil-acid-cancer-spread-b1955009.html

A lot of people think this, but it’s not true. We should NOT boycott palm oil. The alternatives are worse. Instead, it’s so important to ONLY BUY SUSTAINABLE palm oil. We need to change the industry, not destroy it. Please read the wwf report linked in this thread - it’s an easy read and very informative.

@imisswaitrose, thank u, interesting and a little worrying..

My son, aged 5, thought it was oil from the palms of orangutans 😂😂😂

There IS no sustainable palm oil.

Deforestation is happening on a massive scale, because palm trees need fresh soil

Reclaiming forests after the palm trees are gone is not happening

The palm oil producers are happy to take and process oil from war zones, camps with dubious employment practices (slavery) and from forcibly claimed land.

m.webtoons.com/en/challenge/loving-reaper/in-a-bit/viewer?title_no=353275&episode_no=35

How do you not know this? Do you live in a time warp?

Fucks sake. We are so fucking doomed because people don't care enough to read a paper or watch a documentary.

I personally don’t like food products with palm oil and try to avoid them whenever possible. I don’t want palm oil in my chocolate, I want cocoa butter. Chocolate with palm oil tastes different.

chinadialogue.net/en/food/11627-palm-oil-the-pros-and-cons-of-a-controversial-commodity/

There's so much misinformation about palm oil in the west. Palm oil is one of the most healthy oils. Before crude oil was discovered in some West African countries this was one of the cash crops that was a main export but the crude oil industry wanted investment to be geared towards petroleum products.
There're no orangutans in Africa yet in the West the average person is made to belive that palm oil is only grown in the Borno and Sumatra where orangutans are found.
Palm oil is an antioxidant, an anti-inflammatory, fever reducer, conditoners, moisturiser etc.
Before the prevelance of chemical beauty products, moisturisers, conditioners, calamine lotion, vaccines etc, palm oil was used successfully to lower body temp of children with fevers, treat chicken pox, cough, itchy skin, convulsions etc. Palm oil is mostly manufactured by poor small scale farmers and big Pharma continues to demonise it. Without anything being added to it palm oil has a rich flavourful taste and is eaten simply poured on yam, plantain, beans and the like. It's very high in vit E, K, E and other minerals and vitamins. Great for the immunity, the skin either topically and internally etc.
Similar to oils produced from large nuts which are rich in oils eg groundnut/peanuts, olives and coconuts. Palm oil is super easy to extract from palm fruit simply by pounding the nuts, boil with some water and letter the oil seperate. This is much healthier, safer and less toxic than other heavily processed and quite frankly inflammatory "oils" like rapeseed oil sometimes referred to as canola oil ie Canada oil with it very high amounts of erucic acid and other tumour causing toxins. Yet people are being deceived into using so called "vegetable" oil. This is deception ad only prepping you to provide clientele for doctors and pharmacists in future.
All I have said about palm oil's properties are indisputable. I grew up knowing it's powerful usefulness. Ofcourse using it for chocolates doesn't make chocolates healthy but for those who's cuisine in corporates palm oil and who know it's powerful medicinal properties don't be confused by the propaganda.

If the OP didn't care, she wouldn't be asking. Better to be seeking education and/or be educated late than never.
Better to encourage than disparage.

The vast majority of palm oil plantations is now across Asia

www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/true-price-palm-oil/

No country remains untainted by BigPalm

Lots of stuff about palm oil on the thread already, some of it useful so I won't reiterate.
However, saying it's 'equivalent to eating a candle' is simply daft. Candles are made of wax - often paraffin wax - and aren't edible. Have you ever eaten honey from a honeycomb? You have to spit out the wax even though it's 'nice' wax.