Products such as snacks, mayonnaise, margarine, skin care products, and so forth, would not be possible without the help of palm oil. Because it is an oily product, many people wonder whether palm oil products have harmful effects on the body. It is important to note that the palm oil available in supermarkets is already refined. Therefore, it has a more neutral colour and smell. This same refined oil is used in the production of many food products. The main reason for its use is that this oil prevents the products from being hydrogenated, which makes it a healthy oil. Products made with hydrogenated fat tend to cause serious cardiovascular problems. In this sense, companies prefer to use palm oil to make their products, because it is not only safe for people, but it also helps to create palatable flavours and textures.
What does RSPO mean?
If you are curious enough, you may have noticed a label on some palm oil products with the initials RSPO. These initials stand for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an organisation that monitors palm oil plantations around the world to ensure that every drop of oil produced is environmentally friendly. If you care about the planet and the species that live on it, try to buy palm oil products that carry this label. By doing so, you are contributing to the economic development of all farmers and their families. In addition, you are helping to protect the natural habitat of animals such as the orangutan, as this organisation also reports illegal plantations or unauthorised tree felling. You can find more information about this initiative on the internet and discover all that palm oil has to offer.
Palm oil cannot be replaced
Many people fall into the media trap that tries to impose the idea that palm oil products are unnecessary and that palm oil can be replaced by other variants such as soybean or corn oil. This type of smear campaign is usually driven by the companies that produce these oils, as they see how the versatility and high production of palm oil are undermining their profits. To put it in context, one hectare of oil palm can produce 4 to 10 times more oil than other oil plants. In other words, to produce the same amount of oil from soya or maize, 4 to 10 times more hectares are required. This is inconceivable if we want to produce sustainable and environmentally friendly products. In short, palm oil products are delicious, irreplaceable, and very healthy.
