The first thing that comes in our mind after listening to Palm Oil is “its a bad oil for our health’. Have you ever feel that too, if yes then you need to clear your facts about palm oil. Recently, I attended an event about Palm Oil which is organized by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and represented by Bhavna Shah, Country Head (India & Sri Lanka) MPOC.

  Bhavna Shah, Country Head (India & Sri Lanka) MPOC Before this event, I never realised that we’re actually consuming palm oil indirectly via so many other food & beverages. And This event cleared many myths and facts about palm oil.

What is Palm Oil:

It’s an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of palm oil trees, the scientific name is Elaeis guineensis. Two types of oil can be produced; crude palm oil comes from squeezing the fleshy fruit, and palm kernel oil which comes from crushing the kernel (Seed) in the middle of the fruit. Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, found in many products i.e. Frozen Desserts, Cookies, Instant Noodles, lipstick, soaps, detergents, Shampoo and even in ice cream. Palm oil is in nearly everywhere – it’s in close to 50% of products then why there is a fuss about it. The simple answer to this is “People are not aware about it” less awareness leads to myths & misconceptions. So Let’s check some interesting facts and myths of palm oil people don’t know about.

Myths & Facts About Palm Oil

• It is not good for health: In actual, Palm oil has many health benefits, including protecting brain function, reducing heart disease risk factors and also improving vitamin A status.
• Palm oil is harmful to the environment: The fact that the entire country of Malaysia, one of the world’s leading palm oil producers, is a net carbon sink meaning that it does not contribute to greenhouse gases. Malaysian palm oil has been produced sustainably and responsibly for more than 100 years, and its forest cover is actually increasing.
• Palm oil is unhealthy because it is high in saturated fat: Palm oil has higher levels of saturated fat compared with other plant oils such as olive oil and sunflower oil. Saturated fat is commonly found in animal fats and excessive consumption can raise total blood cholesterol levels, which can raise the risk of heart disease. However, it also contains mono-unsaturated fats and small amounts of polyunsaturated fats, which are generally considered “good” fats that can help improve blood cholesterol levels and decrease our risk of heart disease.

The event was organised in Sip ‘n’ dine’ banquet hall Chandigarh. After her session there were few fun activities lined up and all related with palm oil. For fun activities went to 2-3 different-different nearby restaurants. We all were divided into team of 5. The first activity was at Crazy Town restaurant where we had to solve the questionnaire related to palm oil. Then for the second activity, we went to The SafeHouse Lounge, sector 26 Chandigarh, where we need to do blindfolded food tasting & figure out food ingredient. The main thing about this blindfolded tasting is the food, where palm oil is used instead of olive oil or any other. After eating food made of palm oil I couldn’t feel any difference while having the same food that I eat on a regular basis with any other oils. In the third activity, we got a few ingredients & palm oil and need to make a salad. Our team made a salad and gave the name to it “ Tiranga Basket Salad” at The finch restaurant. We also used raw palm oil for Salad dressing and I was surprised that it increased the taste of Salad. And the last activity was again at Sip ‘n’ dine where we’ve to finish frozen dessert which was again made with palm oil,  Chocolate items like Ferro Rosher, Hide & Seek, Choco Fills and Nutella. Overall, we had a great day with some learning session about Palm Oil & its benefits. The conclusion of the event and what I learnt that  “The lack of awareness about anything leads to myths & misconceptions.” Palm oil is bad for health due to myths in our society. Negativity spread too fast then positivity, the same has happened with Palm Oil. For more information, check out http://www.mpoc.org.in/