Palm oil, derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis), is the most commonly used vegetable oil in the world today. While the Mediterranean diet is celebrated for its health benefits and emphasis on olive oil, the role of palm oil within this dietary framework requires careful consideration. This article explores the multifaceted aspects of palm oil, including its production, sustainability, nutritional profile, and potential health impacts, particularly in the context of the Mediterranean diet.
Palm Oil: Production and Uses
Oil palm has been cultivated for more than 5000 years. Palm fruit oil, generally known as palm oil, is produced from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm. This tropical fruit is reddish due to its high β-carotene content. Each palm fruit contains in total around 30%-35% of oil. Palm oil and palm kernel oil have the same botanical origin but differ significantly in their fatty acid (FA) composition.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in 2017/18 growth of world palm oil production closed at 7% above the previous year, rising from 65.25 million tons (Mt) in the year 2016/17 to about 70 Mt in 2017/18, the main producers being Malaysia and Indonesia. Of total world production, 5% is used for biofuels, 24% for cosmetics, and 71% by the food industry. In the European Union (EU), 87% of imports went to the manufacture of biodiesel. In the year 2000, the EU consumed a bare 271,000 metric tons of palm oil, rising to 3.9 Mt in 2017, with an average annual increase of 7%. The last year saw a downward trend in imports and consumption in the EU, especially palm oil for food and household use, while palm oil for industrial use remained stable.
Palm oil's versatility stems from its affordability, bland flavor, and semi-solid state at room temperature, making it a popular ingredient in various food and non-food products.
The Rise and Fall of Palm Oil
In the food industry, palm oil is used primarily to replace animal fats and hydrogenated fats. In view of the research conducted by Keys in the Seven Countries Study, and others, the intake of saturated animal fats was associated with increased cardiovascular risk (CVR). In view of these findings, during the 1990s animal fats (lard, butter) began to be replaced by others. In these years, the hydrogenation of oils for margarine was seen by the industry as a good solution for obtaining solid or semi-solid fats with a variety of possibilities for melting/crystallization dynamics and for melting temperatures.
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Between 2000 and 2010, there was growing awareness of the negative effects of trans-FAs on cardiovascular health, also associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis due to the increase in the fraction of cholesterol transported by low-density lipoproteins (LDLc) and reduction of the cholesterol transported by high-density lipoproteins (HDLc). Although there are metabolism-derived trans-FAs in ruminant meat and dairy products, the negative aspects noted earlier have been particularly associated with industrial trans-FAs sources obtained by partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils. The White Paper on nutrition in Spain considers that the highest tolerable intake (upper limit UL) for trans-FAs must be less than 1% of the total energy consumed. In the same vein, the Spanish Federation of Nutrition, Food, and Dietetics Societies (FESNAD) indicates that the intake of trans-FAs must be as low as possible and not exceed 1% of the total energy. The scientific report of the European food safety authority (EFSA) on trans-FAs recommends the lowest possible content in food. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that total intake of trans-FAs should not exceed 1% of the total energy of the diet, which is equivalent to less than 2.2 g/day for a 2000 kcal diet. Currently, the “REPLACE program” is being introduced to eliminate trans-FAs in foods on a global basis.
Margarines, which emerged as a substitute for animal fats, especially butter and are produced through partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils, contain trans-FAs. So, for the industry, once hydrogenation fats could no longer be used to harden fats, the alternative was palm fat, creating a circular dynamic between increased demand, greater production, increased supply, lower prices, and volatility in retail prices.
Concerns Surrounding Palm Oil
The consumption of palm oil is often questioned for various reasons: on the one hand, its effect on cardiovascular health because of its composition; on the other, food security due to the possible accrual of pollutants during refining; and finally, there is the debate on the sustainability of its cultivation in the countries of origin. The food and nutrition sectors are increasingly adopting a more holistic view, which encompasses not only health, but also environmental protection and traceability. The EU promotes these with campaigns such as “From Farm to Fork” (tracing food from production to the table), and the plan of action for the circular economy “Closing the loop”. As indicated by Marangoni et al., the absence of any pronouncement from the scientific community regarding the effects of palm oil on consumer health has meant that the message reaches the general public mainly through the mass media and is often skewed and incomplete.
In light of the concerns observed among the Spanish and European consumers, it seemed timely to conduct a multidisciplinary forum with ten scientific experts in areas related to the topic (food, human and animal nutrition, dietetics, physical activity, toxicology, sustainability, and public health) with a view to analyzing the existing knowledge, defining research needs and agreeing on what data the message should convey to the consumer. The meeting took place in Madrid on 3 July 2018. Every expert made an oral presentation reviewing the literature, including legal aspects if needed, related to the topic based on his/her expertise, followed by a group discussion. Presentations, scientific documents and discussions were used for the writing of this document. The event was organized by the Improvement of Health by Fitness, Nutrition, and Exercise (ImFINE) Research Group in collaboration with the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the Spanish Foundation for Sustainable Palm Oil.
Sustainability and Palm Oil Production
The concept of sustainability has evolved over the years. Initially, the Brundtland report defined the concept of sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations.” The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) extended the concept of sustainability to the realm of food by defining sustainable diets as “those that generate reduced environmental impact and contribute to the food security and nutrition and to current and future generations to lead a healthy life. In addition, they protect and respect the biodiversity and ecosystems, are culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable and nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy, and optimizing natural and human resources”. Later, in 2014, the 8th report of the FAO High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) defined a sustainable food system as a food system that ensures food security and nutrition for everyone in such a way as not to put at risk the economic, social, and environmental foundations that help provide food security and nutrition to future generations. In the same line, the United Nations Organization (UN) has established 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) for the period 2015-2030. Goal number twelve refers in particular to sustainable production and consumption, and goals two, three and six also have derivatives which affect food production and the relationship between food and health. We must not forget that the world population is expected to reach 8600 million by the year 2030, and 9800 million by 2050, which certainly poses a problem of sustainability in itself.
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The sustainability of oil palm cultivation was first addressed in 2004 with the creation of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The principles of sustainable palm oil include the protection of human rights in lands where it is produced. In addition, sustainable cultivation raises the issue of protection of forests and animal life in these areas, requiring the farming practices that are best suited to enhance performance and reduce crop expansion into new areas. The concept of sustainability is therefore of special importance to finding a balance between future oil palm plantations and primary forests. Palm plantations as part of sustainability programs may be the best possible alternative in the new reality of these regions, promoting economic growth, respect for human rights and workers, improvement of communities involved in the production of sustainable palm oil, and the conservation of natural resources, as well as avoiding overexploitation to ensure responsible production now and in the future.
In addition to the certification of sustainability, the RSPO provides for several models in the industry supply chain today: Preserved identity (PI), segregated (SG), and mass balance (MB). The PI model assures that RSPO-certified palm oil products offered to the end consumer come from a single plantation and its bases of supply, and they are physically isolated from other sources of palm oil throughout the supply chain. The SG model means that RSPO-certified palm oil products offered to the end consumer come only from RSPO-certified sources. Certified palm oils from different sources may be mixed. In the MB model, the marketing of RSPO-certified palm oil products is controlled throughout the supply chain to ensure the regulation of trade in sustainable palm oil.
Palm oil cultivation is only possible in tropical areas where the density of primary forest is the highest in the world. Such cultivation has been brought into question because it promotes deforestation and destruction of the habitat of orangutans in Borneo. Voigt et al., say that the population of orangutans in Borneo fell by 148,500 between 1999 and 2015 because of poaching, logging, deforestation and monoculture plantations, showing that demand for natural resources itself has eliminated more than 100,000 orangutans.
European Parliament resolution 2016/2222 on palm oil and deforestation of rainforests is one of the most important documents so far on the effects of the production and consumption of palm oil in the world. This document reflects the pros and cons of palm oil, but also opens the door to the use of sustainable palm oil to fight against aspects that do not comply with the principles of sustainability. The document highlights that almost half of current tropical deforestation (49%) is the result of illegal logging caused by commercial agriculture and that this destruction is driven by external demand for agricultural commodities such as palm oil, beef, soya, and timber products. Moreover, it estimates that the illegal conversion of rainforests for the purpose of commercial agriculture produces 1.47 gigatons of carbon every year, equivalent to 25% of annual emissions from fossil fuels in the EU.
An analysis by Bayona Rodríguez et al., noted that oil palm was one of the plants most widely exploited by agribusiness. As well as having a great potential for carbon capture, it requires little water for cultivation, characteristics that favor its sustainability. Assessments conducted in an African palm (E. guineensis) plantation in the Colombian municipality of Barrancabermeja found that the daily posting of carbon per hectare (Ha) was 29 kg. The rate of CO2 fixation per kg of oil yield is quite high, and although calculated by Ha is less than that of sugar cane, with about 44 kg/Ha/day, it is well above other major crops such as corn or sugar beet. Research has highlighted the vast carbon capture potential of this type of crops, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and possibly help alleviate climate change. In addition, transpiration rates are not high (1.2-1.5 mm/day as against 4-4.5 mm/day for other rainforest crops) and the water requirement is low, which gainsays the notion that this plant dries the ground. In fact, in the ecosystem of palm oil cultivation (palm, soil, weed plant) 70% of the used water resources is determined by the soil transpiration and undergrowth that accompanies these crops (weed plant), and only 30% by Palm.
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In 2013, the European Palm Oil Alliance (EPOA) was founded, a business initiative to involve and educate those interested in the full story of palm oil. This is an international project working closely with active national initiatives in different European countries, providing science-based communication and creating a balanced view about nutritional aspects and sustainability of palm oil. On 7 December 2015, industry, civil society and Governments signed the “Amsterdam Declaration”. This calls for the inclusion of sustainability throughout the food production chain covered by the RSPO, which has established a commitment for implementation of 100% sustainable palm oil in the European chain for 2020. Spain is one of the largest importers of palm oil in the EU, although an important part is re-exported, and together with Italy it is one of the countries whose food industry imports least sustainable oil according to a report prepared by the European Sustainable Palm Oil Organization “Making sustainable palm oil the norm in Europe”.
Nutritional Profile of Palm Oil
Palm oil is composed of approximately 50% saturated fat, 40% monounsaturated fat (oleic acid), and 10% polyunsaturated fat (linoleic acid). The high saturated fat content contributes to its semi-solid consistency at room temperature, making it useful in food applications where solid fats are desired. Palm oil also contains vitamin E (tocotrienols) and carotenoids, which have antioxidant properties.
Palm Oil and Cardiovascular Health
The impact of palm oil on cardiovascular health has been a subject of debate. Some studies suggest that its saturated fat content may raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels, potentially increasing the risk of heart disease. However, other research indicates that palm oil's effects on cholesterol levels may be neutral or less pronounced compared to other saturated fats like butter.
A study investigated the effects of palm and olive oils on hypercholesterolemia-induced oxidative stress in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet (HCD). The results showed that both palm and olive oils had antihyperlipidemic and cholesterol-lowering benefits in HCD-fed rats.
Health specialists around the world have severe concerns about the risk of excessive cholesterol buildup inside the body and cardiovascular disorders in the twenty-first century. With no negative side effects, olive oil has been used for a long time to promote cardiovascular health under cellular and environmental stress and to lower the risk of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular death. However, there is controversy around the use of palm oil as edible oil because it contains palmitic acid, a saturated fatty acid that should logically result in higher levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. To explore the biological benefit of PO, numerous research studies in both humans and animals have conclusively demonstrated that consuming palm oil does not result in increased serum levels of cholesterol and that palm oil is not atherogenic. In addition to palmitic acid, oleic and linoleic acids, which are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, respectively, are also found in palm oil. Additionally, palm oil contains vitamins A and E, two potent antioxidants. Scientific research has demonstrated that palm oil can shield blood vessels and the heart from ischemia damage and plaque buildup.
Rats receiving HCD for three months displayed dyslipidemia and hypercholesterolemia, as evidenced by the large rises in TG, TC, LDL-c, and vLDL-c serum levels together with significant drops in HDL-c levels. Interestingly, serum lipids and liver function markers significantly improved in HCD-fed rats treated with PO or OO. In this regard, the Mediterranean diet has been linked to lower levels of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and atherogenic cholesterol LDL-C. Administration of PO did not significantly alter the lipid profile in the current investigation. This is in line with the previous study, which found that consuming PO and palm olein had no negative impacts on the lipoprotein profiles. The capacity of PO and OO to reduce the expression of the FAS gene in the rat liver may be responsible for the reported lipid-lowering impact seen in this investigation. The investigated oils’ advantageous effects on rats receiving HCD may be attributed to their active ingredients.
Palm Oil in the Mediterranean Diet: A Balanced Perspective
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods, healthy fats (primarily from olive oil), and limited saturated and trans fats. Given palm oil's saturated fat content and association with processed foods, its role in a traditional Mediterranean diet is minimal.
However, a moderate intake of PO within a healthy diet presents no risks for health. No evidence justifies any change fat intake recommendations. Food industry is interested in assuring safe, sustainable and high-quality products. The use of certified sustainable PO is increasing; and there is no evidence associating PO consumption and higher cancer risk, incidence or mortality in humans. Tolerable daily intake (TDI) for toxic contaminants (2-and 3-monochloropropanediols (MCPDs), glycidyl esters (GEs)) have been established by JECFA and EFSA.
Recommendations
- Prioritize Olive Oil: Olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, should remain the primary source of fat in the Mediterranean diet due to its established health benefits and rich antioxidant content.
- Limit Processed Foods: Reduce consumption of processed foods that often contain palm oil, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and unhealthy fats.
- Choose Sustainable Options: If consuming products containing palm oil, opt for those certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to support environmentally responsible practices.
- Moderate Consumption: If palm oil is used, do so in moderation, considering its saturated fat content and potential impact on cholesterol levels.
- Focus on Whole Foods: Emphasize a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fish, which are the cornerstones of the Mediterranean diet.
Palm Oil vs. Olive Oil
Proponents of the Mediterranean diet often extol the virtues of olive oil, a widely used, heart-healthy fat that comes from olives. But it’s far from the only oil out there and, in fact, is dwarfed in ubiquity by palm oil, a type of oil that’s found in a wide range of foods and other products. “Palm oil is a vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of the oil palm tree,” explains Megan Wroe, wellness manager and registered dietitian at St. Jude Medical Center in Southern California. It’s extracted from the mesocarp, the reddish pulp of the fruit of oil palms. Because it’s relatively affordable to produce, highly versatile, pale in color and odorless, palm oil has become a staple of the American industrial food system, says Dana Ellis Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center, assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and author of “Recipe For Survival.” It can be found in everything from food items and supplements to beauty products, detergents and biofuels. Palm oil makes foods creamier and adds to their shelf life, plus it doesn’t have the trans fats that come with other types of hydrogenated oils (in hydrogenated oils, hydrogen atoms are added to fat molecules via a chemical process to achieve the same consistency). It all adds up to a wonder product of sorts that solves a lot of problems for food packagers and other producers of consumer goods. Dandrea-Russert notes that while very small amounts may be present in some items, “it’s found in over 50% of consumer-packaged products. - Other convenience foods. While this oil is found in many of the products you use each day, it’s got a big downside, Hunnes says. A major drawback to this very common ingredient is how it’s produced. Hunnes explains that to farm palm oil, virgin forests - primarily in Indonesia these days - are slashed and burned to create open space to plant oil-producing palm trees. “It is grown on these large plantations as a monocrop/monoculture, the only species on that farm,” she explains. In addition to its connection with deforestation, palm oil farming has been linked to animal cruelty and abuses of Indigenous peoples’ rights, Dandrea-Russert says. “For example, homes may be taken away from Indigenous people in order to plant palm,” she says. What’s more, the destruction of rainforests for the farming of palm oil puts pressure on local species through habitat loss, Dandrea-Russert says. “Rainforest destruction is leading many species to extinction. For example, scientists estimate that orangutans could become extinct from the wild in the next 20 years. With no rainforests available, the orangutans are forced to live in palm plantations, which causes human-wildlife conflict. Loss of rainforest acreage is also connected to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and, in turn, higher global temperatures. The Amazon rainforest, for example, has long been described as the lungs of planet Earth because all those trees absorb and trap carbon from the atmosphere and help keep the planet cooler. “When rainforests are cleared, a significant amount of carbon pollution is released, making palm oil a major driver of climate change. What’s more, the burning of the forest to make room for palm plantations creates pollution in the soil, air and fresh water, affecting nearby communities and contributing further to climate change,” Dandrea-Russert says. Palm oil can have some health benefits, “depending on how it’s processed,” Wroe says. Its high saturated fat content means it has “high shelf stability, so it’s not as susceptible to oxidation and becoming rancid as most other oils.” This is great if you need to store the oil for long periods. Wroe adds that when palm oil is used as a cooking agent, it shares some similarities to coconut oil. Like coconut oil, palm oil is high in saturated fat and calories, so it should be used sparingly. Antioxidants have been shown to protect cells from free radicals, which can damage the body’s cells and contribute to the development of cancer and other chronic diseases. Using heat to produce oil denatures, or changes the molecular composition of, the oil and destroys those antioxidants, removing that potential benefit. Palm oil, however, is 50% saturated fat and contains 7 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon, Dandrea-Russert says. That type of fat has been linked with inflammation, diabetes, heart disease and gastrointestinal problems. “That’s more than half of the saturated fat the American Heart Association recommends per day, which is 5% to 6% of calories,” she adds. Dandrea-Russert adds that “palm oil is not a health food. Wroe agrees: “The large majority of palm oil intake is in the form of ultra-processed foods and not as a cooking agent.” When this oil is refined, she adds, not only does the heat processing denature the antioxidants, but the oil is then often paired with foods with high sugar and salt content, such as breads, pizzas, frozen dinners, desserts and snacks, making it a less healthy option. If you have or are at risk of developing heart disease, you need to monitor the fat intake in your diet and “should also be wary of this oil,” Wroe says. Hunnes agrees that skipping the highly processed foods likely to contain palm oil is a good plan. For both environmental and health reasons, Wroe says it’s best to reduce your intake of highly processed foods that contain palm oil. - Avocado oil. However, these oils can also pose environmental concerns, especially if demand for them increases as a replacement for palm oil. To avoid this, it’s best to select whole, locally grown produce rather than packaged food or those that are shipped great distances. In general, a plant-based diet that features mostly whole, unprocessed foods can support good health for you and the planet. Dandrea-Russert says, “The best course of action is to read ingredient labels. If it says palm oil, put it back on the shelf. Taking individual action by not supporting companies that use palm oil can have a big impact.” Be aware that palm oil can go by a range of other names. All that said, there are some palm oil products on the market that are sustainably produced, Dandrea-Russert notes. When these criteria for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil are properly applied.
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