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In our country Palm oil has become synonymous with low-quality, cheap product. Meanwhile, this is one of the oldest food products of mankind, known back to Ancient Egypt.



Palm oil is the most popular vegetable oil on the planet. According to the World Wildlife Fund, an estimated 50% percent of packaged foods sold in supermarkets contain palm oil.
Let's go to Southeast Asia and look at palm oil production.
The main wholesale buyers of palm oil are corporations such as Nestlé and Unilever. In addition to food, palm oil is used to produce biofuels, cosmetics, shampoos and many other biochemical products. Every day they need more and more oil. Where can I get it?
It's very simple: thousands of square kilometers of forest and peatland in Southeast Asia are being destroyed to make way for palm plantations.
here we just see the barbaric formation of an oil palm plantation. In the foreground there are new plantings of oil palms in place of the destroyed forest, in the background the forest is being destroyed for new plantations.


In the background are endless plantings of oil palms, in front is the destruction of forests for new plantations.


To destroy forests, they are simply set on fire. This is Indonesia.


It should be noted that due to its incredible productivity, the oil palm allows the most economical use of land for the production of vegetable oil. To produce one ton of sunflower oil, 2 hectares of land are needed. Palm plantations can produce more than 7 tons of vegetable oil from the same area.


There are only 14,000 orangutans left in Sumatra. The reasons for the extinction of the species are poaching and destruction of their habitats. The natural habitat of intelligent monkeys, which live mainly in trees, is being destroyed. The culprit is the oil palm.


Indonesia even has rehabilitation centers for these intelligent monkeys before releasing them back into the wild.


Here they are, the fruits of the oil palm. Since 2015, palm oil has surpassed the production of soybean oil, rapeseed oil and took first place among production vegetable oils 2.5 times faster than the production of sunflower oil.


By the way, palm oil was traded back in the days of the pharaohs, more than 5,000 years ago. Actually, palm oil is made from the pulp of palm fruits.


This is how the fruits look when cut.


The forest has been burned, the lands are ready for new palm plantings.


Elephants happily eat the leaves of such palm trees.


On palm plantations there are elephant patrols like these to protect the territory from wild elephants so that they do not eat the expensive product.


Cutting fruits. By the way, the digestibility, that is, the use by the human body, of high-quality palm oil is 97.5%. This is an excellent result.


Elephants and oil palms.


In the countries of Asia and Africa, the ancient manual technology of palm oil production, shown in the photographs, has been preserved. The palm fruits are first crushed, and then, by heating, the palm oil is forced to melt and separate from the pulp. A similar process takes place during the industrial production of palm oil at biochemical enterprises.
Collection of oil palm fruits.


Like vegetable oils, sunflower and palm oils do not contain cholesterol. However, due to palmitic acid, palm oil can stimulate the generation of cholesterol by the human body itself, becoming comparable in level of danger from cholesterol to consumption butter. Palm oil is also one of the record holders for vitamins E and A, significantly surpassing other products.
Indonesia, Central Kalimantan. Soon there will be only palm trees instead of forests.


Elephant Patrol. 15 minute break.


A palm plantation worker in Indonesia carries the harvest.


High-quality edible palm oil, according to nutritional scientists, is not dangerous to health. But we always have more than one but:
— it is known that industrial palm oil is often imported into Russia under the guise of edible palm oil, as well as oil that is contaminated due to the fact that tankers that previously transported petroleum products and other non-edible substances are often used for its transportation;
— palm oil is today used uncontrollably to falsify products, primarily dairy products.

We loaded the truck. This is how millions of tons of palm oil used around the world are born.



IS THE HARM OF PALM OIL EXaggerated? http://fragmed.ru/otravleniya/vred-palmovogo-masla.html

IN Lately Many media outlets insist that palm oil is dangerous and causes serious harm (especially to children). But how exaggerated is the harm of palm oil? Or perhaps it is even more dangerous than the media says? In this article we will talk in detail about exactly what harm palm oil causes and whether there is any benefit from it. We will also discuss a list of products that include the palm oil we are discussing.

1 WHAT IS PALM OIL?

Palm oil is a plant product that is obtained by processing the fleshy part of the fruit of the oil palm (English: african oil palm). It has been mined for many centuries, starting with Ancient Egypt.

It has found wide application in the food industry: and one of the main reasons for this is the low cost of palm oil production.



Palm oil

As of 2016, the production of this food component has grown so much that it is ahead of the production of oils from soybeans, rapeseed and even sunflower. The well-known company Nestle annually purchases more than 400 thousand tons of palm oil to produce its products (data from the official Nestle website).

But the use of palm oil is not limited solely to food. It is also successfully used for the manufacture of shampoos, cosmetics and even biological fuel.

A huge disadvantage of producing such a product is that during the production process hundreds of hectares of tropical forest are inevitably destroyed. Apparently, in the coming decades the situation will not only not improve, but will even worsen due to the growing demand for this type of oil among consumers in all developed countries of the world. to menu

1.1 TYPES AND DIFFERENCES

As mentioned above, palm oil is produced on an industrial scale from the oil palm tree. When the fruit pulp is processed, a very thick red or orange mass is obtained, which has a very sweet taste and smell of milk cream.

The main components of this product are palmitic acid, glycerol (ester) and fatty acids (to be more precise, triacylglycerides). Chemical composition The product is very reminiscent of butter.

Moreover, this product is produced in different types, differing in melting point and, accordingly, quality.



Types of palm oil

There are the following types of palm oils used in the food industry:

Standard(melting point 36-39 degrees). Used for baking and frying.

Olein(melting point 16-24 degrees). Used for frying dough and various types meat.

Stearin(melting point 48-52 degrees). It is used in the food industry, cosmetology and even metallurgy.

1.2 HARM OF PALM OIL (VIDEO)

1.3 WHY AND WHERE IS IT APPLIED?

Palm oil is an integral component of many food products. IN large quantities it is added to following products: cheese; cottage cheese; milk and dairy products; chocolate; spreads; yoghurts; food fusion for kids; fast food; cakes and other confectionery products.

There is quite interesting way, with which you can find out whether chocolate contains a given food ingredient. So, if the chocolate melts when squeezed between your fingers, then it is made without the addition of palm oil.

2 IS THE SUPPLEMENT DANGEROUS FOR THE HUMAN BODY, AND WHY?

The effect of palm oil on human health has been well studied. The conclusions, as often happens, are twofold. On the one hand, this type of oil has benefits, but on the other hand, there is obvious harm. But what exactly is the harm and impact of this food product on human health?

The saturated fatty acids in this type of oil are harmful. However, quite paradoxically, palm oil does not contain such harmful cholesterol, but saturated fatty acids can cause the development of cancerous tumors.



Composition of palm oil

Moreover, frequent consumption spoils health also because saturated fatty acids accumulate in the biomembranes of the body’s cells. As a result, this leads to vascular and heart disease, and specifically to a narrowing of the lumen of small-caliber arteries and, accordingly, a decrease in the saturation of body tissues with blood.

This not only entails sexual dysfunction, but also the development of heart attacks and strokes. That is why palm oil is prohibited for all people who suffer from diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Also, the main complaints about this food component include its production system. Thus, many organizations claim that palm oil is produced using GMO technology.

2.1 BENEFITS IN USE

There are not only harms, but also benefits of palm oil:

saturating the body with carotenoids, which are excellent antioxidants;

saturating the body with vitamin E and triglycerols, which improve blood flow and protect the liver from toxic effects;

saturating the body with oleic and linoleic acid, which can reduce total cholesterol levels in the blood;

saturating the body with vitamin A, which improves vision and significantly increases the production of retinal pigment.

2.2 THE PRESENCE OF A CHILD IN THE DIET: IS IT POSSIBLE, AND WHY? Almost any baby formula sold in stores contains palm oil. But is it possible to know how harmful such a mixture is for a child?

In fact, the benefits of this food component for children could be obvious, because it fills the body with vitamin A and E, and is also hypoallergenic food additive. However, in reality everything useful material Palm oil is simply not absorbed by children's bodies.



Fatty acids in palm oil and their effect on cholesterol levels

As a result, the child, without absorbing the beneficial substances from palm oil, acquires harmful ones. Thus, numerous studies have proven that due to frequent use of this food component children suffer from the following pathologies:

frequent regurgitation;

severe colic;

constipation or, on the contrary, diarrhea;

leaching of calcium from bones.

What can be concluded from this? Should children receive products containing the described nutritional component? Actually, yes. But only in very limited quantities. Eating small amounts of food containing palm oil does not affect children’s bodies in any way, as it manages to cope with the consequences of taking this food component.

2.3 HOW TO KNOW IF IT IS IN FOOD?

This product is relatively new for the CIS countries. It was supposed to hit the market immediately after the collapse of the USSR, however, due to market problems in the nineties, food with palm oil became widespread in the CIS only in 2000.

It is quite obvious that the population became interested in the new food ingredient, and many decided to stop using it.



Areas of application of palm oil

But how can you find out if this component is in food? It's actually quite simple:

Before buying food, you need to carefully check its label: it should indicate which oils were used in preparation. If there are unnamed oils, you should avoid purchasing the product.

It is important to check the expiration date on perishable products. If it is too long, this is a sure sign that this type of oil was used in its production.

You should completely avoid any fast food (fast food), since such food in the vast majority of cases contains palm oil.

Consumption of palm oil leads to obesity and development chronic diseases on a global scale, and its production causes irreparable damage to nature. These are the main conclusions of the report prepared by experts from the World Health Organization, which should be published in the near future, writes LiveJournal. Pavel Syutkin.

Considering that in 2015 the US banned the use of hazardous trans fats in food products, and in 2018 WHO made a similar recommendation for the whole world, the organization's experts fear that food manufacturers will simply replace the banned ingredients with palm oil - cheap, but potentially no less harmful.

Scientists, politicians and employees medical institutions the world is encouraged to reconsider its attitude towards palm oil in order to “reduce Negative influence this industry on human health and the planet."

Palm oil occupies a leading position in the production of semi-finished and finished products - mainly due to its relative cheapness.

Palm oil producers go to great lengths to convince consumers that it is harmless - or even healthy. However, the WHO report, prepared on the basis of 48 scientific research, refutes these claims.

In particular, a meta-analysis of work carried out by the organization's experts demonstrated a convincing connection between an increase in palm oil consumption in 23 countries and an increase in the mortality rate from coronary heart disease there.

Research demonstrating the benefits of palm oil is often funded by its manufacturers. And the modest letters MPOC in the corner simply mean Malaysian Palm Oil Council

In addition, doctors have no doubt that palm oil systematically increases the level of “bad cholesterol” (LDL) in the blood, which is the cause of atherosclerosis.

There are other studies linking palm oil consumption to an increased risk of heart disease, obesity and other chronic diseases.

However, during the preparation of the document, it turned out that of the nine such published articles, four were written by employees of the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture - or more precisely, the department directly responsible for the development of this industry.

In particular, according to the report's authors, lobbyists around the world are successfully resisting attempts to oblige palm oil producers to tell consumers that it is present in the finished product. It can be found in the ingredient list under any of about 200 alternative names - for example, simply "vegetable fats."

In Russia, as well as throughout the Eurasian Economic Union, a law on new labeling of dairy products came into force in 2018. However, it only obliges manufacturers to indicate that the product “contains vegetable fats” - mentioning palm oil in the ingredients is still not mandatory.

Even earlier, in February 2016, the Russian authorities were even planning to introduce a special excise tax on palm oil. The Ministry of Economy called this measure “an obvious thing,” but three months later the introduction of excise taxes was abandoned - as the ministry reported, “as a result of lengthy discussions.”

The global palm oil market is one of the most dynamically developing markets. The volume of production and foreign trade of these natural herbal product, obtained from oil palm fruits, is growing steadily.

The main producers and exporters of palm oil on the world market are Indonesia and Malaysia. Their share of total palm oil production is 53% and 35%, respectively. Thailand, Colombia and Nigeria also produce palm oil in small quantities. These countries use palm oil exclusively for domestic consumption. Based on data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the distribution of palm oil production by region of the world is as follows.

Major palm oil producing countries
(million tons)

A country	Period
	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13
Indonesia	44,0	45,9	47,9	50,7	53,3
Malaysia	20,5	22,0	23,6	25,9	28,0
Thailand	17,3	17,8	18,2	18,2	18,5
Colombia
Nigeria

Palm oil is now imported to almost every country in the world. According to the World Trade Organization, there are currently no bans on the import of palm oil in the world. Import restrictions in the form of licensing and quotas are also not applied. The main importers of palm oil are India, China and the EU countries. The volumes of imported raw materials are characterized by an increasing trend, as evidenced by the data presented in the table.

Major importers of palm oil
(million tons)

A country	Period
	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13
India
China
EU
Pakistan
Malaysia
Egypt
USA
Bangladesh
Singapore
Japan

Most of the imported palm oil is coming for food purposes: for the production of fat and oil, confectionery, dairy products using vegetable fat, baby and dietary food. The food industry uses only refined, deodorized palm oil. Such raw materials do not contain phosphorus-containing substances, waxes, free fatty acids, coloring substances, that is, the taste and smell of the oil are impersonal. In addition, it can be used to obtain a product that does not contain cholesterol and trans isomers, which are hazardous to health.

But still, the safety of consuming palm oil-based products still raises a lot of doubts. Let's try to figure out whether there is a direct relationship between palm oil consumption per capita and the mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases. To do this, consider a table whose data are presented based on statistics from the World Health Organization and the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.

Palm oil consumption (food purposes) and mortality
from cardiovascular diseases

A country	Palm oil consumption per capita (kg)	Mortality rate from CVD* per 100 thousand people. population
Malaysia		214,5
Indonesia		240,8
Pakistan		342,5
India		282,2
EU		149,8**
Russia		492,5

*- coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases
** - average of 27 EU countries

As can be seen from the table, the highest consumption of palm oil occurs in its traditional producer – Malaysia, where it is about 36 kg per capita. Each Russian consumes about 3 kg of palm oil per year, which is 12 times less than in Malaysia. At the same time, the mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases in Russian Federation exceeds the same indicator of the main consumer of palm oil by more than 2 times. And this does not take into account the level of income of the population and the level of medicine, which are much higher in Russia. It is obvious that palm oil consumption is not a factor influencing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and the mortality rate from them.

Palm oil today is a safe, convenient and inexpensive raw material for the production of various food products, the global demand for which is constantly increasing.

HOW MANY SONGS ABOUT OIL HAVE BEEN SINGED...

Research by the RBC.research agency

Over the past 10 years, there has been a steady increase in vegetable oil production in the world. The average annual growth rates range from 0.8 to 8.6%, and the average increase in production volumes since 2000 is 4.8%. In 2012, the volume of global production of vegetable oil reached almost 160 million tons, while in 2001 the value of the same indicator was close to 90 million tons (rice. 1 ) .
The most popular types of vegetable oil in the world are palm and soybean oils - they account for 34 and 27.7% of global production in volume terms, respectively. (rice. 2 ) .

Rapeseed oil, which is not yet so popular in Russia, confidently ranks third in the world with a share of 15%. Sunflower oil, the most common in Russia and Ukraine, is only in fourth place in the structure of world production with a share of 8.7%.
Of all vegetable oil produced in the world today, more than 40% is exported. The high value of this indicator is a consequence of the fact that in producing countries there are different weather and climatic conditions for the cultivation of oilseeds. That is, in countries with a favorable climate, for example, in Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina, the volume of vegetable oil production is much higher than the level of its consumption, so most of the oil produced is exported (rice. 3 ) .

On the contrary, in countries with colder climates, such as Canada or the Nordic countries, the cultivation of oilseeds is difficult, so imports account for a significant share of vegetable oil consumption.
Analyzing the structure of global export supplies by type of vegetable oil, it should be noted that the lion’s share – 63.3% – falls on palm oil. In second place by a significant margin is soybean oil with a share of 13.9%. Sunflower oil, the main exporters of which are Russia and Ukraine, is in third place with a share of 8.6%.
On the other hand, the largest consumers of vegetable oil in the world are those countries in which their own production is not able to fully satisfy the demand for vegetable oil from the population and industry. First of all, such countries include India and China with a combined population of more than 2.5 billion people (1.21 and 1.34 billion people, respectively). India accounts for 16.3% of all global vegetable oil imports, and China - 15% (rice. 4 ) .

These countries are followed very closely by the European Union with a share of 14.3%, where per capita oil consumption is significantly higher than in China or India. Also, countries such as the USA, Malaysia, Pakistan and Egypt occupy a significant place in the world import of vegetable oil - their shares are 6.7, 4.5, 3.6 and 3.5%, respectively. In the structure of world vegetable oil imports, Russia accounts for only 1.2%.
Today, structural changes in vegetable oil consumption are clearly visible in the world. Thus, in 2000, almost 90% of the produced vegetable oil was used for final consumption in food and only 10% was used in industrial consumption - in the production of fuel, lubricants, oil paints, in soap making and other industries (rice. 5 ) .

Already in 2006, the share of vegetable oil used in industrial consumption was almost 20%, and by 2012 it reached 23.4%. Moreover, the most common types of vegetable oil in the industrial industry today are soybean, rapeseed and palm oils.
As for the change in the structure of consumption of vegetable oil for food, it can be noted that over the last decade the share of palm oil consumption has increased, and the share of soybean oil, in turn, has decreased (rice. 6 ) .

The share of such types of vegetable oil as sunflower, peanut, cottonseed, coconut and olive in the structure of food consumption has been fairly stable over the past decade.
Returning to the structure of industrial consumption of vegetable oil, we note that in 2000 the most common “industrial” vegetable oil was palm and palm kernel oils, the share of which reached 60% (rice. 7 ) .

Soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oils were also popular. However, palm oils began to gradually lose their position - there is no decline in industrial consumption in absolute terms, but no growth either. Thus, the picture of the global structure of industrial consumption of vegetable oil began to shift towards increasing the use of soybean and rapeseed oils.
In 2012, the structure of industrial consumption for the main types of vegetable oils is as follows: palm oil accounts for 38.3%, soybean oil accounts for 23.1%, and rapeseed and palm kernel oils account for 19.8 and 11.7%, respectively.
The global production and consumption of the main types of vegetable oils (palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oils) is growing steadily at an average annual rate of 4.8% per year.
The structure of food consumption of the main types of vegetable oil in the world as a whole is changing very slowly. Over the past 10 years, the share of palm oil consumption has increased slightly, while the share of soybean oil, in turn, has decreased slightly. The leaders in the global food consumption market are four types of vegetable oil - palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower - and the shares of the last two in the structure of world consumption have been stable over recent years.
In the structure of world consumption of vegetable oil, there has been an increase in new trend to an increase in the share of industrial consumption. And the most high growth This segment shows rapeseed oil, which is used to produce biodiesel in the European Union, and soybean oil, which is used to produce biofuels in the USA.

Sergey Khitrov,
senior analyst,
head of research projects at RBC.research

However, more and more palm oil is being imported into Russia - otherwise store shelves may become noticeably empty, experts say. At the same time, most people do not even suspect what variety of foods this product can be hidden in.

India, Russia and China are the world's top three consumers of palm oil for food, 90 percent of which is now produced by Indonesia and Malaysia. Three years ago, the volume of palm oil produced worldwide came out on top among all other vegetable oils, ahead of, for example, sunflower oil 2.5 times. And the oil palm, whose homeland is West Africa, from where it was imported by British colonialists to Southeast Asia at the end of the 19th century for decorative purposes, to decorate gardens, a little more than a century later became a plant that brings local businessmen colossal profits - for which they already half destroyed the unique nature, forests and animals of their countries.

The world's largest oil palm growing area is the third largest island on Earth, Borneo, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and tiny Brunei. Over the past 15 years, exactly half of all tropical forests have been cut down here for the sake of establishing oil plantations. In total, oil palm plantings on the planet already occupy more than 250 thousand square kilometers - this is more than the area of ​​countries such as Great Britain or Romania.

But main reason– is that after the introduction in 2014 by the Russian authorities of the so-called “food embargo” on the import of food from the USA and the EU led to an increase in domestic agricultural production – but only in some areas and in large agricultural holdings with state participation. The elimination of foreign competitors from the food market with their quality products made it possible to quickly fill the market with cheap products, in the creation of which palm oil plays an active role, replacing, where possible, more expensive animal fats or vegetable oils.

An economist talks about all this in an interview with Radio Liberty Tatiana Rybalova:

​– In the production of which food products Is palm oil mostly used in Russia now? Many people know about, but maybe in some cases consumers don't even know it's there.

– The range of products in the production of which palm oil is used is very wide. Consumers only know about those that the media talk and write about a lot. For example, dairy products. Because people are accustomed to dairy products, they consume quite a lot of them, and the fact that they have changed their taste, appearance, and so on, quite clearly shows that they began to add them. But in fact, the same confectionery industry uses just as much palm oil! It’s just that confectioners somehow try not to notice these issues. However, all bakery and confectionery products with a long shelf life use palm oil. Just like palm oils are used in other industries, but in smaller volumes, of course. The main consumers of these imports are the dairy and confectionery industries.

​– What types of palm oil are we talking about when it comes to importing it specifically to Russia? After all, this is not one homogeneous product, it has different varieties, degrees of quality, and in general it is used in completely different ways around the world. For example, in the European Union, more than half of imported palm oil is added to fuel - but not to food.

Technical grades of oil are imported, and also in improper containers

– But in Russia this issue is not discussed loudly at all - what quality is the palm oil supplied? My great concern is that technical grades of oil are imported, and moreover, in inappropriate, non-food containers, in wagons intended for products that are not used in the food industry. Even frankly technical oils with poor purification are used for the production of products!

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