The environmental problems of using palm oil for biodiesel fuel and other products has been recognised for more than a few years. Less attention has been given to the widespread use of palm oil in food products. Widespread deforestation to expand plantations for palm oil has been occurring in countries to our north such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
The most widely highlighted environmental impact from this is the threat to the survival of the orang-utan. It seems appealing to people’s concern about orang-utan extinction connects with people more than appealing to concern about the impacts on human beings.
The logging, much of it illegal, threatens the survival of the culture, traditions and food sources of the Penan, an indigenous tribal group who live in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The Penan have been fighting a losing battle for some time, but they had a win recently.
Malaysian blogger and Member of Parliament, Jeff Ooi, has written that the advertising regulator in the United Kingdom has banned an advertisement placed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. The ban occurred due to a finding that the advertisement’s claims that Malaysian palm oil was ‘sustainable’ and contributed to ‘the alleviation of poverty, especially amongst rural populations’ were misleading and unverified. A small win perhaps, but one which should draw more attention to the serious impacts of forest clearing and the unsustainable nature of much of the palm oil industry.
Ooi is trying to pursue the issue of the impact on the Penan people in the Malaysian Parliament. But I suspect they will continue to be fighting an uphill battle unless greater consumer power is brought to bear against the expanding use of palm oil. So far, I haven’t noticed a great deal of coverage of this issue in the Australian media.
Of course, continuing deforestation will make meeting greenhouse emission targets a great deal harder, so we all have a direct interest in this.
PS: This report suggests similar problems are occurring in Uganda, with the involvement of a Malaysian palm oil company.
4 Comments
Also isn’t palm oil quite unhealthy as a cooking oil, compared to other oils?
It’s a pity it’s almost impossible to find out what products on the supermarket shelves do or do not contain palm oil.
Yes, it’s not as healthy as some other oils used for cooking or food, John. Although I think the biggest driver for the expansion of palm oil has been biofuels.
Palm oil is a very heavy vegetable oil which naturally contains a large portion of saturated fats.
Moreover, it is often prepared for use in place of animal fats by saturating the remaining unsaturated oils by hydrogenation!
You’d be healthier to cook with lard or beef dripping.
Processed foods are often quite clearly labelled as to what oils they contain, though the catch-all “vegetable oil” is permissible. Bottled cooking oils in Australia are always clearly labelled, though cheaper “blended vegetable oil” will only have it in the fine print. In my experience such products on Australian shelves don’t contain palm oil — you find it in the Asian grocery shops but not with cooking oils at the supermarket.
Biofuel is only a small part of the market for palm oil; not completely negligible but under 10% globally. Mostly, it’s a food product.
Increased population, increased income and improved diet in much of Asia is the biggest driver by far of the growth of the palm oil market. China grows and imports large quantities of palm oil. I have heard Indian farmers complain that imported Malaysian palm oil for cooking undercuts locally-grown peanut and mustard oils.