Singaporean palm oil company, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), which is among the world’s largest palm oil-based agribusinesses, has stepped up efforts to “dispel misperceptions” while raising awareness about the health benefits of palm oil.

These moves come amid the increase in consumer concerns about food safety and nutrition amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One persistent myth about palm oil is that it is unhealthy because it contains saturated fatty acids (SAFA),” says Dr. Paul Wassell, head of R&D at GAR.

“However, whole palm oil is typically 50 percent saturated, and 50 percent unsaturated fatty acids, which is quite different when compared to dairy and cocoa butters.”

Depending on the degree of refining – Wassell highlights that palm oil is a natural source of beta-carotene and tocotrienols (vitamin E). 

Researchers from Malaysia and Libya recently found that tocotrienol-rich fractions extracted from palm oil can potentially be used to improve liver health.

Wassell argues that concerns that palm oil increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases are “confounding” assumptions.

“This is due to fundamental knowledge gaps about the differences between SAFA types: long, medium and short chain, and their functions.”

“For instance, palmitic fatty acid – the most common SAFA in oleic-palmitic-oleic (OPO) fats for infant formula – does mimic the OPO molecule that is naturally present in mother’s milk.”

Eliminating trans fats entirely from food supply
The fear of increased risk of heart diseases is driving global health regulators to ban trans fats, which can be found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) plan to eliminate industrial trans fats by 2020 and 2023, respectively.

Among the four major commodity oils, palm oil remains free from genetic modification, Wassell highlights.

In addition, he asserts that palm oil is naturally free from industrial trans fatty acids and does not need to undergo hydrogenation to be modified, unlike sunflower, rapeseed and soybean oils.

“Adding hydrogen makes an oil more saturated and may result in the formation of trans-fatty acids, so palm oil’s ability to be fractionated naturally and then recombined into other products without hydrogenation is a massive advantage,” Wassell remarks.

Innovating to adapt to customer needs
At GAR’s R&D center in Marunda, Jakarta, food technologists develop margarines with different flavor profiles, shortening with special whipping capabilities, or unique specialty ice cream coatings.

“Milk fat replacers – like palm oil-based margarines to replac butter – have gained prominence as food producers try to cater to consumers who are lactose intolerant, while avoiding trans fats entirely,” Wassell adds.

“We also reduce sodium in our margarine type products. We understand this will bring additional health benefits to the wider community,” he underscores.

“We’ve also seen continued interest in plant-based foods. We have new concepts in our innovation pipeline for both local and international customers, while fulfilling our customers’ requirements.”

Critical environmental impacts
Palm oil remains hotly contested against the benchmarks of environmental sustainability, as it has been frequently linked to deforestation practices.

The majority of palm oil companies still do not report basic information on how they are monitoring deforestation in either their own or their suppliers’ operations, according to reports by the international conservation charity Zoological Society of London.

Echoing this sentiment, a CDP’s new Investor Research report entitled “Zeroing-in on Deforestation” said more needs to be done to fulfill net zero deforestation targets, and many in the consumer goods sector are unlikely to meet their goals.

In its deforestation crackdown, Unilever is using geospatial analytics in a move that is expected to bring a “new level of sophistication to traceability” – one that has the potential to work on a massive scale.

Transparency is a key theme that will continue to steer consumer demand into the coming years. “Transparency Triumphs” was recently crowned as Innova Market Insights’ Top Trend for 2021. There is currently a renewed interest in technologies like invisible barcodes and near-field communication devices that help boost product traceability significantly.