Palm Oil

[bigbanana]

Has anyone noticed the creeping inclusion of Palm Oil into food products? I'm even finding it in bread and orange squash nowadays!

I do wonder if it's suddenly listed as an ingredient as there is an EU Directive coming into force next year which forces manufacturers to declare the type of oil rather than hide behind "vegetable oil" as an ingredient. It seems to be replacing rapeseed oil at a rate of knots.

My neighbour works in a steel-manufacturing plant and he has skin contact with the stuff daily as it's used to lubricate machinery!

[lady-janine]

disgusting stuff . read up about it.

[heathfield]

Blame Malaysia. For years they've been busy destroying pristine forest areas to create plantations of oil palm. At the same time, they have trade missions going everywhere to try to sell the stuff to manufacturers of soaps, lubricants, foodstuffs, etc, etc. Oil palm products account for 28% of global oils and fats production. You're going to see more of it, alas.

[petal54]

stuff 1 of the causes of deforrestation,as states,now in loads of stuff!

[diddlydo]

Avoid it like the plague!

[theprof]

It's horrendous stuff with little difference between the technical grades used in industry and the so-called food grade.

I'm very grateful to the EU for preventing food processing companies from hoodwinking the consumer further over the oils included in foods by allowing manufacturers to merely state "vegetable oil" as an ingredient.

Palm oil is a highly saturated oil and contributes towards high levels of LDL and HDL. Further, the devastation caused to the rain forests by the cultivation of oil palms has to be seen to be believed. It is an environmental menace.