August/September 2024 Issue
Cholesterol Education: Palm Oil Redemption
By Elizabeth S. Goar
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 26 No. 7 P. 12
Does this common ingredient deserve a spot at the table?
A decades-long trade war between tropical and vegetable oils ended abruptly in 2015 when the FDA declared partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs)—then the major source of artificial trans fats—were no longer “generally recognized as safe.” Food manufacturers were ordered to eliminate them from their products by June 2018, a deadline that was extended to 2021.1
Palm oil emerged battered and bruised but ultimately victorious. It quickly became the go-to oil of the food industry thanks to its versatility, low cost, and ability to mimic the qualities of products made with PHOs.
“Food manufacturers started to replace trans fats with other shelf-stable types of fat that still allowed their products to taste good, refrain from becoming rancid, and have a texture and ‘mouthfeel’ that customers liked,” says Katherine Zeratsky, RDN, LD, a clinical dietitian and assistant professor of nutrition with Mayo Clinic. “In many cases, the answer was to switch to a tropical oil, specifically palm oil.”
Today, palm oil is one of the world’s most widely used oils, with nearly 70% of the global production used in foods.2 Yet despite its popularity, palm oil remains controversial for its health—it’s about 50% saturated fat3—and environmental impacts.
A Contentious Journey
Understanding why palm oil remains mired in controversy requires understanding the evolution of saturated fat and its role in the food system. Nina Teicholz, PhD, a journalist and author who founded the Nutrition Coalition, conducted a deep dive into the battle for food oil dominance in her New York Times bestselling book, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.
Trans fats were created in the early 1900s by German chemist Wilhelm Normann, who found that partial hydrogenation could be used to convert vegetable oils into solids. Proctor & Gamble later acquired the US rights to his patent, and in 1911, Crisco was born.4
At the time, PHOs were ideal replacements for animal fats, which had plummeted out of favor in the wake of Upton Sinclair’s exposé of the meat packing industry, The Jungle. PHOs soon became widely used by food manufacturers for shelf-stable baked goods and other products.
Tropical oils, including palm, were introduced into the US market as a less expensive alternative to trans fats. “They were unique amongst vegetable oils in that they’re highly saturated, which allows them to be solid at room temperature. Coconut and palm oil became a threat, and, in response, US companies lobbied Congress in the 1930s to prohibit their importation as a way of keeping out the competition,” Teicholz says, noting that the tropical oil ban was in place until 1948.
However, in the late 1980s, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the National Heart Savers Association pushed to eliminate saturated fat—and therefore palm oil—from the American diet, endorsing trans fats as a more healthful alternative. Buoyed by the adoption of the “diet-heart hypothesis,” based on the concept that saturated fat causes CVD by raising serum cholesterol, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee included a recommendation to cap saturated fat intake at 10% of daily calories—a recommendation that remains in the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.5,6
“That’s the nation’s most important nutrition [guidance] and it says cut out saturated fat and replace it with polyunsaturated vegetable oils,” Teicholz says, noting that the limitation came even though most vegetable oils were modified through partial hydrogenation, which had been found to have health risks.
The Rise of Palm Oil
Palm oil’s fate shifted in the 1990s when the Center for Science in the Public Interest set its sights on PHOs, which were found to raise the risk of CVD by increasing LDL cholesterol and decreasing HDL cholesterol. This led to the FDA’s 2015 ban and requirement that trans fats be listed on Nutrition Facts labels.
Today, “Palm oil remains a very important part of the basic ingredient list for all of these ultraprocessed foods,” Teicholz says.
It’s the world’s most used oil, with an estimated global consumption of 78 million metric tons in 2023.7 It’s highly versatile and used as a raw material in food applications such as margarine, spreads, confectionary fats, ice cream, emulsifiers, and vanaspati.
However, it’s not without new controversy. The latest came in 2020 when the US banned imports from two of the world’s largest palm oil producers, Malaysian-owned Sime Darby Plantation Berhad and FGV Holdings Berhad, for forced labor and other abuse concerns.4 Palm oil is also controversial for its contribution to regional tropical deforestation and to peatland draining and burning, all of which contribute to biodiversity declines, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollution.8,9
Functional Benefits
Palm oil is a rich natural source of carotenoids and can be used for vitamin A fortification, says Kimberly Snodgrass, RDN, LD, FAND, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Its bioactive minor components can also be used for the fortification of foods and as dietary supplements in capsule form, including carotenoids, vitamin E, phytosterols, and CoQ10. It can also be interesterified and used to produce human milk fat equivalents with nutritional properties suitable for infant formula.10
Despite its positives, Snodgrass tempers her enthusiasm about the dietary role of palm oil, noting that “There are proponents on both sides of the fence.” While RDs are “trained that moderation is the key and having variety is important … palm oil may not be my first oil of choice, [although] it has some potential health benefits,” she says.
Lena Beal, MS, RDN, LD, also an Academy spokesperson, highlights the role tocotrienol—the form of vitamin E found in palm oil—plays in brain and heart health. While more studies are needed, palm oil tocotrienol “protects brain tissue from dangerous free radicals. In fact, one study showed that palm oil tocotrienols may even halt the progression of brain lesions,” she says, adding that “the antioxidant effects of vitamin E found in palm oil seem to reduce or even halt the progression of heart disease in some patients.”
However, Beal notes that palmitic acid—the main saturated fat in palm oil—is the reason its consumption is associated with higher LDL cholesterol. Yet, palm oil also contains monounsaturated fats and powerful antioxidants like vitamin E tocotrienols that inhibit cholesterol synthesis as well. Reheated palm oil shows far fewer benefits than fresh.11
“In fact, reheated palm oil may not just lose the heart benefits of fresh palm oil, it may actually increase your risk of heart disease such as atherosclerosis. If you’re at risk for heart disease, avoid eating reheated palm oil or foods containing reheated palm oil,” Beal says.
Everything in Moderation
Despite a growing body of research indicating that saturated fats have no impact on heart attack, stroke, and other major cardiovascular outcomes, the diet-heart hypothesis remains the underpinning of public health policy. Most dietary guidelines recommend limiting its consumption to protect against heart disease. The American Heart Association, for example, recommends just 5% to 6% of daily calories from saturated fat for anyone needing to lower their cholesterol.
As such, RDs should be mindful of the cardiovascular health risks associated with the high levels of saturated fats in palm oil when counseling clients and patients on the oil’s role in a healthful diet. However, “It’s also important to keep an open mind in terms of knowing that we have a lot more to learn about fat,” Zeratsky says.
As clinicians, RDs need to help the public understand that while it may be important for some people to limit saturated fats, it’s also important “to be practical and realistic. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. There’s a small allowance for some saturated fat in their diet, and they should prioritize how they want to use it,” she says.
Teicholz shares a message about palm oil that she admits many dietitians “would be reluctant to hear, which is that the current data really has exonerated saturated fats [and that] using a solid, stable fat like coconut, palm, tallow, suet, or butter isn’t harmful to your health. There’s a good body of science to show that those fats are even safer because they don’t oxidize and cause inflammation, which is a real concern with polyunsaturated vegetable oils.
“Despite what we’ve been told, the last decade of science shows that those fats are safe for consumption,” she adds. “This information, lamentably, hasn’t been absorbed by the US Dietary Guidelines.”
Ultimately, palm oil guidance comes down to moderation based on the individual’s health needs. “Do not overdo anything,” Snodgrass says. “The key takeaways are to eat your vegetables and fruit, drink your water, eat your lean protein [and] whole grains, and exercise.”
— Elizabeth S. Goar is a freelance health writer from Benton, Wisconsin.
Expected and Unexpected Uses for Palm Oil
The following is a list of common food products containing palm oil, compiled by the Ethical Consumer:
• Biscuits/cookies: Palm oil helps “shorten” the dough, which results in a crumbly and melt-in-the-mouth texture, producing cookies that have a softer texture and are more compact.
• Bread: Palm oil keeps bread soft and improves loaf volume.
• Breakfast bars: Palm oil keeps breakfast bars from melting during transport.
• Butter/margarine: Palm oil prevents butter and margarine from oxidizing and provides consistency, texture, and structure.
• Cake: Palm oil improves cake’s shelf life as well as the texture.
• Cereal: Palm oil keeps cereal crunchy and fresh.
• Chocolate/chocolate spread: Palm oil gives a smooth and shiny appearance to chocolate and chocolate spread and helps prevent melting in warmer temperatures.
• Crackers: Palm oil gives crackers a creamy texture and flavor.
• Chips: Palm oil is a cheaper alternative to other vegetable oils when frying potato and other chips.
• Dog food/cat food: Palm oil is used as a filler and gives pet food a longer shelf life.
• Doughnuts: Palm oil is used to fry doughnuts.
• Dried nuts: Palm oil is regularly used to roast nuts.
• Dry/canned soup: Palm oil functions as a natural preservative in processed meals.
• Fast food: Palm oil enhances the taste of processed food and, because it has a high melting point, can make fast food less greasy.
• Frozen meals: Palm oil prevents sticking and functions as a natural preservative.
• Gravy granules: Palm oil gives gravy a thick consistency when hot water is added to the granules.
• Ice cream: Palm oil increases the melting point and gives ice cream a thicker consistency while keeping it smooth and creamy.
• Infant formula: Palm oil replicates a fatty acid present in human breast milk and also provides a creamy texture.
• Instant noodles: Instant noodles are fried in palm oil.
• Microwave popcorn: Palm oil gives popcorn a buttery taste and helps kernels pop.
• Nondairy creamer: Palm oil provides a creamy flavor and texture.
• Peanut butter: Palm oil keeps nut oil and solids from separating.
• Pizza bases: Palm oil prevents dough from sticking, enhances texture, and adds crispiness.
• Salad dressing: Palm oil’s high vitamin E content makes it a very stable oil.
• Stock cubes: Palm oil is added to stock cubes for its nutrients like carotenoids and vitamin E.
• Vegetable shortening: Palm oil is solid at room temperature and also gives shortening a thick texture.
• Vitamins: Fat assists in absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and nutrients in palm oil may add nutritional benefit.
• Whipping cream: Palm oil is used in whipping cream for its stability.
Source: Owens J. Foods that contain palm oil. Ethical Consumer website. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/foods-contain-palm-oil. Published October 15, 2020.
References
1. Trans fat. US Food and Drug Administration website. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/trans-fat. Updated April 30, 2024. Accessed May 26, 2024.
2. Ritchie H. Palm oil. Our World in Data website. https://ourworldindata.org/palm-oil. Published February 4, 2021. Accessed May 27, 2024.
3. Oil, palm. US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service website. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171015/nutrients. Published April 1, 2019. Accessed May 27, 2024.
4. Klonoff DC. Replacements for trans fats-will there be an oil shortage? J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2007;1(3):415-422.
5. Teicholz N. A short history of saturated fat: the making and unmaking of a scientific consensus. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2023;30(1):65-71.
6. US Department of Health and Human Services; US Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025. 9th Edition. https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf. Published December 2020.
7. World palm oil usage distribution. Statista website. https://www.statista.com/statistics/274127/world-palm-oil-usage-distribution/. Accessed May 31, 2024.
8. Mason M, McDowell R. US bans second Malaysian palm oil giant over forced labor. AP News website. https://apnews.com/article/forced-labor-malaysia-261eb108042b23eee596091a40a9a9aa. Published December 30, 2020. Accessed May 28, 2024.
9. Meijaard E, Brooks TM, Carlson KM, et al. The environmental impacts of palm oil in context. Nat Plants. 2020;6:1418-1426.
10. Xian TK, Omar NA, Ying LW, et al. Reheated palm oil consumption and risk of atherosclerosis: evidence at ultrastructural level. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:828170.
11. Lai OM, Tan CP, Akoh CC, eds. Palm Oil: Production, Processing, Characterization, and Uses. 1st ed. AOCS Press; 2012.