CPOPC Responds to Food Ingredients First

Dear Editorial Team,

The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) is an intergovernmental organisation representing palm oil producing countries, established on 21 November 2015. Indonesia and Malaysia are the founding members and Honduras the third member country. The Secretariat of CPOPC is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

CPOPC is deeply concerned with the contents of the article entitled "Healthier and greener? Palm oil alternative partnership to scale up microalgae-based replacement" authored by Insha Naureen published in the website of Food Ingredients First (foodingredientsfirst.com) on 30 October 2023. In this regard, we are writing to correct the misconception and provide science-based evidence about the health advantages and sustainable production of palm oil for the information and benefits of the readers.

The author began the article with a conflicting statement and the article contains claims that are not supported by scientific evidence. Our question is why create an alternative or palm oil replacer in order to reduce the reliance on palm oil? This demonstrated the importance of palm oil that cannot be substituted. The article claimed that the oil produced by microalgae is nutritionally better, healthier and greener. However, these claims were not supported by any science-based evidences.

The two largest palm oil producing countries namely Indonesia and Malaysia, have been reported by the World Resources Institute to have declining rates of primary forest loss for five years in a row which show the commitment of these palm oil producing countries to conserve forest and biodiversity. More importantly, both countries focus on enhancing productivity on the existing oil palm planted areas without opening new land areas for oil palm cultivation through national policies and national sustainable certification schemes. Palm oil is the only vegetable oil subjected to the most stringent sustainable certification schemes including national schemes namely, Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) as well as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

There are scientific evidences to show that oil palm cultivation reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Growing trees is one of the important ways to create carbon sink at scale and oil palm tree is a tree. As a tree, one of the ecological functions is to absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen to the atmosphere. Therefore, the carbon sequestration potential of oil palm has already been extensively reported. Thus, it is clear that the existing oil palm plantations play an important role to contribute to reduction of GHG emission.

On the other hand, the article did not disclose any impacts on the environment due to the construction of an area of 3,000 square km of the algae farm which claims to be able to produce 1.2 million tonnes of oil. The article also did not reveal the use of various chemicals and processes involved in the separation technology which may be detrimental to the environment. More importantly, the article did not reveal the potential risks and challenges faced in the cultivation of the selected species of microalgae to the aquatic environment. There are published evidences that confirmed the disadvantages of using microalgae. Therefore, the article in its current form is misleading.

The author also alleged that the oil palm industry is associated with labour exploitation citing a case in the US. The author failed to recognise that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had already allowed the shipments of palm oil and its derivatives of a company to enter the US, after findings had proven that palm oil and its derivative products are not produced using forced labour.

To put in perspective, both Indonesia and Malaysia have ratified the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) which demonstrated the commitment of the palm oil-producing countries to eradicate forced labour. The oil palm industry plays a key role in uplifting the living standards and enhancing the wellbeing of the oil palm smallholders. The palm industry is important for the socio-economic development of palm oil producing countries. The oil palm industry has successfully lowered the poverty level among rural farmers including smallholders, generated productive employment and job opportunities, ensured food security, and contributed to energy security. More importantly, the palm oil sector has a positive correlation with the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Therefore, this further emphasised the lack of understanding and awareness of the author about the oil palm industry as well as the importance of the industry for the smallholders especially for poverty eradication.

There is also misinformation about palm oil for food uses in particular associated with the contents of saturated fatty acids.  Palm oil is one of the 17 major oils and fats recognised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO). Palm oil contains a balanced proportion of saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids, namely 50% saturated fatty acids (mainly palmitic acid, C16:0) and 50% unsaturated fatty acids (mainly oleic acid, C18:1 (40%) and linoleic acid, C18:2 (10%). Palm oil is mainly consumed as a cooking oil in the liquid form, palm olein, which contains a higher amount of unsaturation.

Scientific evidence from credible research institutions worldwide has proven the nutritional benefits of palm oil. There is no adverse effect from palm oil and palmitic acid on cholesterol. The nutritional studies in Australia, India, China and Malaysia showed that palm oil does not raise cholesterol levels and behaves more like a monounsaturated oil, like olive. Numerous human clinical trials have shown that palm olein and olive oil have similar effects on fasting plasma lipids. Please refer to Figure 1 on the human studies on long term intake of palm olein and unsaturated oils.

Source: MPOB (2017) Pocketbook of Oil Palm Uses

Figure 1: Human studies on long term intake of palm olein and unsaturated oils

There are contents in the article which demonstrated the ignorance of the author about the oils and fats industry. It was alleged that hydrogenated fats are often associated with increased rates of cardiovascular diseases. Palm oil does not require hydrogenation process for use as a fat component, making palm oil free from trans fatty acids and suitable to be made into margarines and shortenings in bakery products. It is trans fatty acids produced through partial hydrogenation process that have been proven to have detrimental effects on health.

In addition, the disclosure of the use of palm oil as an ingredient in products are subjected to the regulatory and labelling requirements of the country. There are many companies that disclose the use of palm oil as an ingredient but were not discussed in the article. There are some companies that use the “palm oil free” label even when there is not one drop of oil in the list of ingredients. Why has the author not opposed to such discriminating marketing tools which have negative impacts for palm oil?

There are many products referenced in the article to replace palm oil. One of the examples cited was palm-free solution for plant-based chicken nugget formulations.  Why do these new products associate themselves with palm oil?

As a conclusion, the article contains negative allegations on palm oil that are not substantiated with scientific evidence and unfair for the industry taking into consideration there were misleading and misinformation. We hope that a fair article containing facts and information supported by science-based evidence will be published. CPOPC is ready to engage with the author to provide scientific evidence and information related to the oil palm industry.

The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries

3 November 2023