Palm oil and its fatty acids: a hot topic
In a world that is constantly changing and in which consuming and eating organic is gradually becoming part of our habits, certain food components are increasingly being singled out for their harmful effects on health. Thus palm oil is the subject of many concerns within the government itself. Indeed, a surcharge for manufacturers who still use it in their recipes, could be voted on soon. This is the palm oil amendment.
This oil in question is the fat from the pulp of the palm fruit and is generally imported from Indonesia, which is the world’s leading producer. This oil is also the cause on an ecological level of a lot of deforestation in Asia although France consumes thousands of tons of it in its food every year. According to certain statistics, it is even present in Europe in one in two packaged products: however, everyone has their own statistics, and we learn from other sources of information that palm oil is in fact only in one in ten food products. However, palm oil is often used. And if it’s used that much,
Thus, for a short time there has been a controversy over this fat because the Senate’s Social Affairs Committee has adopted a new amendment against it. The rapporteur of this commission named Yves Daudigny, thus suggests a 300% increase in taxes on palm oil. He justifies himself by talking about the bad impact of this oil on health because it would promote obesity and cardiovascular diseases due to its high content of saturated fatty acids.. He also puts a point on the fact that too often we consume it without knowing it because it is hidden behind the names “vegetable oils”. He also explains that the purpose of all this is also to encourage manufacturers to change their habits in order to reduce their use of this oil, which according to him would be harmful to human health.
In this case, the giant Nutella is indirectly targeted, because it uses this oil in the jars of its spreads, and this up to 20%. This would therefore lead to an increase in its prices because for the moment it refuses to change the composition of its receipts. Moreover, the palm oil amendment has even been renamed “Nutella amendment”. In addition, the national association of food industries now fears a snowball effect on the taxation of a lot of food which would further weaken this sector. Many people are now trying to demonstrate that palm oil is ultimately not that bad for your health and that all this is an exaggeration.
And yet: palm oil is very rich in saturated fatty acids, it is a real fact, and relatively easy to verify, unlike its consequences. For example, sunflower oil contains three times less. Fatty acids can be responsible, in the same way as obesity, for cholesterol problems or cardiovascular problems. As part of healthy eating habits, it is in any case advisable to vary your different dishes as much as possible, and therefore not to consume the same type of fat over and over again. Here again, everything is at the level of eating habits as well as varieties. We must not miss anything, but obviously we must monitor certain products, and limit their quantities; palm oil, according to some sources, would thus be one of these products to avoid.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.