5 Interesting Facts about Palm Oil

Palm oil is edible vegetable oil and is used in a wide variety of products, especially in packaged food products. It can be found in daily used food products and personal care items like pizza, chocolates, deodorants, lipstick and toothpaste. In some parts of the world it is also used as bio fuel and animal feed. Some interesting facts about palm oil are mentioned below:

·        Palm oil is known for its versatility. It is widely used in cleaning products and personal care products. In fact, more than half of the personal care products contain palm oil or its derivatives because of its cheap availability

·        Popular application of palm oil comes hand in hand with its infamous effect on environment. It has gained world attention due to massive deforestation that is required to make space for its plantation. It is known to destroy habitats of rare species of animals like Orangutan and Sumatran rhino.

·        Palm fruits are harvested to extract palm oil. Fire is generally used to clear these cultivations. These forest fires encourage greenhouse gases emission and contribute in air pollution. It also gives rise to various health conditions like respiratory diseases, and skin and eye diseases.

·        Palm oil consumption is associated with negative health impacts as the saturated fat content is much higher than any vegetable oil.

·        In spite of its detrimental impact on health and environmental impact, it is actively sued across all the industries. The reason is its productivity. Palm plants can be harvested in soils that are unsuitable for any other crop. They are known to produce highest yield per acre when compared to other oilseed crops. Moreover, its production cost is very less then alternative animal and vegetable fats. Such aspects are giving a strong motivation to palm oil market at the global level.

Sustainable palm oil is the future and governments are encouraging its production and usage. UK leads with 75% of sustainable palm oil imports.