Palm oil exposed: World Health Organization report

Much has been written and said about the dangers of palm oil. Many of us are well aware of the dangers of consuming products containing this component. However, we often underestimate the dangers of palm oil.

WHO experts have long established that palm oil consumption leads to obesity and the development of chronic gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately, experts are absolutely certain that this situation can no longer be ignored, as it has become a global problem.

Today, this evil has been compounded by a negative environmental impact. Rising palm oil consumption has led to an expansion of Elaeis guineensis oil palm plantations. This has led to the destruction of tropical forests and soil depletion. The production itself also causes damage, generating enormous amounts of waste, the disposal of which is of little concern to producers.

The WHO report's authors compare the palm oil production and distribution industry to the tobacco and alcohol industries. The analogy is drawn not only in terms of the level of negative impact on human health and the environment, but also in the scale of lies perpetrated by advertisers and lobbyists. In this industry, companies prioritize their own profits over the well-being of entire generations.

The document calls on politicians, public figures, and healthcare professionals to address this alarming trend and reconsider their attitudes toward this product. This will help significantly reduce the negative impact of this industry on human health and the environment in many regions of the planet.

In 2015, the United States passed a law banning the use of trans fats in the food industry. In 2018, the WHO recommended that all countries follow the US example. However, the ban on unsaturated fats carries dangers. There are serious concerns that producers will completely switch to inexpensive and readily available palm oil, which is no less dangerous.

Why is palm oil the preferred choice among the vast selection of fats available to modern food and processed food manufacturers? This vegetable fat is inexpensive. It also plays a role because palm oil has a much higher saturated fat content than oils derived from other plants.

The high content of saturated fats suggests that vegetable fats are less harmful to humans than those derived from animal sources. Manufacturers often exploit this fact, convincing everyone of the harmlessness and sometimes even health benefits of palm oil. But now that a detailed report based on 48 scientific studies will be presented to the world, the lobbyists for this dangerous product will have no more arguments.

WHO experts conducted extensive research examining the relationship between the rising incidence of coronary heart disease and increased palm oil consumption. The studies were conducted in 23 countries where demand for the product is highest. It was also determined that consuming this type of vegetable fat contributes to elevated levels of "bad cholesterol" (LDL), which is the main cause of atherosclerosis.

The report's authors also acknowledged that articles about the safety and even benefits of palm oil periodically appear not only in the press but also in scientific journals. A detailed analysis of these publications revealed that of the nine such papers that have appeared recently, four were written in Malaysia. This country is one of the largest palm oil producers on the global market. The authors of the articles are employees of the country's Ministry of Agriculture, responsible for the development of this particular industry.

As a result, the report's authors seriously questioned the veracity of the studies described in these "scientific" papers. The WHO emphasized that the scheme is reminiscent of that used by alcohol and tobacco manufacturers to convince consumers of the relative safety of products that pose obvious health risks.

The report also notes that the WHO and FAO (the UN agency responsible for food and agriculture) first warned about the dangers of palm oil back in 2003. Despite this, consumption and production of this fat have doubled since then. It is noted that from 1995 to 2017, palm oil consumption quadrupled!

Close cooperation between palm oil producers and food companies is also fueling increased consumption. Their joint efforts have not only provided significant information support for this dangerous product, but also promoted it through official channels, at the ministerial level.

Around the world, lobbyists are actively opposing attempts to legislate food manufacturers to inform consumers that their products contain palm oil. Today, around 200 different names for this substance can be found in ingredient lists, such as "vegetable fat" or "fats of vegetable origin."

In 2018, a law introducing new rules for labeling dairy products came into effect throughout the Eurasian Economic Union, including Russia. But this doesn't make matters any easier—manufacturers are now required to merely indicate on packaging that their products "contain vegetable fats," without specifically specifying that they are referring to palm oil.