John Myers
Leaving aside the destruction of the rainforest, palm oil has also been criticized for its potential health hazards. Is it really dangerous?
That’s what it’s about:
Palm oil contains substances that could be dangerous
The potentially hazardous substances in palm oil arise primarily during refining. The palm oil is treated with steam at temperatures above 200 degrees Celsius. Unpleasant odors and flavors disappear in this way. Otherwise the oil would be inedible.
But while unwanted smells and flavors disappear, dangerous esters are formed: glycidyl, 3-monochloropropanediol and 2-MCPD fatty acid esters. When digested, it becomes glycidol, 3-MCPD and 2-MCPD. Different negative properties are assigned to the three substances:
Glycidol: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) classifies it as mutagenic and carcinogenic.
3-MCPD : The EFSA sees a possible harmful effect on the kidneys here. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the WHO, also rates 3-MCPD as “possibly carcinogenic”.
2-MCPD : Again, it is suspected to be kidney toxic and possibly heart toxic as well. Studies by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment at least indicate this.
These fatty acid esters cannot be completely avoided in the production of palm oil
That’s why we need to talk about it:
Palm oil is in many foods
Not many people in Germany have bottled palm oil in their kitchens. So you might think at first that it is hardly ever used. In fact, however, it is in a large part of our food that we buy ready-made in the supermarket. Be it frozen pizza, chocolate cream, muesli or baby food – the list could go on and on, but we don’t want to bore you. The best thing to do in the supermarket is to simply look at the list of ingredients yourself.
There are good reasons for using palm oil: like no other product, it combines important properties: palm oil is cheap, cultivation is resource-efficient, it is tasteless and it makes margarine spreadable, for example.
But:
How dangerous palm oil really is is not entirely clear
When describing the three substances, you may have noticed that there is a “possible harmful effect”, “there are indications” and it is “possibly carcinogenic”. Especially when it comes to the effects of 3- and 2-MCPD, we still don’t know enough. For example, Alfonso Lamps from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, who was involved in the EFSA Commission for the assessment of hazardous substances, says: “So far, there are no suitable studies for a risk assessment of 2-MCPD”.
While 3-MCPD is still being discussed in the EU , there have been new limit values for glycidol in cooking oil and fat since September 19, 2018. Samples have already shown that the values for glycidol have already fallen considerably. For example, there is now baby food that does not contain any palm oil. This is important because while the risk is not very high for adults who occasionally eat products containing palm oil, it is very high for infants. Because babies use these milk substitute powders all the time. “According to our assessment, babies who only receive infant formula are ten times more exposed than can be considered harmless,” said EFSA scientist Marco Binaglia last year. And glycidol is actually considered to be carcinogenic.
The limit values of the EFSA are therefore not sufficient for the BfR either: Alfonso Lamps: “Because we do not know at what level the genotoxic effect takes effect. There is no threshold value.” This means: in the worst case, even the tiniest amounts can be problematic and cause cancer in the long term. But then why the limit value in fats and oils? That’s a risk management measure, Lamps said. These fatty acid esters cannot be completely avoided in the manufacturing process. The state is trying to reduce the entry as much as technically possible. However, as a precaution, the BfR would have set the limit value significantly lower. And in an area in which the risk of a toxicological effect is even lower.
And now?
Further reduce the pollutant content – and limit the consumption of vegetable oils
The BfR recommends that the fatty acid ester values must be further reduced. And a reduction is also possible. There are different starting points, says Bertrand Matthäus from the Max Rubner Institute, Federal Research Institute for Nutrition and Food (MRI).
For example at harvest. Palm oil is made from the fruit of the oil palm. Faster processing of fruit that is only harvested when it is ripe results in fewer diglycerides, says Matthäus. “These are precursors of the questionable fatty acid esters.” Likewise, by using less chloride-containing fertilizers, for example, compounds containing chloride in the plant can be reduced, from which the fatty acid esters are formed in the production process, says Matthäus.
There are also adjusting screws in the processing. Matthäus: “When oil is refined, you can try to keep the temperatures as low as possible.” Of course, this is not possible indefinitely, because otherwise undesirable pollutants, flavors and odors would not disappear. However, certain washing processes can be used to remove precursors from the oil in advance. This opens up a certain leeway with the temperatures.
And what can each individual do? Anyone can try to limit their palm oil consumption. This is, for example, the advice of the WWF. This is not about a boycott of palm oil, but about a more conscious consumption of sweets, snacks and ready meals. Less is more. This also applies to all vegetable oils. Because palm oil at least has the advantage of being resource-efficient.
And: In order to be able to better assess how high the fatty acid ester levels are in our food, the BfR has launched a project. Data on the levels of 3-, 2-MCPD and glycidyl fatty acid esters in our food are collected.
