Introduction

A Supplement on Palm Oil – Why?

While this Special Supplement on Palm Oil was being

conceptualized and experts from different fields were being

invited to contribute, the latest Dietary Guidelines for

Americans (2010) were also being finalized. As in previous

versions of these Guidelines, it was anticipated that a

substantial section would be devoted to the role of dietary

fats and oils and their impact on human health. While the focus

of the Guidelines is the health of the American population, the

high-standing that American science enjoys world-wide

invariably means that this document becomes a source of

reference for other countries also. As such we thought it timely

to put together a Supplement on palm oil. While palm oil usage

in the US dwarfs in comparison to that of soyabean oil (4.6%

and 69%, respectively, of total fats and oils consumed in 2009)

its usage in global nutrition is dramatically different.

As can be seen in Fig. 1, in 2009, of the approximately 130

million MT of vegetable oil produced, palm oil accounted for

31% of global production, while the second leading vegetable

oil, soyabean oil, accounted for 28%. (Olive oil, which is

frequently touted for its health benefits, accounted for ,2.3%

of global production). In terms of export, palm oil was again

the leading vegetable oil, accounting for 54% of global

exports, with soyabean oil second, with 17% of the market.

The oil palm occupies less than 5% of oil crop areas and less

than 1% of agricultural land area in the world (Fig. 2) and as

such the oil palm produces 113, 103 and 73 more oil per

hectare than soyabean, sunflower and rapeseed, respectively

(Fig. 3). Thus, oil palm has the highest oil output per unit

cultivated area, which significantly diminishes the burden of

additional land use that would otherwise need to be brought

under oilseeds cultivation in order to meet increasing demands,

primarily from increasing global population (Fig. 4). On a

country-by-country basis, Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina

are the major net exporters of oils and fats, while the vast

majority of countries (including the United States since the

year 2006) are net importers (Fig. 5). With regards to the latter

this includes China and India - with a combined population in

excess of 2.4 billion (,37% of the world population). Based

on recommendations by the World Health Organization for

human edible oils/fat consumption, some 20–24 kg oils and

fats are needed per capita on a global scale.

The views expressed in each article of this supplement (including ours) are solely those of the authors and in no way reflect the opinions of their respective Institutions, the

American College of Nutrition or the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Disclosures: P.K. is on the speakers bureau for the Malaysian Palm Oil Council and the American Palm Oil Council and has previously received (1996–2005) research support

from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. K.S. is also the Deputy CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council

Fig. 1. Global vegetable oil production in 2009 (percentage).

Fig. 2. Global harvested areas of oil crops in the world (millions

of hectares).

Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 29, No. 3, 237S–239S (2010)

Published by the American College of Nutrition

237S

Fig. 3. Average oil yield (tones/hectare/year) of Oil Palm vs. other Oilseed Crops.

Fig. 4. Total harvested area and corresponding vegetable oil output.

Introduction

238S VOL. 29, NO. 3

In the current Supplement, while focusing on the science

behind palm oil’s nutritional impact was a key goal, we

realized that sound nutritional science always clashes head-on

with economics and politics. Hence the Supplement contains

reviews on these two key issues. In the last few years global

attention (with Europe and North America leading the way)

has focused on minimizing trans fatty acids in the food supply,

primarily resulting from the partial hydrogenation of liquid

vegetable oils. Various options are being considered including

the use of animal fats, genetically modified oils, interester-

ification, as well as the blending of different oils – the use of

palm oil is one of the major considerations owing to supply

and functional considerations. This topic is also discussed.

Additionally, the presence of various minor components in

palm oil (e.g carotenoids, vitamin E tocotrienols) are leading to

a wider array of applications. Thus red palm oil, is being used

to combat vitamin A deficiencies in various parts of the world

while the putative health benefits of tocotrienols are opening

up new and promising areas of research. We therefore sought

experts to review these topics as well.

The world population is projected to increase from 6.8

billion (current) to 9 billion by the year 2043. Global demand

for fats and oils is projected to increase from 130 million MT

(current) to 260 million MT by the year 2030. Thus, given the

dynamics of the oil palm crop – its role in global nutrition is

assured through to the middle of this century.

REFERENCES

http://www.census.gov

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dietaryguidelines.htm

http://www.fao.org

http://www.mpoc.org.my

http://www.oilworld.org

http://www.soystats.com

http://www.who.org

All sites were accessed at various times between May and June, 2010

Fig. 5. Country by country imports/exports of vegetable oils.

Pramod Khosla, PhD, and Kalyana Sundram, PhD

Dept. of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University,

Detroit, Michigan (P.K.), Science and Environment Division,

Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Malaysia

(K.S.)

Introduction

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NUTRITION 239S