2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-06-06 02:02
Palm oil is harmful to health, especially for children, said EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in early May after a long and detailed study.
In particular, some substances produced during the refining of tropical oil at high temperatures (we are talking about genotoxic contaminants such as 3-Mcpd and 3-monochloropropanediol) are potentially harmful and contribute to the risk of cancer related diseases.
Altroconsumo, the largest consumer association in Italy, brought some packaged products for children such as biscuits, snacks, chips and baby milk to the laboratory and found that "dangerous genotoxic compounds", mainly the 3-monochloropropanediol, are not only present, but exceed the limits imposed by law.
The attention to palm oil has grown dramatically in recent months, leading some Italian regions to eliminate it from public canteens and to revise food labels, which makes it no longer possible to indicate the wording "fats of vegetable origin", but forces to specify the source: most often palm, rapeseed or sunflower.
The multinationals that use palm oil in their products (Ferrero, Unilever, Nestlé …) have created the Union for Sustainable Palm Oil, the network that recently denied the insinuation published in some newspapers that know since 2009 of the presence in palm oil of toxic contaminants dangerous for the health of consumers ».
And while Altroconsumo launches a petition to ask for stricter rules on the consumption of the ingredient, for which Italy boasts the record in Europe, imports into our country remain high (+ 57% in the last 10 years).