Iran To Totally Ban Palm Oil Use

Tehran, Sept 20, IRNA - High consumption of palmitic acid, which accounts for 44 percent of palm oil, will increase blood cholesterol and trigger cardiovascular diseases, said the head of Nutrition and Food Research Institute of Iran. Dr. Majid Haji-Faraji added that a huge portion of imported palm oil is consumed in the production sector, wrote 'Iran Daily' in its Saturday edition. The presence of saturated fatty acids in this oil makes it semi-solid or solid at room temperature.He said the hazards of trans fatty acids have been proved in recent years. According to researches, high consumption of harmful fats could raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancers.Saturated fatty acids increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases by between nine and 24 percent. The rise in fat intake will increase the calorie intake, which makes a person overweight. Haji-Faraji said the largest consumption of imported palm oil is in the production of frying oil. The official also said palm oil production overtook soybean oil in 2005. Annual palm oil output stands at 50 million tons worldwide. Palm oil output ranked first worldwide followed by soybean, colza and sunflower oils. Forty percent of palm oil are exported. India, China and the European Union are top palm oil importers. Iran imported 750,000 tons of palm oil during the year to March 2014. According to studies conducted in Costa Rica in 2005, replacing palm oil with non-hydrogenated vegetable oils (liquid oils) would decrease the risk of heart attacks. Palm oil is not a good substitute for hydrogenated fats, because it will increase LDL (bad fat) and Apolipoproteins B. Haji-Faraji noted that palmitic acid will increase LDL. European nations have adopted policies to reduce palm oil imports. “A law has been approved in France, which obliges food factories using palm oil to pay 300 percent more taxes to import palm oil,” he said. The use of palm oil will be banned totally as of Sept. 23 in Iran./end