Palm Oil on the Rise as Cities Ban Trans Fats

(ARA) - With big cities like New York requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats from their foods, restaurateurs and consumers alike are seeking a healthful, versatile alternative to oils high in harmful trans fats. Increasingly, they are finding the solution in an age-old natural product - palm oil.

In 2006, governing bodies in New York passed laws requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats from the oils they use in food preparation. According to the Food and Drug Administration, trans fats - which are made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil to prolong shelf life and improve the flavor and stability of foods - raises LDL (bad) cholesterol.

When it comes to choosing an alternative to the hydrogenated vegetable oils that contain trans fats, "palm oil comes out on top," says Dr. K.C. Hayes of Brandeis University. To understand palm's advantages, says Hayes, consider the reasons trans fats were introduced to cooking oils in the first place - heat stability, flavor and versatility.

Oils like corn oil aren't solid enough to use in most baking purposes. And soy, canola and corn oils aren't good for deep frying because they smoke. Palm oil, however, contains different fractions that are usable for both baking and deep frying. When palm oil is heated, it separates and one of the resulting products, palm olein, is good for baking. The liquid fraction is good for frying because it is very stable when heated.

Outside the United States, palm is the most widely used oil in the world, Hayes points out. But it is becoming increasingly available and used here. Celebrity chefs often incorporate palm oil in their gourmet dishes because it doesn't add any flavor of its own to foods, allowing the complexity of flavors in the food itself to shine through.

Further, according to the American Palm Oil Council, trans fat free palm oil or Palm olein surpasses other alternative oils for nutritional value because it contains many potent antioxidants, including beta-carotene, pro-vitamin A carotenoids and tocotreinols, a form of vitamin E.

With the case against trans fats growing increasingly compelling, consumers and the food service industry will increasing turn to palm oil for a more healthful oil alternative. "We now know trans fats increase bad and lower good cholesterol," says Hayes. "There is also evidence that trans fats raise glucose and lower insulin levels."

Hayes foresees the movement against trans fats gaining even more momentum. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has urged public health officials nationwide to follow in the footsteps of New York.

To learn more about palm oil, palm olein and the health benefits of using palm oil in cooking, visit www.americanpalmoil.com or call (877) ASK-PALM (275-7256).

Courtesy of ARAcontent