Palm Oil

Other Name(s):

A long list of over 300 different names.

Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa but has become naturalised globally. It’s grown extensively in South East Asia, and South America. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil and regrettably, much of it is produced unsustainably using slash-and-burn deforestation and destruction of natural habitats. Thankfully, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a non-profit organization championing this cause. They independently audit plantations to ensure that RSPO accredited palm oil is produced without harming local ecosystems and indigenous wildlife.

Benefits: Why is Palm Oil used?

Innumerable Uses

Palm oil is said to be contained in over 50% of the products ones would most commonly find on supermarket shelves.

Odourless & Colourless

Palm oil is odourless and colourless so it can be used in a wide range of products without affecting their visual appearance of taste.

Convenient Texture

Palm oil remains spreadable at room temperature, a convenient attribute for many cosmetic formulations and food items.

Stable

Palm Oil is resistant to oxidation and can thus increase the shelf live of products, it is also stable at very high temperatures making it convenient for frying.

Learn more about Palm Oil:

On the Shelf: Which Products Use Palm Oil?

Palm Oil and its derivatives can be found in all product types across all categories - from personal, body and skincare, to food items, and household cleaning.

Production: How is Palm Oil Made?

The palm fruit is separated from the tree using specialised cutting tools, and hand picked from the ground. Before they are processed any further, the fruit must be sterilized using high temperature steam to deactivate the naturally occurring lipolytic enzymes. The flesh of the palm fruit is then separated from the palm kernel (also known as the seeds). The palm kernels are then pressed to extract the crude palm oil. The crude palm oil is then clarified, and remaining solid particulate is filtered out. The clarified, crude palm oil matt then be further processed, refined and chemically altered to produce hundreds of other ingredients.

Interesting Fact: Palm Oil

After pressing the oil from the palm kernel, the leftover shells are repurposed as biofuel.

Palm oil is the most consumed vegetable oil in the whole world.

Elaeis guineensis Palm is the highest yielding oil plant in the world.