MPOB Educates China's Market On Healing Power Of Red Palm Oil

By S. Joan Santani KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Red palm oil is proving to be nutritionally superior vegetable oil due to its varied health benefits in fighting vitamin deficiencies and bolstering the heart against stress despite baseless attacks by hostile European groups for fear of losing their market share to the golden crop. Proven scientific studies show that the red palm oil fruit is densely packed with numerous tocotrienols -- a powerful form of vitamin E and vitamin A, antioxidants and other phytonutrients which help fight vitamins deficiency and support the heart against stress. It also regulates cholesterol levels, improves blood circulation and reduces blood pressure. However, the hostile groups ranging from policy makers to consumer groups from France, Belgium to Switzerland continue to hurl vicious allegations that red palm oil is responsible for cancer and heart disease despite strong evidence showing it is actually good for health. Palm oil is also completely free of trans fats and contains a balance of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and its consumption is not linked to any form of cancer. And these groups conveniently ignore the fact that the main reason for their health problems could be due to their lifestyle which include alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking which are hazardous to health. But they attempt to paint bad light on red palm oil as the real reason is that palm oil is undoubtedly a competitor to soybean and rapeseed vegetable oils as demand continues to increase in tandem with population growth which could threaten their market share. Besides packed with anti-oxidants, other benefits associated with red palm oil fruit, includes improving blood circulation, regulating cholesterol levels and reducing blood pressure. This has been backed by scientific evidence, whereby the value of red palm oil as a rich source of carotenes to cure and prevent vitamin A deficiency was recognised and studied in India back to the mid-1930s. The study has proven that palm oil is indeed a nutritionally superior oil by the latest findings from the 'Red Palm Oil Programme' mounted by the Malaysia's Palm Oil Research and Technical Service Institute of the Malaysian Pam Oil Board (MPOB) (PORTSIM) in Gansu, China. The 'Red Palm Oil Programme' is targeted at improving vitamin A intake for school children through the supply of red palm oil-based biscuits. About 2,000 school children were given biscuits made from red palm shortening to fight Vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness, weaken bones, lower immunity, and adversely affect learning ability and mental function. MPOB Director-General Dr. A. Kushairi Din said the results, from consuming palm-oil based biscuits, showed that the deficiency fell from 21.6 per cent to 6.0 per cent and cured blindness. Red palm oil has been studied as a supplement and as part of food fortification to boost vitamin A levels in rural areas of Gansu. It is effective and helps fortify the food supply in nations where widespread deficiency existed, especially in China, where the people were still unaware of the benefits of palm oil. Efforts have been made by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, MPOB and Malaysian Palm Oil Council to ensure that Malaysian palm oil remains China's major product in the edible oil industry. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong, who was in Tianjin and Shanghai recently for the Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar and Palm Oil Health and Nutrition Forum, visited PORTSIM in Shanghai and learnt about its ongoing and past programmes. The high-level delegation visit led by Mah delegation was indicative of the significance of China's market to Malaysia's palm oil. In his remarks on the results of the Red Palm Programme, Mah said it clearly indicated that palm oil has many uses and plays a big role in China's oils and fats market. Against this backdrop, he expressed confidence that the palm oil consumption in Malaysia's second largest consumer of palm oil will continue to increase. He said Vitamin A deficiency was a significant public health issue in developing countries, and was widespread among pre-school children in rural areas in China that was a major cause of blindness, as well as overall mortality. As the overall results suggested, red palm oil is highly efficacious in improving vitamin A status among populations at risk of vitamin A deficiency. To this end, Mah proposed that red palm oil-based biscuits be distributed to all state schools in China, particularly in the rural areas whose students were mainly vitamin deficient. Concurring, MPOB's Kushairi said now that the first phase of the Red Palm Programme had been completed, it was hoped that a second trial would be completed by year-end. "If this finally works out well in China, we are thinking about promoting the red palm biscuits to Bangladesh, India and African countries soon, as these countries were adversely affected by the Vitamin A deficiency," he told Bernama. The Red Palm Oil Programme is one the programmes initiated by PORTSIM to enhance the image of palm oil in China. As at June 2016, PORTSIM has completed 31 projects and commercialised 21 Food Products projects. It currently has 16 on-going projects. With the establishment of PORTSIM, the MPOB seeks to educate China's market about the benefits of palm oil products. Ultimately, Malaysia hopes that palm oil will not only gain a major foothold in markets worldwide, but also emerge as a major nutrient to help overcome vitamin deficiency among rural students and emerge as a major proponent of good health globally. --BERNAMA