Palm Oil Facts
FACT 1: Palm Oil is Not Palm Kernel Oil or Coconut Oil - Palm oil from the fruit of the palm is physically and chemically different from either palm kernel oil which is derived from the seed, and from coconut oil, both of which are highly saturated.
FACT 2: Long Record of Safe Use - Palm oil has been a safe and nutritious source of edible oil for humans for thousands of years.
FACT 3: Consumed Worldwide - Palm oil and its liquid fraction, palm olein, are consumed worldwide as cooking oils and as constituents of margarines and shortenings; these oils are also incorporated into fat blends used in the manufacture of a variety of food products as well as in home food preparation.
FACT 4: Excellent Dietary Energy Source - Like other common edible fats and oils, palm oil is easily digested, absorbed and utilized in normal metabolic processes. It plays a useful role in meeting energy and essential fatty acid needs in many regions of the world.
FACT 5: Free of Cholesterol and Trans Unsaturated Fatty Acids - Palm oil, like other vegetable oils, is cholesterol free. Having a moderate level of saturation, it does not require hydrogenation for use as a fat component in foods and, as such, does not contain trans fatty acids.
FACT 6: Rich Carotenoids - Red (unprocessed) and red or golden (specially refined) palm oils, the major cooking oils in many parts of the world, are rich sources of beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A, which some studies have found to have antioxidant properties.
FACT 7: Vitamin E Antioxidants - Palm oil and palm oil products are naturally occurring sources of the antioxidant vitamin E constituents, tocopherols and tocotrienols. These natural antioxidants may act as scavengers of damaging oxygen free radicals. Some studies have suggested that antioxidants may play a protective role in cellular aging, atherosclerosis and cancer.
FACT 8: Balanced Fatty Acid Composition - Palm olein contains a mixture of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids. The relative concentrations are 44% oleic acid, 10% linoleic acid, 40% palmitic acid and 5% stearic acid. The concentrations of palmitic and oleic acids are reversed in unfractionated palm oil i.e. 44% and 40% respectively. The fatty acid composition of palm oil is similar to that of the adipose tissue in most people on an ordinary diet.
FACT 9: Provides Linoleic Acid: An Essential Fatty Acid - Palm oil triglycerides carry linoleic acid predominately in the 2-position, which favours absorption and availability for use in the body
FACT 10: Oil palm is the only fruit that can give two types of oil. Palm oil comes from the mesocarp (flesh of the fruit) and the lauric palm kernel oil from the kernel at the fruit's core. The two oils are separated in the oil palm bunches by the thick shell of palm kernels.
FACT 11: Palm oil is produced from the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis. It is a vegetable oil, not an animal or dairy product, and therefore does not contain cholesterol. Palm oil is sometimes confused with palm kernel oil, but in fact it is quite different compositionally.
FACT 12: Palm oil has been used in food preparation for over 5,000 years. Today it is consumed worldwide as a cooking oil, margarine and shortening. It is also used as an ingredient in fat blends and a vast array of food products.
FACT 13: Palm oil comes from the mesocarp (flesh of the fruit) and the lauric palm kernel oil from the kernel at the fruit's core. The two oils are separated in the oil palm bunches by the thick shell of palm kernels.
FACT 14: Semi-solid at room temperature, these oils or fats can be fractionated into solid and liquid fractions known as stearins and oleins respectively. They can also be processed through physical or chemical refining to yield either refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) or neutralized, bleached and deodorized (NBD) palm oil and palm kernel oil. Combinations of these processes lead to various types of palm oil and palm kernel oil products
FACT 15: Significant scientific findings about palm oil have arisen from painstaking research in many laboratories.
Summing up the facts, Carotino red palm oil contains-
- Natural pro-Vitamin A (Beta-carotene)
- Vitamin E (tocopherol)
- “Super Vitamin E” (tocotrienol)
- Heart-friendly Omega 3 essential fatty acids
- Lycopene
- Heart-friendly Co-enzyme Q10
- Low in ‘bad’ saturated fat
- Free from harmful “trans-fats”
- Naturally Cholesterol Free
- Free from additives and colours
