I refer to the letter Virgin coconut oil the way to go .

I read with much concern the above mentioned letter and the significant injustice it does to your readers. Mike Gabriel, unfortunately, chose to masquerade as an expert on palm oil and blatantly preaches a whole bunch of wrong facts about palm oil, aimed I suppose, at frightening the wits of the lay consumers. Let me try and set the facts right so that the truth prevails.

The author rightly states that palm oil is refined and the standard industry nomenclature is Refined Bleached and Deodorised (RBD) palm oil and palm olein. Everything else stated by Gabriel is grossly inadequate. Let me highlight these as follows :

1. Claim: Palm oil is manufactured at a high temperature of 400C and this strips it of the nutrients leaving it an empty sterile and naked cooking oil.

Truth: During the processing of palm oil, which incidentally meets international HACCP standards, the maximum temperature exposure is during the final stage called deodorisation. At this stage the oil is enclosed in a vessel (deodoriser) under vacuum and controlled pressure with temperatures never exceeding 260-270C. The contact time in the deodoriser is also for the shortest time possible so that no damage occurs to the oil.

If 400C is used, as suggested, the oil would be unfit for human consumption. Palm oil is processed, just like all other edible oils and fats, to meet international Codex or similar specifications. They all incidentally prescribe GMP for edible oil processing and maximum temperatures in the deodorisation stage never exceeds 270C.

2. Claim: Manufacturers add synthetic Vitamin E and colour. All the palm Vitamin E, tocotrienols are destroyed.

Truth: Sale of edible oils and fats in Malaysia is strictly regulated by our Malaysian Food Regulations Act which does not allow the addition of any colouring matter to edible cooking oils. With palm oil, every attempt is made to retain the Vitamin E tocotrienols which are natural antioxidants. The average Vitamin E content in a litre of palm olein bought from our local supermarkets is about 450 ppm.

This is the natural Vitamin E retained in the oil - not added to the oil as claimed. There are many health benefits associated with tocotrienols and we make sure that these antioxidants are retained in the oil. Palm oil/olein is unique in that it has a high content of natural Vitamin E tocotrienols.

Have you seen the red palm olein on your supermarket shelf?. This is a unique product rich in Vitamin E and carotenoids that carry many health benefits.

3. Claim: Palm oil is rancid before we take it home.

Truth: You cannot sell a rancid oil since even the most unsophisticated consumer is able to tell the difference between a good and rancid oil. The truth is that palm oil is highly stable and is the preferred edible oil for cooking and frying. If you attempt to undertake high temperature frying with other oils (including virgin coconut oil) they oxidise rapidly and the food cooked in them develop many off-flavours.

Gabriel advocates the use of virgin coconut oil. This is his personal choice but beware that his claims are not supported by concrete scientific evidence. On the other hand, palm oil has been subjected to more than three decades of vigorous scientific scrutiny on a global scale and its nutritional benefits are well-documented and supported by science (see here for additional information).

Even as this is written, palm oil is increasingly been looked upon as the natural alternative in the USA and Europe to hydrogenated fats containing trans fatty acids. In fact, only last week we published a scientific report that augers well for palm oil for its effects on blood cholesterol, blood sugar and risk for diabetes.

We suggest that the likes of Gabriel should check their facts and not sensationalise issues so as to frighten our consumers. It is hoped that this will help to set the record straight for your readers.

The writer is attached to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council .