Is the media too focused on negative stories? Aren’t we drawn to negative words in headlines? Why people respond quicker to negative words? Or is our fast-paced digital lifestyle causing unhealthy info digestion? I am no psychologist, but trust me, the popularity of negative information far outweighs the rather neutral or positive news.

You may disagree with me, but ignoring the potential benefits of positive information is not helping anyway. People’s hunger to hear and remember bad news without fact-checking just comes too freely. Call it a negativity bias by nature. Pardon my bluntness. Such is the phenomenon plaguing the palm oil industry for decades already.

How it all started

It started with a smear campaign against palm oil led by the American Soybean Association that dominated the news from 1986 to 1989. In the book The War of Oils by K. Gurunathan, it chronicles everything from the beginning, featuring a 3-year high drama of strife involving the heavyweights of both industries, not to mention the high-level politics that ensued.

The slander campaign caught the palm oil industry off guard, but that was a blessing in disguise. It served as a wake-up call to seek out scientific truth about the health and nutritional aspects of palm oil.

The ‘moment of truth’ arrived finally when conclusive research findings favouring the palm oil industry, complete with the undisputed facts and figures, were laid bare on the table. However, it didn’t mean settling the score at 1 : 1. It only sparked off a long and exhausting dispute between the ‘ill informed’ and the ‘well informed’ over the ensuing years.

Reiterating this, Datuk Dr. Kalyana Sundram, chief executive officer of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) said: “The initial anti-palm oil campaigns started in the 1980s. No doubt, at that time, we were ill-equipped with facts and figures. Palm oil was accused of posing health issues then. Nevertheless, we took corrective measures. We invested significantly in health and nutrition research.”

“And bear in mind, that took us about 20 to 25 years to address the issue because if you look at the length of it, everything had to be based on science and facts. But today, that part of the campaign is less intense simply because we have the facts and figures at hand,” he continued.

Insist on scientific facts and figures

Do an online search and I am 100% sure you can easily dig out tonnes of research findings relating to palm oil, palm derivatives and even products made from palm ingredients. And those are the scientifically supported facts and figures that stand the test of time.

Hats off to all the research community members who did the hard work to set the record straight. Industry players can always make good use of those helpful research findings to promote their palm-based products.

“Today, as you are aware of it, the campaign has diverged towards deforestation, climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Again, we have been doing a lot in this regard, including supporting research that seeks to understand the environmental impacts arising from the palm oil industry,” Dr. Sundram acknowledged that there would be a different set of challenges lying ahead, including the never-ending pervasion of misinformation when ‘ignorance and indifference’ of the majority prevails.

Dealing with fake news

Fake news or false information is not new to the palm oil industry. From gossip and hearsay to international brouhaha, I bet you have heard something about it here and there.

“Sadly, there are people who don’t take the pain to understand what is out there. There is a lot of information about palm oil, which is readily available, not just coming from us (MPOC), but internationally as well. Palm oil is one of the most researched oils and fats. There are a lot of independent facts and figures about the benefits of palm oil, plus the challenges and issues facing the industry,” he added.

“If they read up enough to have a balanced picture, we would have less problem. Unfortunately, these people take the easy way out, because to them, sensational news sells, bad news sells!”

“So, making bad news about palm oil is very attractive to them. We are dealing with a lot of fake news. That is part of our challenge. When we say something, our statements must be factually correct and verified. The opposition or the anti-palm oil campaigners are at liberty to say what they want and hence doing the damage and we have to step in to correct such misperceptions.”

“That is very tiring,” Dr. Sundram was telling the brutal truth of how people are easily swayed by the cheap and convenient, unsubstantiated claims against scientific truths, which is tarnishing the palm oil industry.

Why is it challenging?

“There are people who feed on the anti-palm oil sentiments with unsubstantiated claims. They seem to be propagating a gross misunderstanding of the palm oil industry, from cultivation to deforestation, wildlife conservation, health and nutrition,” he explained.

“We are not fighting a fixed target. It’s a moving target. Every day we wake up to a new target, a new challenge.”

“Nevertheless, we are constantly putting up factual information about palm oil while anticipating new attacks, even before the misleading messages surface,” he affirmed.

“For us, fact-based information is everything. It’s going to take some time to make things better. Although it is still very challenging, we are moving forward. With proven scientific data at hand, we are definitely well prepared.”

Inform and educate

Amid the persistent, ongoing anti-palm oil campaigns, there are people who understand the true value of this prolifically researched commodity, claimed Dr. Sundram.

“They appreciate how the crop is cultivated and how the oil and products it produces can support many different industries and the livelihoods of millions people around the world,” he said, applauding people who take the initiative to have well-informed opinions.

MPOC is more than happy to provide a science-based response to clear your doubts about the functional benefits of palm oil and its by-products.

And, thumbs up for media reports that seek to inform and educate the public with unbiased messages.