Worst food additive ever?

**harrybarracuda** · 26-10-2011, 01:38 PM

Worst Food Additive Ever? It's in Half of All Foods We Eat and Its Production Destroys Rainforests and Enslaves Children

The production of this ingredient causes jaw-dropping amounts of deforestation (and with it, carbon emissions) and human rights abuses.
October 24, 2011 |

On August 10, police and security for the massive palm oil corporation Wilmar International (of which Archer Daniels Midland is the second largest shareholder) stormed a small, indigenous village on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They came with bulldozers and guns, destroying up to 70 homes, evicting 82 families, and arresting 18 people. Then they blockaded the village, keeping the villagers in -- and journalists out. (Wilmar claims it has done no wrong.)
The village, Suku Anak Dalam, was home to an indigenous group that observes their own traditional system of land rights on their ancestral land and, thus, lacks official legal titles to the land. This is common among indigenous peoples around the world -- so common, in fact, that it is protected by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Indonesia, for the record, voted in favor of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. Yet the government routinely sells indigenous peoples' ancestral land to corporations. Often the land sold is Indonesia's lowland rainforest, a biologically rich area home to endangered species like the orangutan, Asian elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran tiger, and the plant Rafflesia arnoldii, which produces the world's largest flower.
So why all this destruction? Chances are you'll find the answer in your pantry. Or your refrigerator, your bathroom, or even under your sink. The palm oil industry is one of the largest drivers of deforestation in Indonesia. Palm oil and palm kernel oil, almost unheard of a decade or two ago, are now unbelievably found in half of all packaged foods in the grocery store (as well as body care and cleaning supplies). These oils, traditional in West Africa, now come overwhelmingly from Indonesia and Malaysia. They cause jawdropping amounts of deforestation (and with it, carbon emissions) and human rights abuses.
"The recipe for palm oil expansion is cheap land, cheap labor, and a corrupt government, and unfortunately Indonesia fits that bill," says Ashley Schaeffer of Rainforest Action Network.
The African oil palm provides two different oils with different properties: palm oil and palm kernel oil. Palm oil is made from the fruit of the tree, and palm kernel oil comes from the seed, or "nut," inside the fruit. You can find it on ingredient lists under a number of names, including palmitate, palmate, sodium laureth sulphate, sodium lauryl sulphate, glyceryl stearate, or stearic acid. Palm oil even turns up in so-called "natural," "healthy," or even "cruelty-free" products, like Earth Balance (vegan margarine) or Newman-O's organic Oreo-like cookies. Palm oil is also used in "renewable" biofuels.
A hectare of land (2.47 acres) produces, on average, 3.7 metric tons of palm oil, 0.4 metric tons of palm kernel oil, and 0.6 tons of palm kernel cake. (Palm kernel cake is used as animal feed.) In 2009, Indonesia produced over 20.5 million metric tons, and Malaysia produced over 17.5 million metric tons. As of 2009, the U.S. was only the seventh largest importer of palm oil in the world, but as the second largest importer of palm kernel oil, it ranks third in the world as a driver of deforestation for palm oil plantations.
Indonesia has lost 46 percent of its forests since 1950, and the forests have recently disappeared at a rate of about 1.5 million hectares (an area larger than the state of Connecticut) per year. Of the 103.3 million hectares of remaining forests in 2000, only 88.2 million remained in 2009. At that time, an estimated 7.3 million hectares of oil palm plantations were already established, mostly on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Indonesia plans to continue the palm oil expansion, hoping to produce an additional 8.3 million metric tons by 2015 -- this means a 71 percent expansion in area devoted to palm oil in the coming years.

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**kmart** · 26-10-2011, 02:52 PM

Interesting article. Disturbing as well.

**Rural Surin** · 26-10-2011, 03:05 PM

Not the product so much as the mentality.
Mindless consumption and accumulation.

**Bower** · 26-10-2011, 03:05 PM

All this destruction to make Napalm and give you a heart attack........oh and make someone rich very quickly !

**hazz** · 26-10-2011, 03:39 PM

^personally I've been going out of my way for years to avoid this stuff for this very reason.

Its very hard to do in thailand and impossible when you eat out. Its in almost everything.

**Sailing into trouble** · 26-10-2011, 03:56 PM

Now this is going to cost be money cause the Mrs will now only use olive oil. What was used before Palm Oil? In N America the push is for bio fuels. Ethanol mix. SO now their is a shortage of grain exports from North America. Which forces the price of third world grains up even higher.

We live in sick world brothers and sisters. Good post Harry will seriously try to avoid Palm Oil products as much as possible.

**Airportwo** · 26-10-2011, 04:02 PM

The healthiest oil to cook with and all round really good for you oils is Coconut, better than E V Olive oil, this fact is weli known, BUT the mega corporations cant make money on the scale they do from marketing it - sad

**baldrick** · 26-10-2011, 04:04 PM

I would have thought sugar was the worst culprit for deforestation

not saying that these palm oil plantations are very bad all over , but this article seems to be over the top

**hazz** · 26-10-2011, 04:16 PM

^I'm not sure about that. I think its bad because of the huge volumes of new land being cleared to grow more of the stuff and the comparative low yield per hector. I believe there are similar issues with soa beans in latin america.

**Rural Surin** · 26-10-2011, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by Airportwo

The healthiest oil to cook with and all round really good for you oils is Coconut, better than E V Olive oil, this fact is weli known, BUT the mega corporations cant make money on the scale they do from marketing it - sad

Quite so. There are a number of natural oils [cooking/salad] that are far superior in health aspects than that of the much beloved and promoted olives oils - and been used for centuries.

Excellent marketing and propaganda have played well.

**withnallstoke** · 26-10-2011, 04:40 PM

Ban frying.

**Rural Surin** · 26-10-2011, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by withnallstoke

Ban frying.

Better yet, ridding ourselves from the earth would be most beneficial.
Perhaps two-thirds of the human population. Some civilisations more so than others, as these particular populations have no real value.

Extermination. The answer.

**Takeovers** · 26-10-2011, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Better yet, ridding ourselves from the earth would be most beneficial. Perhaps two-thirds of the human population. Some civilisations more so than others, as these particular populations have no real value.
Extermination. The answer.

The worst thing about your post:

YOU ARE NOT WRONG!

**withnallstoke** · 26-10-2011, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Perhaps two-thirds of the human population.

Long live the exterminators.

Death by frying anyone?

**hazz** · 26-10-2011, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Better yet, ridding ourselves from the earth would be most beneficial.

I believe there been several near misses, so its not though want of trying that were still here

**Latindancer** · 26-10-2011, 05:58 PM

Those timber and palm oil barons make me literally want to puke, they are so greedy, short-sighted and uncaring. It's never going to stop in Indonesia, either. The corruption and hypocrisy is too entrenched. Borneo will be reduced to a huge palm oil plantation.
Try flying into Kuala Lumpur and look out the window.........palm oil plantations for huge distances. It's more than depressing....it makes one despair.
Rid the earth of all the timber and palm oil barons who give and get concessions through government and their families, stashing millions (and in some cases billions) in Swiss banks and/or invest in foreign real estate.

**kmart** · 27-10-2011, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by withnallstoke

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

Perhaps two-thirds of the human population.

Long live the exterminators.

Death by frying anyone?

It's a time-honoured tradition 'round our way to come home pissed-drunk and put on the chip pan.. Sort of like a working class hero's death, tbh.

Don't Drink & Fry, kids.

**Scaramanga** · 27-10-2011, 11:39 AM

wrong thread

**hazz** · 27-10-2011, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by kmart

It's a time-honoured tradition 'round our way to come home pissed-drunk and put on the chip pan.. Sort of like a working class hero's death, tbh.

I thought the traditional method was to light up a cigaret in bed and then fall into a drunken stupor.

**Thaiedward** · 28-10-2011, 05:11 AM

Originally Posted by Latindancer

Those timber and palm oil barons make me literally want to puke, they are so greedy, short-sighted and uncaring. It's never going to stop in Indonesia, either. The corruption and hypocrisy is too entrenched. Borneo will be reduced to a huge palm oil plantation.
Try flying into Kuala Lumpur and look out the window.........palm oil plantations for huge distances. It's more than depressing....it makes one despair.
Rid the earth of all the timber and palm oil barons who give and get concessions through government and their families, stashing millions (and in some cases billions) in Swiss banks and/or invest in foreign real estate.

I, too, get beyond queasy when I think of Cargill, ADM and their GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) gambit intending to control (completely) the food supply for the entire planet.
Mexico once had about a dozen varieties of native corn, but no longer. And only ADM's seeds will grow!!
I was fortunate in that I spent the summers of my youth on a horse-drawn farm on an island off the east-coast of Canada. No electric or plumbing but the horses all had names (the cows, too) and no one locked their doors.
We spread the real stuff in our furrows.
What these conglomerates are doing is, quite literally, diabolical.
Thank you for your post.

**Thaiedward** · 28-10-2011, 05:42 AM

Thank you for this thread.

I wish it had received more attention. Once the waters have receded, perhaps you'd be so kind as to re-initiate this vital topic in a future thread.

**CaptainNemo** · 28-10-2011, 06:23 AM

It's 'cos of all the fluffy orange monkeys that die.

You don't need oil to cook with if you use Titanium pans.

oooh look! a TeakDoor reader, and his wife:

**BugginOut** · 28-10-2011, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by Sailing into trouble

What was used before Palm Oil?

Lard...and it's good for you too. People didn't start having problems with so-called good and bad cholesterol until the usage of hydrogenated vegetables--a process which creates trans fats which raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol. In other words, extremely bad for your health. So stay away from hydrogenated oil of any kind. Lard is the only way to go and it's easy to make.

**PlanK** · 28-10-2011, 11:46 AM

Oil is not a natural product of vegetables.

Press a load of vegetables and see how much oil comes out? Vegetable oil is chemically extracted and unnatural. Lard or Olive for me.

**withnallstoke** · 28-10-2011, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by BugginOut

Lard

Only medium for cooking proper chips as well.

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