Although palm oil consumption (of RBD palm oil) by industrial food processors has been rising for a while, a significant development was the scrutiny, public aw

Although palm oil consumption (of RBD palm oil) by industrial food processors has been rising for a while, a significant development was the scrutiny, public awakening, and regulatory phase-out of trans fats that happened in jurisdictions in the last decade or two. Trans fats occurred in food as a side-effect of partial hydrogenation of unsaturated vegetable oils, where the result had desirable properties for food processing, performing similar to but remaining cheaper than animal-derived solid-at-room-temp fats. Palm oil performs similarly to partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and is therefore readily available substitute for manufactured foods affected by the trans fat phase-out.