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Palm oil became a thing when cheap, shelf stable fats in the form of partially hydrogenated oil were realized to be unhealthy. Instead of the world giving up th
by howlin 7y ago
Palm oil became a thing when cheap, shelf stable fats in the form of partially hydrogenated oil were realized to be unhealthy. Instead of the world giving up the eternally fresh package of Oreos, we move to massive production of tropical oils which are also shelf stable. It's probably time to reevaluate if we can sustain our appetite for snacks using a very small amount of precious land in the tropics that can grow palm oil.
There are alternatives to Palm oil. The most straightforward is replacing it with rendered fat from pigs or cows (lard or tallow). This has its own ethics and environmental concerns. Another solution is to revisit oil hydrogenation. We can fully hydrogenate oils such as soybean into a saturated fat very similar to that found in tallow. The resulting fat is healthier than partially hydrogenated oil, and arguably healthier than unprocessed soy oil too. It is not difficult to work with and has a neutral flavors, which is desirable for the processed food industry. We just need to get over our fear of this process.
- rayiner 7y agoJust go back to lard and tallow. McDonalds French fries are still a shadow of their former selves.
- howlin 7y agoA significant fraction of the population has a religious or moral objection to eating lard. A smaller but still substantial part of the population objects to tallow based on vegetarianism or the terrible environmental impact of cattle raising.
- jtbayly 7y agoThen don’t eat it.
- rhino369 7y agoThat would make sense for a chain that otherwise served vegetarians. But does McD's even have a single item that is vegetarian? I googled it, some breakfast items (egg mcmuffin, panckages) and apple pie. It's probably just a money saving feature. I'm already old (34) and I've only ever eaten the veggie oil McD's fries.
- tashi 7y agoMcDonald's fries are a special case, because, as some vegetarians discovered after years of being misled by their "cooked in 100% vegetable oil" claims, they're already flavored with beef tallow.
- darkpuma 7y agoThe same thing has ruined potato chips. All the good chip brands in this country now have limited regional distribution at best. The tyranny of Frito-Lay has totally ruined the chip industry.
- dewey 7y agoI didn't really know about this until I listend to this great podcast episode about the whole fries story. Can highly recommend it: http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/19-mcdonalds-broke-my-heart http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/19-mcdonalds-broke-my... (The rest of Revisionist History is also great!)
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoJust about everyone's chips (fries) and crisps (chips!) are a shadow of their former selves. When I was a kid just about everyone made their chips and crisps in beef dripping or lard. Now not even all supermarkets carry it, all bags of crisps use veggie oil, and the only place we get decent chips is at home. Yet beef consumption has risen hugely over the same timescales.
- fucking_tragedy 7y agoPalmitic acid consumption is also associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease.