Is Palm Oil Safe to Eat? What the Evidence Says
Palm oil is in biscuits, spreads, crisps and instant noodles. Here is what is known about its saturated fat, the contaminants that form when it is refined, and what regulators have done about them.
What palm oil is and where you find it
Palm oil comes from the fruit of the oil palm. It is solid at room temperature, cheap and stable, which is why it is used in biscuits, cakes, chocolate spreads, margarine, crisps, instant noodles and many ready meals. In the UK and EU, food labels must name the plant a vegetable oil comes from, so look for "palm oil", "palm fat" or "palm kernel oil" in the ingredients list.
Saturated fat
About half of the fat in palm oil is saturated, compared with roughly 7% in rapeseed oil and 14% in olive oil. The NHS advises keeping saturated fat to no more than 30g a day for men and 20g a day for women, because too much raises LDL cholesterol. Palm oil is not uniquely harmful here, butter and coconut oil are also high in saturated fat, but foods that rely on it tend to be the processed snacks most people are already advised to eat less of.
Contaminants formed during refining
When vegetable oils are refined at high temperatures (around 200°C), substances called glycidyl fatty esters (GE), 3-MCPD and 2-MCPD esters can form. In 2016 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found the highest levels in palm oils and palm fats. EFSA considers glycidol genotoxic and carcinogenic, so it did not set a safe intake level, and it flagged particular concern for infants fed on formula. In 2018 EFSA set a tolerable daily intake of 2 micrograms per kilogram of body weight for 3-MCPD.
What regulators have done
Since 2018 the EU has set legal maximum levels for glycidyl fatty esters in vegetable oils and fats, with stricter limits for oils used in infant formula and baby food, and it added maximum levels for 3-MCPD in 2020. These limits still apply in Great Britain. Manufacturers have since changed refining methods, and EFSA has reported that levels in palm oil have fallen substantially since 2016.
The bottom line
There is no evidence that eating palm oil in normal amounts as part of a balanced diet is dangerous. The two real issues are its saturated fat content and refining contaminants, and the second is now controlled by legal limits. If you want to cut down, eating fewer processed snacks and baked goods will reduce palm oil and saturated fat at the same time. Concern about deforestation is a separate, environmental question. If that matters to you, look for RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil.
Sources
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