Needless to say, despite its major nutritional defect (its richness in saturated fatty acids greatly increases the risks of cardiovascular diseases), such a product is not easily replaced. Let’s have a look at some of the main alternatives. Using other plant based oils? Sometimes this is possible, but for the majority of applications the solid aspect of palm oil is indispensable. In addition, despite the negative impact in terms of deforestation, the oil palm often demands less pesticides and fertilizers than other more or less similar crops (rapeseed, soya, etc.). Using animal fats (from the dairy)? The finished product’s sensorial qualities would be modified, not to mention a more unpredictable preservation. On a nutritional level the disadvantage would be identical to the current situation: animal fats also contain saturated fatty acids ⁽²⁾. A third possible pathway: using hydrogenated fats. Such a scenario would involve carrying out a radical U turn: rich in trans fatty acids, highly detrimental to health, a high proportion of these hydrogenated fats has been banned by distributors, under consumer pressure. In addition, the areas of land for cultivation in this case (rapeseed, soya, etc.) would increase significantly, to the detriment of natural ecosystems.

Reducing all fats

The conclusion seems crystal clear: no matter the way the problem is addressed, the consumption of fats needs to be reduced. All fats. ‘It is not only palm oil which needs to be reduced, but the ensemble of processed products which contain large quantities of fats, and notably saturated fats,’ points out Sophie Delacharlerie. ‘The consumer cannot demand the end of palm oil in the name of a series of general principles whilst continuing at the same time to use sophisticated food preparations and chocolate spreads. Education and awareness raising initiatives have proved to be vital.’

Yet there is the rub. When interviewing face to face 210 consumers chosen at random in 7 large Belgian cities, the Agrofood Products Quality and Safety Laboratory researchers made the following discovery: whilst 32% of the people questioned were suspicious of saturated and hydrogenated fats for health reasons, not far from half of them based their arguments on erroneous scientific reasoning. The most surprising aspect is that this observation concerns not only ‘the general public’ but circles judged a priori to be more ‘informed.’ Marianne Sindic’s team in effect also checked the knowledge of 35 people with researcher or student profiles in the fields of chemistry, biology, agronomy, etc. If, amongst this group, the environmental issues of palm cultivation are grasped better than the ‘catch-all’ public, the nutritional aspects don’t seem to be better mastered for all that: a third of the arguments used by this more ‘scientific’ public as regards the nutritional aspects proved mistaken. ‘It seems that in the supermarket, scientists or otherwise, we are all consumers first or foremost,’ explains Sophie Delacharlerie. ‘In this aspect we are influenced by a sum of advertising and media information which goes every which way. When the time comes to buy, the price and the organoleptic qualities remain determining factors.’

(2) Certain studies today yield results which are more indulgent as regards certain fatty acid profiles, which has for example enabled their authors to rehabilitate butter.