Palming death off on us

Many Pakistanis use palm oil in their homes despite it being banned in other countries for being a health hazard.

KARACHI: Palm oil has been banned by European countries as it is hazardous to human health, yet 70 per cent of Pakistanis use this product in their homes at least three times a day. Palm oil or Banaspati ghee processed from palm oil is harmful as it blocks arteries, leads to excessive weight gain and high levels of cholesterol, explains nutritionist Dr Ayesha Abbas.

More sinister, however, is palm oil’s link to cancer. According to Dr Ghufran Saeed, a PhD student at Karachi University, when he tested a sample of palm oil used in the market to fry samosas and pakoras, he found that it had 1.4 per cent of the harmful free fatty acids. Furthermore, when the oil is reheated, it produces acroline, which is a compound that produces cancer. “Not only does the compound produce cancer, but it also has the power to genetically pass the cancer on from one generation to the next,” says Dr Saeed.

If you look at labels of Pakistani foods, they claim to have zero per cent of transfatty acids. “However, if you review the process of the conversion of palm oil into ghee, the oil is passed through hydrogen and all the unsaturated fatty acids break down and become saturated,” explains Dr Saeed. “These fatty acids are the enemy and they are present in the ghee we use to fry our foods in.”

Alternatives for the unhealthy ghee is oil extracted from sunflower seeds, soya beans, canola, or corn.

Algae

Luckily, a cheaper and healthier alternative exists and has been used in Japan for the past 5,000 years. According to alternative energy expert Mian Suhail Hussain, an alternative source for edible oil can be found in swimming pools, oceans, ponds, lakes, and even fish bowls. Oil extracted from algae is the best alternative to palm oil since you can find surplus amounts of algae all over the country.

During the process of photosynthesis, a layer of oil forms on algae that can be processed into an edible form. The problem is that no scientific work along these lines has been done in Pakistan to cultivate this source and billions of rupees are still being spent on palm oil imports. Recently the president even commented on our dependency, while in Karachi, telling farmers that we need to grow an alternative.

Cost

According to the Bio-energy Company, nearly 80 per cent of Pakistan’s domestic consumption of vegetable oil is met by imports, 83 per cent of which is palm oil. In 2009, an estimated 2.23 million metric tonnes of palm oil was imported and the estimate for 2010 is 2.45 million metric tonnes. Fahim Saeed, the former chairman of an oil company, says that the second largest import budget is spent on edible oil, which includes palm oil. He says approximately Rs2.3 billion are spent on palm oil imports each year.

Byproduct

Aside from the direct business costs, Pakistanis also pay another economic cost for using palm oil and similar products. This is the cost of healthcare needed. Consider this: 25 per cent of deaths in the country are related to heart diseases, every minute 16 Pakistani women die of heart attacks and every year 17.1 million Pakistanis fall victim to heart-related diseases and pass away, according to heart physician Dr Tariq Butt of the Sargandaram Hospital in Lahore.

The chairman of the Food and Science Department at Karachi University, Dr Asad Sayeed, adds that the use of palm oil can lead to blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and paralysis.

Pakistanis must stop using ghee and perhaps even simply switch over to edible oils, suggests KU’s Saeed. Developments towards extracting oil from the many available algae sources will ease the strain on our economy and provide a healthier lifestyle.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2010.