Pepsico’s Move From Palm Oil Raises Questions
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Updated August 17, 2024
Pepsico appears to be reversing its decision to use less palm. According to a news report by The Economic Times
Nestle, PepsiCo in talks with Godrej Agrovet to buy palm oil
Nestle and PepsiCo discussed with Godrej Agrovet about sourcing refined palm oil locally for brands like Maggi and Lay’s. This shift comes due to rising global prices and logistics costs. Companies aim to shorten import cycles and avoid supply disruptions amidst geopolitical tensions. Currently, they import mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia but are now urged to increase local procurement. Trade analysts suggest that sourcing from India can help negotiate better prices, ensure quality, and reduce logistics expenses.
Pepsico appears to be reversing its decision to use less palm. According to a news report by The Economic Times
Nestle, PepsiCo in talks with Godrej Agrovet to buy palm oil
Nestle and PepsiCo discussed with Godrej Agrovet about sourcing refined palm oil locally for brands like Maggi and Lay’s. This shift comes due to rising global prices and logistics costs. Companies aim to shorten import cycles and avoid supply disruptions amidst geopolitical tensions. Currently, they import mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia but are now urged to increase local procurement. Trade analysts suggest that sourcing from India can help negotiate better prices, ensure quality, and reduce logistics expenses.
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Updated June 28, 2024
India's premier health experts at The Healthy Indian Project, rubbishes a post by Tanveetutlani a saleswoman for Australia's Swisse brand products.
It is sad that the health and wellness of Indian consumers could be compromised to make money for Tanveetutlani.
Fact Check: Does palm oil increase cholesterol and diabetes levels?
https://www.thip.media/health-news-fact-check/fact-check-does-palm-oil-increase-cholesterol-and-diabetes-levels/70879/
India's premier health experts at The Healthy Indian Project, rubbishes a post by Tanveetutlani a saleswoman for Australia's Swisse brand products.
It is sad that the health and wellness of Indian consumers could be compromised to make money for Tanveetutlani.
Fact Check: Does palm oil increase cholesterol and diabetes levels?
https://www.thip.media/health-news-fact-check/fact-check-does-palm-oil-increase-cholesterol-and-diabetes-levels/70879/
Updated June 05, 2024
A report by Dr. Catherine Shanahan on vegetable oils is causing a major controversy as she supports her claims with research.
Why eating one chip is like smoking a cigarette: DR CATHERINE SHANAHAN reveals the vegetable oils hidden in everyday foods that could be linked to serious disease was published in the Daily Mail UK
In her report on vegetable oils, Dr Shanahan listed eight oils to avoid in order to "de-PUFA" one's body for better health. Notable is sunflower oil which Pepsico wants to use for their Indian snacks. Pepsico India actually uses bran oil currently in their chips.
"Deep-frying leads to more toxins
The level of damage done to polyunsaturated oils by oxidation follows the same basic principles as burns on your skin: it depends on time and temperature."
Deep frying is the common method of preparing snacks. If this produces more toxins, how will manufacturers like Pepsico address this knowledge?
A report by Dr. Catherine Shanahan on vegetable oils is causing a major controversy as she supports her claims with research.
Why eating one chip is like smoking a cigarette: DR CATHERINE SHANAHAN reveals the vegetable oils hidden in everyday foods that could be linked to serious disease was published in the Daily Mail UK
In her report on vegetable oils, Dr Shanahan listed eight oils to avoid in order to "de-PUFA" one's body for better health. Notable is sunflower oil which Pepsico wants to use for their Indian snacks. Pepsico India actually uses bran oil currently in their chips.
"Deep-frying leads to more toxins
The level of damage done to polyunsaturated oils by oxidation follows the same basic principles as burns on your skin: it depends on time and temperature."
Deep frying is the common method of preparing snacks. If this produces more toxins, how will manufacturers like Pepsico address this knowledge?
Updated May 30, 2024
The Indian Express has published a slide show "The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) warns that repeatedly heating vegetable oils increases the risk of cancer due to harmful compound formation"
Oils high in polyunsaturated fats like soybean, sunflower and corn oils are more prone to degradation and harmful substance formation"
https://indianexpress.com/web-stories/food/icmr-warns-against-reheating-vegetable-oils-here-why/9359653/
The Indian Express has published a slide show "The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) warns that repeatedly heating vegetable oils increases the risk of cancer due to harmful compound formation"
Oils high in polyunsaturated fats like soybean, sunflower and corn oils are more prone to degradation and harmful substance formation"
https://indianexpress.com/web-stories/food/icmr-warns-against-reheating-vegetable-oils-here-why/9359653/
Updated May 23, 2024
First meeting of the WHO Expert Group to develop a guideline on consumption of tropical oils
Scope and purpose
In response to a call from the 58th World Health Assembly (May 2005), the World Health Organization (WHO) established the Guidelines Review Committee (GRC) in 2007 with the purpose of developing and implementing procedures to ensure that WHO guidelines are developed in ways consistent with internationally recognized best practices, emphasizing the appropriate use of systematically reviewed available evidence. The robust guideline development process being implemented by WHO is described in detail in the WHO Handbook for guideline development (2014). WHO
Read original commentary on Pepsico, palm oil and saturated fats below
First meeting of the WHO Expert Group to develop a guideline on consumption of tropical oils
Scope and purpose
In response to a call from the 58th World Health Assembly (May 2005), the World Health Organization (WHO) established the Guidelines Review Committee (GRC) in 2007 with the purpose of developing and implementing procedures to ensure that WHO guidelines are developed in ways consistent with internationally recognized best practices, emphasizing the appropriate use of systematically reviewed available evidence. The robust guideline development process being implemented by WHO is described in detail in the WHO Handbook for guideline development (2014). WHO
Read original commentary on Pepsico, palm oil and saturated fats below
- PepsiCo India, maker of Lay's chips, is transitioning to a sunflower oil and palmolein blend instead of palm oil for a healthier snack option. Indian media is reporting the move as a step towards better health consciousness in the food industry. Times of India
- This change is happening because people are concerned about palm oil, which is cheaper but considered unhealthy in many packaged foods in India. MSN
- Numerous Indian packaged food brands – from salty snacks and biscuits and bread – use palm oil, as its price is far lower than sunflower or soybean oil. Bakery and Snacks
Broad, International Coalition Calls Out PepsiCo for Ongoing Deforestation, Labor Rights Abuses in Palm Oil Supply Chain
Pepsico went viral recently as the company announced a switch from using palm oil in its frying oils, to a blend of sunflower and palmolein. Indian media which credited influencer, Revant Himatsingka with a "big win" for India is grossly misinformed as this move is part of Pepsico's goals to reduce salt, sugar and saturated fats in its snacks.
Its highly doubtful that a lone influencer could convince food giants like Pepsico to switch out essential ingredients. Pepsico global has long faced criticism for using palm oil of the unsustainable variety and brushed off protests from major Western NGOs.
Protests Price and Pepsico
So what might have prompted Pepsico to test a sunflower/palmolein blend for its Indian market aside from its target to reduce saturated fat content? It looks more like Pepsico is using high prices of palm oil to test the switch. Another contributing factor for the Indian market specifically might be an effort to curry favor with Indian consumers.
Protests against palm oil imports is an issue that goes back to the days when church leaders in Kerala spearheaded a farmers movement that exhorts people to boycott cheaply-imported palm oil in favour of coconut oil and to replace Coca-Cola and Pepsi with coconut water.
Indian farmers protests against “cheap palm oil”, which threaten prices for locally produced coconut, rapeseed and mustard oils continue to this day.
Their anger is misdirected as sunflower and soy have been cheaper than palm oil in recent times. Cheaper imports of vegetable oils including palm oil, soy and rapeseed undercuts what the farmers gets at market. Palm oil was the early favorite when global prices for palm oil were below that of soy or sunoil. The price trend has changed in recent times. Reuters reported earlier this year that India, the top vegetable oil importer, buyers are trimming palm oil imports and increasing soyoil for shipments in coming months, said Sanjeev Asthana, CEO at Patanjali Foods Ltd (PAFO.NS), India's top palm oil buyer.
That trend continues as India's sunflower oil, soy oil imports increase as palm oil prices stay persistently high. The Malaysian Palm Oil Council expects palm oil prices to hover close to MYR4000 per ton for 2024. This is a huge price difference from the days when palm oil found favor among food giants as a cheap vegetable oil. Historical data from Trading Economics shows palm oil prices have doubled since 2014.
Its highly doubtful that a lone influencer could convince food giants like Pepsico to switch out essential ingredients. Pepsico global has long faced criticism for using palm oil of the unsustainable variety and brushed off protests from major Western NGOs.
Protests Price and Pepsico
So what might have prompted Pepsico to test a sunflower/palmolein blend for its Indian market aside from its target to reduce saturated fat content? It looks more like Pepsico is using high prices of palm oil to test the switch. Another contributing factor for the Indian market specifically might be an effort to curry favor with Indian consumers.
Protests against palm oil imports is an issue that goes back to the days when church leaders in Kerala spearheaded a farmers movement that exhorts people to boycott cheaply-imported palm oil in favour of coconut oil and to replace Coca-Cola and Pepsi with coconut water.
Indian farmers protests against “cheap palm oil”, which threaten prices for locally produced coconut, rapeseed and mustard oils continue to this day.
- Farmers block roads in Coimbatore, Tiruppur demanding supply of coconut oil through PDS outlets The Hindu
- Farmers reject Centre's new proposal on MSP, to resume march to Delhi on Feb 21 India Today
- Why India’s Farmers Are Marching to Delhi Again Bloomberg
Their anger is misdirected as sunflower and soy have been cheaper than palm oil in recent times. Cheaper imports of vegetable oils including palm oil, soy and rapeseed undercuts what the farmers gets at market. Palm oil was the early favorite when global prices for palm oil were below that of soy or sunoil. The price trend has changed in recent times. Reuters reported earlier this year that India, the top vegetable oil importer, buyers are trimming palm oil imports and increasing soyoil for shipments in coming months, said Sanjeev Asthana, CEO at Patanjali Foods Ltd (PAFO.NS), India's top palm oil buyer.
That trend continues as India's sunflower oil, soy oil imports increase as palm oil prices stay persistently high. The Malaysian Palm Oil Council expects palm oil prices to hover close to MYR4000 per ton for 2024. This is a huge price difference from the days when palm oil found favor among food giants as a cheap vegetable oil. Historical data from Trading Economics shows palm oil prices have doubled since 2014.
This begs the question whether Pepsico is testing cheap sunflower oil to cut costs. If it is, why sunflower oil with its known adverse effects on human health when used in a deep fryer? More puzzling is if palm oil is bad for health according to Indian media coverage on Pepsico's move, why keep palmolein, which is 100% from palm oil, in the blend?
On Saturated Fats Heart Attacks and More Questions
This move is supposed to make Pepsico’s food products in India including the Indian brand Kurkure and global brands Doritos and Lays healthier by using a frying oil that has less saturated fats.
The role of saturated fats is a debatable one for Indian consumers where popular cooking oils in coconut and ghee contain higher levels of saturated fats than palm oil. Indian consumers may find it of some comfort that recent studies have asked whether its time to retire the myth that saturated fats causes cardiovascular disease. While Indian consumers may not be able to relate to the contents on Healthline, they should find this report from The Healthy Indian Project (THIP) informative.
The THIP report was provoked by the same Revant Himatsingka, who was found guilty of spreading misinformation in social media. He claimed that palm oil causes heart attacks. Revant’s claims were rubbished by authors Garima Dev Verman and Neelam Singh.
Their fact checking has new support from The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) “Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024” which highlighted the nutritional value of palm oil due to its balanced fatty acid composition and rich nutrient profile. This makes the Pepsi India news release on palm oil awkward as the ICMR guideline contradicts what was said about palm oil.
Daphne Clarance asked in India Today:
Did we misunderstand palm oil to be bad?
A major highlight in the dietary guidelines by the ICMR includes the use of palm oil, known to be a controversial vegetable oil, that can reduce blood cholesterol if consumed in moderation.
She quoted Neelanjana Singh, registered dietitian and wellness consultant:
"It is also less saturated than butter and contains no trans fats. Trans fats are the fats that we need to be wary of and stay away from,"
That's good news for Indian consumers of ghee but raises questions on the presence of trans fats in Pepsico products.
Its Not Palm Oil Pepsico But
How foods are fried: Further complicating the "health claim" for Pepsico in addressing South Asian preferences for fried foods is a study which looked at South Asian migrants in Scotland. Specifically, on how they fried their foods. Raj Bhopal, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, told CNN:
“When foods are cooked at high temperatures, they release chemicals known as neo-formed contaminants, or NFCs. This group includes trans-fatty acids – or trans fats – that are known to increase the risk of heart disease. “When the temperature is high, (trans fats) are produced at a very high rate.
South Asians – including residents of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka – have a four times greater risk of heart disease than the general population.”
Less oil on chips better? If deep frying cooking oils creates trans-fats, will having less oil on the chip make it healthier with exposure to less trans-fats? Frito-Lay North America applied for an international patent in 2012 that supposedly reduces how much oil ends up on the fried chip that its consumers eat.
How much oil ends up on a chip maybe meaningless according to Malaysian cooking oil expert, Ir Qua Kiat Seng who wrote Choosing the right cooking oils for healthy diets. According to his research, sunflower oil is bad for human health with its high omega 6 fatty acids as excess omega 6 causes inflammation leading to many health issues. On Pepsico's effort to reduce the amount of oil per chip, he commented:
Apparently the kettle-style produces chips with less oil and what Lays is doing is to imitate this in continuous fryers. It claims a lower fat content which is good. What is not clear is that the frying time is longer as it uses fluctuating temperatures during the frying time. Is this good? Or bad as each cycle can be considered a re-heat? Assuming each cycle is 10 minutes, how long do they keep using this oil and keep topping up with fresh oil to make up for the oil taken up by the chips. There may be academic studies done on this but usually academic studies are on batch frying. Lastly they have not mentioned this in any of their promotional videos so it may not have been successfully implemented. The only thing we know from the video is 'The slices are fried in oil in the production line for three minutes.'
Sunflower Maybe Worse than Palm oil. Turning a popular consumer snack where the overall product is known for being low in nutrition and bad for human health is a complex matter that goes beyond palm-oil-out-sunflower-in-Good.
If one were to take a narrow view that eating specific vegetable oils leads directly to heart attacks, then sunflower oil should be a big concern. THIP named Russia as the country with the highest consumption of sunflower oil which coincides with the country’s status of having world’s highest heart disease mortality rate.
As for Lay’s products for the American consumer, which Revant thought was a great standard for healthy chips, quality rating by the Environmental Working Group shows a range from Worst to Mediocre with the alert “Contains ingredients that may contribute small amounts of unhealthy artificial trans fats: Canola Oil and Corn Oil.”
Numerous Pepsico products made the top ten unhealthiest chips for Americans as rated by Eat This, Not That.
Ingredients for the popular Doritos are:
Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Fructose, Sodium Diacetate, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Onion Powder, Maltodextrin (Made from Corn), Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Garlic Powder, Torula Yeast, Malic Acid, Extractives of Paprika, Spices, Caramel Color, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Dextrose, and Natural Flavor.
That’s not something that Indian consumers should be cheering on regardless of what influencers say. Indian consumers who are watching the Pepsico trial of sunflower oil should take a dive into what concerns consumers in other countries.
Using a high omega-6 seed oil like sunflower in a highly processed food like packaged chips elevates health risks of the final product according to the Cleveland Clinic's report on social media influencers and seed oils.
The big question for Pepsico India should not be whether palm oil or sunoil is used to deep fry their chips. The question should be how the company plans to heed the advice of the ICMR and NIN to not reheat frying oils.
The guidelines noted that the practice of 'reusing' vegetable oils for cooking is very common, both at homes and in commercial establishments and explains how it may release harmful compounds that could lead to worrying health conditions.
"Repeated heating of vegetable oils/fat, results in oxidation of PUFA, leading to the generation of compounds which are harmful/toxic and may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer," says the report.
ICMR and NIN’s concerns about reusing cooking oils is supported by older reports which warned that:
High amounts of a toxin with known connections to heart disease and neurological disorders accumulate in vegetable-based cooking oils that are heated or reheated for hours at a time, new research shows.
Other studies warned that frying food with sunflower or corn oil could be more damaging than using butter or lard, scientists are warning. When vegetable oils are heated, researchers have shown that they release toxic chemicals which have been linked to cancer.
Even The Hindustan Times advised readers Do you use your leftover oil again and again for cooking? You may be inviting many diseases, a doctor tells us why.
Sure, the timing sucked for Pepsico to issue its news release of a move away from palm oil came at the same time as “Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024” was issued.
The problem now for Pepsico is that it may have opened up a Pandora’s box of health questions on its chips when it decided to make its test for a palm oil alternative, news.
Published May 18, 2024 CSPO Watch
On Saturated Fats Heart Attacks and More Questions
This move is supposed to make Pepsico’s food products in India including the Indian brand Kurkure and global brands Doritos and Lays healthier by using a frying oil that has less saturated fats.
The role of saturated fats is a debatable one for Indian consumers where popular cooking oils in coconut and ghee contain higher levels of saturated fats than palm oil. Indian consumers may find it of some comfort that recent studies have asked whether its time to retire the myth that saturated fats causes cardiovascular disease. While Indian consumers may not be able to relate to the contents on Healthline, they should find this report from The Healthy Indian Project (THIP) informative.
The THIP report was provoked by the same Revant Himatsingka, who was found guilty of spreading misinformation in social media. He claimed that palm oil causes heart attacks. Revant’s claims were rubbished by authors Garima Dev Verman and Neelam Singh.
Their fact checking has new support from The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) “Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024” which highlighted the nutritional value of palm oil due to its balanced fatty acid composition and rich nutrient profile. This makes the Pepsi India news release on palm oil awkward as the ICMR guideline contradicts what was said about palm oil.
Daphne Clarance asked in India Today:
Did we misunderstand palm oil to be bad?
A major highlight in the dietary guidelines by the ICMR includes the use of palm oil, known to be a controversial vegetable oil, that can reduce blood cholesterol if consumed in moderation.
She quoted Neelanjana Singh, registered dietitian and wellness consultant:
"It is also less saturated than butter and contains no trans fats. Trans fats are the fats that we need to be wary of and stay away from,"
That's good news for Indian consumers of ghee but raises questions on the presence of trans fats in Pepsico products.
Its Not Palm Oil Pepsico But
How foods are fried: Further complicating the "health claim" for Pepsico in addressing South Asian preferences for fried foods is a study which looked at South Asian migrants in Scotland. Specifically, on how they fried their foods. Raj Bhopal, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, told CNN:
“When foods are cooked at high temperatures, they release chemicals known as neo-formed contaminants, or NFCs. This group includes trans-fatty acids – or trans fats – that are known to increase the risk of heart disease. “When the temperature is high, (trans fats) are produced at a very high rate.
South Asians – including residents of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka – have a four times greater risk of heart disease than the general population.”
Less oil on chips better? If deep frying cooking oils creates trans-fats, will having less oil on the chip make it healthier with exposure to less trans-fats? Frito-Lay North America applied for an international patent in 2012 that supposedly reduces how much oil ends up on the fried chip that its consumers eat.
How much oil ends up on a chip maybe meaningless according to Malaysian cooking oil expert, Ir Qua Kiat Seng who wrote Choosing the right cooking oils for healthy diets. According to his research, sunflower oil is bad for human health with its high omega 6 fatty acids as excess omega 6 causes inflammation leading to many health issues. On Pepsico's effort to reduce the amount of oil per chip, he commented:
Apparently the kettle-style produces chips with less oil and what Lays is doing is to imitate this in continuous fryers. It claims a lower fat content which is good. What is not clear is that the frying time is longer as it uses fluctuating temperatures during the frying time. Is this good? Or bad as each cycle can be considered a re-heat? Assuming each cycle is 10 minutes, how long do they keep using this oil and keep topping up with fresh oil to make up for the oil taken up by the chips. There may be academic studies done on this but usually academic studies are on batch frying. Lastly they have not mentioned this in any of their promotional videos so it may not have been successfully implemented. The only thing we know from the video is 'The slices are fried in oil in the production line for three minutes.'
Sunflower Maybe Worse than Palm oil. Turning a popular consumer snack where the overall product is known for being low in nutrition and bad for human health is a complex matter that goes beyond palm-oil-out-sunflower-in-Good.
If one were to take a narrow view that eating specific vegetable oils leads directly to heart attacks, then sunflower oil should be a big concern. THIP named Russia as the country with the highest consumption of sunflower oil which coincides with the country’s status of having world’s highest heart disease mortality rate.
As for Lay’s products for the American consumer, which Revant thought was a great standard for healthy chips, quality rating by the Environmental Working Group shows a range from Worst to Mediocre with the alert “Contains ingredients that may contribute small amounts of unhealthy artificial trans fats: Canola Oil and Corn Oil.”
Numerous Pepsico products made the top ten unhealthiest chips for Americans as rated by Eat This, Not That.
Ingredients for the popular Doritos are:
Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, and/or Sunflower Oil), Salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Fructose, Sodium Diacetate, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Onion Powder, Maltodextrin (Made from Corn), Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Garlic Powder, Torula Yeast, Malic Acid, Extractives of Paprika, Spices, Caramel Color, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Dextrose, and Natural Flavor.
That’s not something that Indian consumers should be cheering on regardless of what influencers say. Indian consumers who are watching the Pepsico trial of sunflower oil should take a dive into what concerns consumers in other countries.
Using a high omega-6 seed oil like sunflower in a highly processed food like packaged chips elevates health risks of the final product according to the Cleveland Clinic's report on social media influencers and seed oils.
The big question for Pepsico India should not be whether palm oil or sunoil is used to deep fry their chips. The question should be how the company plans to heed the advice of the ICMR and NIN to not reheat frying oils.
The guidelines noted that the practice of 'reusing' vegetable oils for cooking is very common, both at homes and in commercial establishments and explains how it may release harmful compounds that could lead to worrying health conditions.
"Repeated heating of vegetable oils/fat, results in oxidation of PUFA, leading to the generation of compounds which are harmful/toxic and may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer," says the report.
ICMR and NIN’s concerns about reusing cooking oils is supported by older reports which warned that:
High amounts of a toxin with known connections to heart disease and neurological disorders accumulate in vegetable-based cooking oils that are heated or reheated for hours at a time, new research shows.
Other studies warned that frying food with sunflower or corn oil could be more damaging than using butter or lard, scientists are warning. When vegetable oils are heated, researchers have shown that they release toxic chemicals which have been linked to cancer.
Even The Hindustan Times advised readers Do you use your leftover oil again and again for cooking? You may be inviting many diseases, a doctor tells us why.
Sure, the timing sucked for Pepsico to issue its news release of a move away from palm oil came at the same time as “Dietary Guidelines for Indians-2024” was issued.
The problem now for Pepsico is that it may have opened up a Pandora’s box of health questions on its chips when it decided to make its test for a palm oil alternative, news.
Published May 18, 2024 CSPO Watch
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