KUALA LUMPUR (July 17): In June 2024 a World Health Organization (WHO) report said that ultra-processed food is responsible for about 391,000 deaths a year in Europe. The WHO said the four industries — ultra-processed food, alcohol, fossil fuels and tobacco — were responsible for more than 2.7 million deaths a year, about one quarter of all fatalities, on the continent. “It is estimated that at least one third of total global deaths (19 million) and 41% of non-communicable disease deaths are attributable to just four commercial products: tobacco, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels and alcohol,” the WHO wrote.

Ultra-processed foods are those that have undergone significant alterations from their original form. They can be a patchwork of ingredients, additives, and preservatives. We must remember that some processing is necessary for food safety and convenience.

We need to eat as we need energy, nutrients, to maintain our cells, support our immune system and so on. Food is also a source of pleasure and comfort. For energy we need calories from carbohydrates, protein, and oils and fats, with carbohydrates being the most important energy source. About 30% of our calories should come from oils and fats. Not all calories are wholesome and a new term "dark calories" refers to hidden dangers associated with certain types of calories found in ultra-processed foods and seed oils.

In her just published book, Dark calories: How vegetable oils destroy our health and how we can get it back, Dr Cate Shanahan focuses on the negative impact of seed oils (eg sunflower, corn, soybean and cottonseed oils) which are often used in ultra-processed foods. Vegetable oils refer to oils derived from various parts of edible plants such as seeds, fruits (eg olive, palm and coconut oils) and other parts.

In Malaysia not many people have the complete information about vegetable oils, so Teoh Beng Chuan and I have started on a personal roadshow to inform communities in the Klang valley on “Choosing the right cooking oils”. Between us we have 100 years of experience in processing and marketing in the oils and fats industry. We have credibility because, being retired, we have no affiliation with any government agencies, NGOs and industry. We bear our own expenses. We just share with our audience the facts and they decide for themselves. Our tag line is “decide which oil is healthy for your family, suits your cooking preferences and your budget”. We started on July 25 last year and to date have made eight face-to-face presentations to 245 individuals. We are often told, “thank you”, “we didn’t know” or “nobody told us”.

When our ancestors were cavemen, they were hunters and relied on animal fats eg tallow, lard. Around 6,000 BC they discovered olive oil from the fruits of the tree, then in 4,000 BC palm oil and coconut oil and in 2,000 BC butter. From the 19th century seed oils started to emerge, facilitated by the advent of technology that could extract oil from seeds, refining (bleaching and deodorisation) and modification (hydrogenation). So, we have corn oil (1898), cottonseed oil (1911), refined rice bran oil (early 1900s), refined peanut oil (1930s), safflower oil (1940s), refined soybean oil (mid-1900s), refined sunflower oil (1946) and canola (1974).

Cotton seeds were a nuisance waste, and the oil was dark and smelly. Technology solved that and P&G successfully marketed its Crisco shortening for the modern housewife. Rapeseed oil, as an engine oil for steamships saved Europe during World War II, bringing much needed food, equipment and raw materials from the US. After the war Canada bred canola from rapeseed cultivars to be able to heavily promote canola as a healthy cooking oil.

Typically, the total daily consumption of oils is five tablespoons (65g). To get that amount requires 2,800 sunflower seeds or 98 ears of corn. Unlike the fleshy fruits of olive and palm which can be easily pressed for the oil, these tiny seeds need to be solvent extracted.

These seed oils are always liquid even in winter. However, they cannot be made into shortening and margarine without partial hydrogenation and as you are aware partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) are trans fats which increase the risk of heart disease. When trans fats became known as an issue in the 1960s, Crisco had to change their formulation. Trans fat can be found in foods (eg biscuits, cakes, pies, pastries, fries, fried chicken) made from oils that were originally liquid and then underwent partial hydrogenation

There are three types of fats viz. polyunsaturated fats (PUFA), monounsaturated fats (MUFA) and saturated fats (SAFA). Examples of oils with PUFA are canola and groundnut oil. Others are sunflower (71%), corn (57%), soybean (54%) and cottonseed (54%) oils that contain very high amounts of omega-6 (percentage in brackets) which may lead to chronic inflammation and associated health issues such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, arthritis etc.

MUFA are considered “good” fats because they help to decrease the risk of heart disease. Oleic acid is the most common MUFA and is found in olive oil, canola oil and groundnut oil. There is a little known fact that when our body digests palm olein (the liquid fraction of palm oil) it absorbs mostly MUFA that scientists say is the tropical equivalent of olive oil.

Since the 1950s, people have believed that SAFA is bad. It was the result of fake science, bribery and conflicting interests in the US. The diet-heart hypothesis states that SAFA raises LDL cholesterol in the blood. This has never been proven. Unfortunately, powerful organisations with big industry partnerships have perpetuated this belief. SAFA can be found in palm oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, lard and beef tallow.

In 2014 Nina Teicholz published her book The big fat surprise: Why butter, meat and cheese belong in a healthy diet where she showed how the misinformation about saturated fats took hold in the scientific community and the public imagination, depriving us of a guilt-free delicious diet.

We love fried foods and the fat imparts a richness and depth of flavour to our taste buds. A good deep frying oil should be stable to avoid the creation of harmful byproducts especially through repeated use. SAFA oils are more stable. Oils with high PUFA eg sunflower, soybean, corn and cottonseed oils should be avoided as they also tend to polymerise making pans and walls sticky.

You should study the front label claims looking out for misleading words like healthy, pure, natural, lite and without cholesterol. Look also for the expiry date. Most oils have a shelf life of a year if stored in a cool place in the dark. Extra virgin olive oil and red palm oil retain their antioxidants and can keep for two years. Some oils are sold as blends so look for the ingredients/blend list. You will also want to know the manufacturer as well as the country of origin.

The table is self-explanatory but there are a couple of comments.

Palm olein blended with groundnut and sesame is for the Chinese market. If you like the flavour and taste of extra virgin olive oil for your salads or dipping go for it. If you want to use pure olive oil for deep frying but are not interested its flavour, palm olein is a cheaper option. Pomace olive oil is the lowest of the olive oil qualities.

The audience is always interested in my personal choice.

For all round general use it is palm olein. For salad dressing it is extra virgin olive oil. For flavour it is lard for hokkien mee and ghee for the tosai. For baked products it is butter and as a spread it is soft margarine.

I choose palm olein for the following reasons

I consider myself to be very lucky to be in Malaysia as I eat out quite a lot and I can rest assured that my oils and fats calories are not dark. This will not always be the case overseas where palm olein is not available.

We found that Malaysians are often misinformed or underinformed when choosing cooking oils. Many are not aware that:

Most Malaysians opt for palm olein due to its affordability. Unintentionally, this choice helps them avoid "dark calories" — a term referring to hidden dangers associated with certain types of calories found in foods.

In summary, we recommend avoiding seed oils from sunflower, corn, soybean, and cottonseed.

However, Dr Shanahan's new book lists her "hateful eight" seed oils to avoid: corn oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil, soy oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, and rice bran oil. This presents a challenge for Americans, as more than 80% of foods with ingredient labels contain at least one of these oils. Unfortunately, the promotion of these unhealthy oils has spread globally, but we still have the power to make healthier choices regarding our cooking oils.

Qua Kiat Seng ([email protected]) is an adjunct senior lecturer at Monash University Malaysia where he lectures at their short course in oils and fats processing.