Key Points
Palm oil is everywhere—especially in packaged foods—so knowing its benefits and issues helps you make smarter choices.Nutritionally, palm oil sits between coconut oil and olive oil, with mixed effects on heart health and cholesterol.
It’s popular because it’s cheap, versatile, and high-yielding, but it raises potential health, labor, and environmental concerns.Choosing RSPO-certified or clearly labeled sustainable products supports eco-friendly farming practices while still allowing you to enjoy the foods you love.
Palm oil takes up space in your kitchen, even if you don’t realize it. Reach for a cookie or pull out a package of puff pastry dough for a weekend baking project, and chances are, palm oil is there. In fact, according to the World Wildlife Foundation, palm oil is in 50 percent of the packaged items found in supermarkets, which begs the question: how did an ingredient most of us have never seen become so ubiquitous? What exactly is it, and is it okay that it’s in everything?
Like so many ingredients in our food system, palm oil has its share of trade-offs. It delivers on texture and stability, but it’s also high in saturated fat, and its global production has been tied to deforestation, loss of wildlife habitat, and even labor concerns. Understanding where it shows up can help you shop more thoughtfully, without giving up the foods you love.
Kiat-Seng Qua, lecturer in chemical engineering at Monash University Malaysia and an expert on the oils and fats industry.
Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LD, CLEC, registered dietitian at Nutrition Now Counseling
Lacour Mody Ayompe, scientist in the Department of Earth Systems Science at the University of California, Irvine and sustainability expert on the food-water-energy nexus
Mark Overbay, founder of nut butter company Big Spoon Roosters
What Is Palm Oil and Where Is It Used?
Most home cooks have likely never seen palm oil, although according to a quick online search, you can buy it from several big chains. Made from the fruit of the African oil palm tree, it’s an efficient, versatile crop that is used to help products last longer.
“Palm oil is unique in that it yields two distinct oils from the same fruit: palm oil and palm kernel oil, which makes up about 10 percent of the fruit,” said Kiat-Seng Qua, a lecturer at Monash University Malaysia who studies the oils and fats industry.
Palm kernel oil is mainly used in personal care products like soaps and shampoos, while palm oil is prized in kitchens.
“Palm oil has a high smoke point, which makes it great for frying or sautéing,” notes registered dietitian and author Lauren Manaker. “It’s also semi-solid at room temperature, so bakers can achieve flaky pastries or creamy textures without altering flavor. And because it has a mild taste, it won’t overpower other ingredients.”
There are two main types of palm oil: red palm oil, which, as the name suggests, is an orange-red color, and refined palm oil, which has a neutral color and flavor and is primarily used in packaged foods.
It’s also cost-effective. Oil palm trees produce more per hectare (about 2.47 acres) than any other crop, making palm oil both inexpensive and widely available, a benefit for large-scale manufacturers.
The Nutrition of Palm Oil
From a nutritional standpoint, palm oil is roughly 50 percent saturated fat and 40 percent unsaturated fat. It also contains vitamins A and E and oleic and linoleic acids.
According to Manaker, that places it between coconut oil, which is very high in saturated fat, and olive oil or canola oil, which are rich in unsaturated fats linked to good heart health.
The saturated fat content, particularly palmitic acid, has raised concerns about cholesterol and heart disease. However, the effects of palm oil on cholesterol levels and heart health are still a topic of debate, with different groups holding conflicting opinions.
“Certain saturated fats are often linked to higher cholesterol levels and an increased risk of heart disease,” Manaker explains. “Because of this, many experts discourage the use of palm oil in cooking. However, scientific studies tell a more nuanced story. In fact, some data shows that palm oil doesn’t necessarily raise cholesterol levels or increase the risk of heart disease, especially when consumed as part of a balanced diet.”
Manaker emphasizes that balance is key and that there isn’t enough clinical research to recommend for or against using palm oil from a nutritional perspective yet.
Sustainability Issues With Palm Oil
The production of conventional palm oil is increasingly controversial. “The interlinked impacts, deforestation, biodiversity collapse, climate forcing, pollution, and air-quality degradation underscore why palm oil production remains one of the most environmentally contentious agricultural commodities,” says Lacour Mody Ayompe, a scientist in the Department of Earth Systems Science at the University of California, Irvine. He explains several of the main environmental concerns:
Deforestation and habitat destruction: Expansion of oil palm plantations drives rampant forest clearing. In Indonesia alone, an estimated 1.5 million hectares of rainforest are lost annually for new plantations.
Biodiversity loss and species decline: Monoculture plantations push species like orangutans toward extinction.
Greenhouse gas emissions and climate impact: Draining peatlands and clearing forests releases massive CO₂, contributing significantly to climate change.
Water and soil pollution: Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is highly oxygen-demanding, depleting dissolved oxygen in waterways. Mill effluent and fertilizer runoff deplete waterways, degrade soil, and harm ecosystems.
Air pollution: Slash-and-burn clearing creates haze and releases greenhouse gases, affecting air quality across Southeast Asia.
Why Palm Oil Is So Popular
Despite those negative impacts, palm oil is remarkably efficient compared with other vegetable oils. It yields roughly 3.3 tonnes per hectare—five to ten times more than soybean, rapeseed, or sunflower oil—and meets about 40 percent of global vegetable oil demand while occupying less than 6 percent of the cropland used for oil crops. This high yield means that producing the same amount of oil from other crops would require vastly more land. “Producing the same volume of oil from soybeans or rapeseed would demand vastly more cropland, intensifying deforestation, biodiversity loss, and land-use pressures,” notes Ayompe.
Palm oil production is also a livelihood for many smallholder farmers. In 2019, according to Ayompe, it accounted for 8.8 percent of Indonesia’s and 3.4 percent of Malaysia’s total exports, directly employing nearly 4 million Indonesians and 1 million Malaysians in plantation and mill operations.
“Any sustainability strategy must recognize this deep social and economic dependence,” says Ayompe. “At the same time, plantation expansion has driven the loss of over 25 million hectares of tropical rainforest, fragmenting habitats and threatening endangered species such as orangutans and Sumatran tigers. Revenues from palm oil often fund local infrastructure, education, and healthcare, underscoring that environmental policies cannot be imposed without offering viable economic alternatives.”
Possible Solutions
Solutions are emerging. Palm oil that is RSPO-certified (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), ensures that producers meet environmental and social standards, such as reducing deforestation and supporting smallholders. However, it has limitations, including weak enforcement and loopholes, as well as incomplete coverage of smallholder farmers, who account for 40 percent of production, and challenges related to traceability. National programs in Malaysia and Indonesia are working to expand sustainable practices, and several cutting-edge approaches are emerging to produce palm-like oils and several cutting-edge approaches are emerging to produce palm-like oils without large plantations, using techniques like precision fermentation, waste-fed yeasts, and plant-based fat alternatives.
Seng Qua emphasizes the importance of nuanced, data-driven approaches: “Deforestation from palm oil is declining in key producing regions, and sustainability initiatives are helping smallholders adopt greener practices while maintaining livelihoods. Supporting certified options encourages this progress and promotes accountability across the industry.”
Consumers can play a role too.
How Consumers Can Make Informed Choices About Palm Oil
The more you cook at home, the less chance you’re using palm oil since it’s just not available on a broad scale to home chefs. However, even when shopping, our experts agreed that, even if it were possible to avoid palm oil completely, it probably isn’t useful.
Ayompe suggests buying products made with palm oil certified by one of the organizations mentioned below. “Buying certified oil signals to growers and traders that sustainability pays,” he says.
Read the Label Carefully
When it comes to shopping, it is all about the label. The fronts of many food packages are inviting and distracting—turn them around or flip them over and read the fine print. Palm oil can be a bit shy; it hides in ingredient lists.
“If a product’s ingredient list looks like a chemistry set and includes lots of processed or unfamiliar fats, there’s a good chance palm oil is in the mix, especially if the food is shelf-stable, creamy, or foamy. It takes a little bit of label reading. Still, once you know what to look for, it becomes easier to spot palm oil behind its many guises,” says Mark Overbay, the founder of nut butter company Big Spoon Roosters and an expert in spreadable ingredients.
Some ingredients to look for are:
palm kernel oilpalm fruit oilglyceryl stearatesodium lauryl sulfate (in personal care products)stearic acidcetyl alcoholemulsifiers derived from palm
When in doubt, you ask. “Be openly curious when engaging with brands directly online or on social media. Ask questions. Supporting honest and responsible brands in their sourcing is one of the most powerful choices you can make as a consumer,” says Overbay.
When buying products with palm oil: Seek out sustainably sourced, RSPO-certified products or those from the Palm Oil Innovation Group, ISCC, or certified organic palm oil. These are your best bets for minimizing deforestation and protecting peatland and labor rights.
Palm oil isn’t inherently “good” or “bad.” The key is purchasing products containing it mindfully.