28th October 2026
What to do about soy and palm oil?
You well be surprised to learn that soy and palm oil are by far the biggest sources of vegetable oil in our diets: 76 million tonnes of palm oil and 59 million tonnes of soy are harvested every year. The next most co:mon vegetable oil is rape seed coming in at 25 million tonnes, whilst olive oil measures a mere 3 million tonnes. (P100 Eat the Planet Well).
Most of the soy oil is used to manufacture high protein animal feed. Soy that is used to create protein rich tofu, soya milk, soy sauce etc uses but a fraction.
Palm oil is widely used in food processing. Palm oil yields are high, making it a cheap oil. It is versatile, stable during cooking and semi solid at room temperature. It can be found in products as diverse as bread, icecream, biscuits, breakfast cereals, chocolate and even baby food. It is also widely used in products such as shampoo, toothpaste and cosmetics. A wonder ingredient! But the problem lies in where and how oil palms are grown. They grow best in hot humid conditions with plenty of rainfall such as occurs in rainforest habitats. Vast tracts of rainforest have been cleared to make way for mono crop oil palm plantations, causing ecological and climatic devastation.
Another downside of palm oil is that it is higher than other plant oils in saturated fats – 52% (NB Coconut oil is even higher at 89%).*
“So” asks Goulson, “should we boycott palm oil? There is no clear answer, so I can only tell you my decision. If palm oil were a healthy ingredient used in nutritious foods, I might reluctantly recommend that we consume it, choosing products certified by RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) and pushing RSPO standards to be improved to prevent further deforestation. In reality, palm oil offers little nutrition beyond raw calories, is probably bday for our hearts, and is largely only available in ultra-processed foods that are almost universally awful for our health…. I for one will not consume the oil.” (P108 Eat the Planet Well)
*Butter contains about 70% saturated fatty acids.
NB vegan butters tend to contain either palm or coconut oil to gain their semi solid consistency. For more information visit https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/is-vegan-butter-healthy
