26
The Health | june-july, 2020
| Interview |
Swift in setting the record straight
Quickly addressing WHO’s recent
misleading advisory is just one example
of how the MPOC acts in its quest to
promote palm oil
BY CAMILIA REZALI
When the World Health
Organisation (WHO)
recently advised adults
to avoid palm oil in their
diet during the Covid-19
pandemic, it caused
an uproar within the
industry.
Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) CEO
Datuk Dr Kalyana Sundram acted quickly.
He did not mince his words when he said
the WHO “should focus on coming up with
radically different health management
ideas instead of falling back on antiquated
messages”.
The swift intervention of the MPOC
resulted in the WHO eventually reversing
its advice and putting the record straight.
Unfortunately, this is not the first instance
where palm oil is being portrayed in a bad
light, and it probably won’t be the last. Its
competitors have been behind campaigns
over the years falsely blaming it for a host
of ills.
Even so, the fact remains that palm
oil has gained popularity and is the most
consumed oil in the world, accounting
for 35 per cent of the world’s vegetable
oil market. The MPOC, spearheaded by
Sundram, has been at the forefront of
efforts to promote palm oil and its products.
The industry veteran, who did his
postgraduate studies at the University of
London and research stints in the United
States, Australia, the Netherlands and the
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), has
clocked 39 years in palm oil research and
industry. These include various aspects
of oils and fats process technologies,
nutrition, biomedical applications and
technical marketing. He publishes
extensively and holds 21 patents and has
coordinated more than 170 research and
promotion projects on palm oil including
health, sustainability and wildlife
OIL PALM PLANTED AREA 2019
OIL PALM PLANTED AREA AS AT DECEMBER 2019 (HECTARES)
conservation.
Sundram spoke to The Health on a wide
range of issues surrounding the industry,
including the WHO controversy, smear
campaigns, improving yields, market
expansion and the outlook for palm oil.
On the WHO’s recent advice to adults
to avoid palm oil during the Covid-19
pandemic, what is your take on this
misconception?
As for WHO, there was a
miscommunication between parties. What
happened is that WHO undertakes from its
regional officers, as we understand, several
health narrative statements or advisory to
its leaders, particularly those statements
going on online.
This debate on diet, fat, particularly
saturated fat and their association
with non-communicable diseases,
including coronary heart disease, is very
longstanding. WHO plays a significant role
in describing what optimal fat intake is
and for most populations, 30 per cent fat
calories is considered optimum and 20 per
cent is a minimum fat calorie content that
even I should have in a diet to maintain a
healthy lifestyle.
We wrote to the WHO. We explained
the current science behind not only
palm oil nutrition but saturated fats and
fatty acids in health and, to be fair, WHO
has repositioned its advisory. And in the
current revised version, it has removed
all negative references to palm oil. That is
an important step forward for us, and we
wish to thank WHO for reassessing and
correcting that information. To be fair to
WHO and to be fair to us, we do not want to
carry this as a negative campaign, etcetera.
We acknowledge the WHO has responded
by looking at the available scientific facts
and therefore as agreed has removed any
negative narrative regarding the role of
palm oil in health, especially in relation to
Covid-19.
How can we ensure that in future such
miscommunication does not happen,
especially among international bodies?
Is MPOC continuing its campaign?
The science of health and nutrition of
fats and fatty acids is rather complicated,
yet dynamic. If you couple that with
the pandemic and the strains that the
Covid-19 pandemic is putting in all the
avenues, whether it’s the Health Ministry,
international health organisations or
expert committees, we’re all having to look
at new data and new evidence all the time.
So for MPOC, our challenge is that we
MATURE
STATE %
(HA)
IMMATURE
(HA)
%
TOTAL
(HA)
%
JOHOR 694,097 91.5 64,439 8.5 758,535 12.9
KEDAH 81,794 90.2 8,927 9.8 90,721 1.5
KELANTAN 127,221 74.2 44,124 25.8 171,345 2.9
MELAKA 52,083 90.8 5,257 9.2 57,340 1.0
NEGERI SEMBILAN 170,970 90.5 18,009 9.5 188,979 3.2
PAHANG 668,236 87.0 100,161 13.0 768,397 13.0
PERAK 363,813 89.3 43,790 10.7 407,603 6.9
PERLIS 842 94.5 49 5.5 891 0.0
P.PINANG 13,445 97.4 355 2.6 13,800 0.2
SELANGOR 117,558 90.0 13,112 10.0 130,671 2.2
TERENGGANU 153,656 85.0 27,065 15.0 180,721 3.1
PENINSULAR MALAYSIA 2,443,715 88.3 325,288 11.7 2,769,003 46.9
SABAH 1,353,812 87.7 190,669 12.3 1,544,481 26.18
SARAWAK 1,419,295 89.5 16 7,378 10.5 1,586,673 26.9
SABAH & SARAWAK 2,773,107 88.6 358,047 11.4 3,131,154 53.1
MALAYSIA 5,216,822 88.4 683,335 11.6 5,900,157 100.0