Oil & Globalisation, Obesity and Sustainability
Globalisation increases the flow of money, people, knowledge and resources. The global food trade has been growing rapidly in last decades and made the same kind of food available everywhere. Oil is one of the most global traded commodity. Poor oil becomes one way to get cheap calories Vegetable oils, particularly palm and soybean oil are two of the most consumed oils. These oils are cheap because countries likes Malaysia, Indonesia and China export in large quantity and some are incentivised by their government policies. As a result, no matter what countries we are in, our diets have become more similar, which are heavy in calories and low in nutrients. Despite the “cheap calories” partly solve the famine problem in the less developed countries, increasing obesity concerns every the developing and developed countries. Adapting lifestyle: energy dense to nutrients rich Adapting our lifestyle to the changing supply of food has become the way to live healthy. Besides doing more exercise, we can also make changes in our diet. Instead of choosing energy dense food, choose nutrient rich food. It could also applied to the way we choose our oil, even though all oil provide similar amount of energy, fat likes saturated fat and trans fat will cause heart diseases, while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are more beneficial to our health. A good oil should be protected by good packaging and handled carefully such as avoid temperature changes, sunlight and air, so that we can get the most nutrients out of it. From food security to food sustainability After secured the food supply and food safety problem, developed countries now are looking for more sustainable way to produce food. Palm oil has been related to the deforestation and labour exploitation problem for long time, even after the establishment of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). According to the RSPO 2016 Reports, they are still facing lots of challenge, and the lifting of the suspension of the IOI (Malaysia palm oil supplier) after just 4 months undermined the credibility of the RSPO panel. Sources: 1. BBC News – Obesity crisis: Is this the food that is making us all fat? 2. Food Navigator – Global food supply balance is becoming increasingly unstable as population grows 3. Food Navigator – Good year, bad year: 2016 was challenging for RSPPO; Will it fare better in 2017? #2017 #Globalization #Obesity #Sustainability #Palmoil #Soybeanoil #Vegetableoil
How to Dispel Myths of Cooking oil
Enjoi understands that foodies are drowning in information and starved for knowledge. Every one can look up for information with their smartphones, however they may not be able to distinguish the truth with the fads. This happens to cooking oil as well, for example, some may said the unsaturated fat is evil, while others said coconut oil is purely good. What we can do to sort things out is to look for the evidence. The Olive Oil Times had listed out some of the myths of olive oil, let’s take one as an example: Myth: Olive oil smoke point is too low for frying. Tips 1: The way to think is to break the myth down and to know the words in it. Tips 2: Try to look for information from the official, trustworthy site, such as US FDA, HK FEHD/CFS, EFSA, CFDA. e.g. What is smoke point? “The smoking point is the temperature at which a chemical change takes place resulting in undesirable smoke and flavor.” So that we know oil will turn bad beyond the smoke point. What is the smoke point of the olive oil(s), and the temperature used for frying? “The smoking point of extra virgin olive oil is somewhere between 380 and 410 degrees Fahrenheit” (193.3 and 210 degrees Celsius) “depending on the impurities and acid content of the olive oil: the better the quality, the higher the smoking point. The smoking point of olive oil is well above the temperature required for all but the highest-heat cooking.” We need to know that there are different classes of olive oil e.g. extra virgin, pure, pomace. And the quality of oil varies from batch to batch. Once you know the recommended frying temperature is about 180 degree celsius, you will know the claim is not completely truth. Though you need to know what olive oil you are buying and if it is good enough to cover for frying. Sources: 1. Butter or olive oil? Eggs or no? New nutritional review cuts through the myths. – The Washington Post 2. Dispelling the Myths of Frying with Olive Oil – The Olive Oil Times #Myths #OliveOil #ExtraVirginOliveOil #Olivepomaceoil