Palm Oil Chocolates

I also love London because of the abundance of free newspapers that anyone can just pick up along the streets and update themselves with local as well as international news - The London Paper, London Lite, The Epoch Times - UK Edition. Unfortunately, in Malaysia, only The Edge is available for free distribution at KL Central and Seven 11 outlets and several other locations, even that in limited copies only.
My husband picked up randomly a copy of The Epoch Times Issue 00218 dated July 22-28, 2009. On the front page, I read a not so-good news about palm oil. It says Auckland Zoo bans chocolates to save animals. Again the Orang Utan - Palm Oil issue resurfaced. This time, Auckland Zoo has decided to banish the iconic brand Cadbury from its shelves. "We are the advocates for wildlife," says Auckland Zoo's conservation officer, Peter Fraser. "The biggest threat for animals is encroaching palm oil plantations." The Zoo has been selling Cadbury chocolates in its shops and restaurant, and palm oil products also form part of the Zoo's animal feed. He further said it was not currently possible to remove all palm oil products from the Zoo, as in the case of some
animal's feed, there is no replacement.
It saddens me to read such news. But I do believe that as long as the palm oil industry maintains its quality goods, the world will still need our palm oil for its versatility and its irreplacibility, as admitted by the Auckland Zoo. Long Live Palm Oil!

McDonald's - A Good Patron of Palm Oil

London Eye

Big Ben
Westminster Abbey

Monday 13 July 2009

Another cluster of tourist attractions in Great Britain is the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the surrounding area, including the London Eye. It was a hot day yesterday, averaging 22 degrees centigrade. My family had fun entertaining our little grandson whom we let loose along the River Thames where people were boarding the boats to experience the Thames River Cruise.

We had lunch at Queen's Walk around the premises of the London Eye. Mc D -Macdonald's- was there at the strategic spot where tourists could easily take a bite after the long leisurely walk from WestMinster Abbey before boarding the London Eye platform to view the prolific city.

I read in the London Paper that this fast-food giant McDonald's is to move its European Headquarters from London to Geneva, Switzerland to take advantage of more favourable tax laws in Switzerland. Whatever it is, I hope McD will not change its preference for palm oil in frying its burgers and chips. McD has long been a patron of Malaysian palm oil because of palm oil's good frying characteristics.

Fish and Chips

Sunday 12 July 2009
We went sightseeing in the afternoon since the English weather promised us a good one at 21 degrees centigrade. We visited the London Tower and Tower Bridge, these are beautiful monuments of great architectural value and recognised as one of the World Heritage Sites. Built around 1700, the Tower was one of the Royal Palaces for the King of England at that time. We had lunch English style - Fish and Chips. I think they must use palm oil as their frying oil. It tasted real great. R&D also shows that chips are best fried in palm olein.
The English are very good at restoration works and one side of the Tower Bridge was being restored and repaired when we visited the site. We Malaysians must learn from the British the importance of preservation and restoration of historical buildings in our country. Besides being a tourist attraction, these buildings and monuments would be the proud reminders of our civilization, our history and our heritage for our younger generation. As a Malaysian, and a Malaccan for that matter, I am proud Malacca and Penang were recently being given the status of World Heritage Sites, at par with the London Tower, Ha Long Bay, the Pyramids etc,etc.

Palm Oil vis-a-vis Olive Oil

My family and I had lunch Lebanese style in front of Harrods at Knightsbridge yesterday. The food spread was enormous, served Japanese style, with the complete array of appetizers moving on in front of us. It was really a feast for our eyes, before we decided to feast our tummies, of course. I am not adventurous with food, so I decided to order something ala carte, something that I am more familiar with at home. I ordered lamb kebab, but on the menu, it is categorised under Wraps.
What is more interesting to note is the edible oil used in all the food preparation in the Lebanese kitchen. It must be olive oil used in the salad dressing and in all other food concoctions prepared by the chef.
So I was thinking to myself, how much of our palm oil was imported by the United Kingdom. I suppose palm oil is very competitive to make its mark here since there are so many other non-indigenous eating outlets offering their local cuisines - Italian, French, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and the Chinese takeaways.Perhaps, these outlets are not using palm oil in their respective kitchens. Maybe that is one of the reasons behind the relocation of the MPOB TAS Regional Office from London to Brussels recently in order to aggressively promote and monitor the increasing European market better from the new location in Europe itself.
FACT: Virgin palm oil is rich in carotenoids(pro Vitamin A), tocotrienols and tocopherols(Vitamin E). Like all vegetable oils, it is cholesterol-free. Furthermore, it contains no trans fatty acids. Palm oil is just as healthy as olive oil, and more. This is beacause palm oil contains the richest anti-oxidants in the form of Vitamin E, especially tocotrienol.

Palm Oil - The Natural Choice

http://palmoilis.mpob.gov.my/Vtour/level2a5.htm

Eighty per cent of Malaysia's palm oil production is used in the food sector. Palm 0il is a very versatile oil with a range of distinctive properties, enabling it to meet most of the technological requirements for formulating fat-based products. By fractionating palm oil, its uses are further increased. Hydrogenation and interesterification increase its usage even further especially in the making specialised and sophisticated edible products.
Malaysian palm oil is most suitable for the manufacture of margarine. It is also a great frying oil for convenience or snack foods such as french fries or potato chips, instant noodles and doughnuts. Malaysian palm oil in combination with some palm stearin can also be used as shortening of excellent quality. Palm oil shortening has been found very suitable for making bread, cakes, pastries, cream and sweets and confectionery. Vanaspati is another product for which palm oil can be used to a very great extent. Another specialty use of palm oil is in ice cream. It is satisfactorily used as a cocoa butter substitute(CBS).
Click on to our recipes below to find out how nutritious palm oil can be.
http://palmoilis.mpob.gov.my/recipes/recp.html