ABSTRACT
Palm oil is now the most widely consumed vegetable oil worldwide (Mba et al., 2015). For one, its cost is low compared to other oils. The main consumers of palm oil are China, India, Indonesia and the European Union; their demand is entirely met by imports since they do not produce palm oil. Additionally, the nearly solid state of palm oil at room temperature makes it a good substitute for hydrogenated oils widely used until recently in the food industry and which contain undesirable trans-fatty acids. The ban on trans fat in several countries including Canada and the United States, because of adverse cardiovascular effects similar to saturated fat, drives the rapid global shift in consumption from soybean oil to palm oil (Global Industry Analysts, 2015).
