Palm Oil Allergy or Intolerance

Updated: February 19th, 2020

We’ve been doing this for 2+ years. Along the way, we’ve found some products have really helped us.

While we want to be environmentally-friendly and not buy more stuff, these items help us to live palm oil free by doing one or more of these:

• Saving us time
• Helping us shop, cook & clean
• Keeping us organized
• Giving us a way to make products at home

These are our favorite things. They have made a difference for us and perhaps can help you. See our tips to avoid palm oil as well. 

Items to make it easier to live palm oil free

Palm oil free apps

We love the Spoon Guru app. 

While many palm oil apps note the foods that contain sustainable palm oil, Spoon Guru filters out the foods that contain it, even in the form of palm oil derivatives. 

With our son’s palm oil sensitivity, this app is helpful to verify we didn’t miss one of the hundreds of names for palm oil derivatives. When he gets older and gets a phone, it will help him as well.

Please note, we don’t rely on apps but use them to double-check we haven’t missed an ingredient.

Dishpan for baking supplies

We bought two dishpans which we use to organize our baking supplies. You can find them at Target and Walmart.

Did you know most all desserts you find in stores contain palm oil and palm oil derivatives?

After we learned about our son’s palm oil intolerance, we couldn’t buy premade confections and desserts anymore. Prior to this, at best, we made boxed cake and boxed brownie mixes. We bought canned frosting. All of these contain palm oil.

So we learned to bake from scratch. At first, we had a mishmash of baking supplies. It was a stress to even make homemade pancakes.

Now, we have a miscelleanous bin for random baking ingredients. We have another with ingredients for foods we make often, such as  waffles, cakes, brownies, etc.

It’s a lot faster and easier to pull out the dishpan and have all the ingredients we need.

Belgian waffle maker

Buying a waffle maker was one of the best things I did. You do need room to store it which may not work for all households.

For us, it has been a great way to enjoy palm oil free waffles. Most all waffle mixes and pancake mixes in stores contain palm oil derivatives. Owning a Belgian waffle maker has been a great way for us to enjoy them at home. 

While the recipe book included several recipes, we use the original / basic one with the least amount of ingredients. Sometimes we add Enjoy Life Mini Semi-Chocolate Chips.

My son loves these homemade waffles. 

It’s also an easy breakfast when we have company. I am so glad I bought the double one. It didn’t cost much more and enables me to bake them twice as fast. 

We can make the batter in 20 minutes. The batter sits for 60 minutes (with occasionally mixing). The batter makes about 12 waffles in our maker.

I keep some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. They are easy to pull out for breakfast when we need them. 

Our waffle maker is: Cuisinart WAF-F20 Double Belgian Waffle Maker Stainless Steel

Vitamix

We use our Vitamix a lot to make smoothies. Buying frozen organic berries are economical and ensures we’ll always have them on hand.  I’ll use these berries with whatever else we have, including greens and a banana. 

In addition, we buy organic berries mixed with kale and spinach from Costco. We use this for when we are out of fresh spinach, spring mix, kale, etc. 

There’s so much you can do with a Vitamix. We make applesauce in it as well as use it to chop onions, garlic, carrots, cauliflower, etc. It will help save you time and make it easy to eat healthier.  

One of our favorites is blending frozen bananas, organic vanilla extract, and 100% cocoa powder for chococolate “ice cream.” Before we learned to find ice cream without palm oil, we made this often. 

Popcorn popper

While you can typically find popcorn without palm oil in bags, popcorn-eating is more of a fun event when you pop it yourself. You can air pop it and then add salt, real butter, etc. for a palm oil free snack. 

Sometimes we toss in Milk Chocolate M&M’s. Our popcorn popper is one from Hamilton Beach.

Once we melted marshmallows on the popcorn. It tasted like Rice Krispie Treats which is something my son hasn’t been able to eat with his palm oil intolerance.

Rice Krispies — like most cereals — contain Vitamin A Palmitate — a palm oil derivative. This means we can’t even make them at home. The pre-made ones in stores also contain palm oil ingredients.

See snacks without palm oil for other palm oil free ideas. When you know what you are looking for, it becomes easier to choose snacks and other foods without palm oil.

Breadmaker

Our son doesn’t eat bread except for Dave’s Killer Bread for French toast.

The bread maker helps us live without palm oil but our son doesn’t eat it.

Most store breads contain palm oil. There are a lot of chemicals in breads to make them shelf stable. Even breads “fresh baked on-site” often contain palm oil.

By baking breads at home, we don’t worry about palm oil derivatives. We make pizza dough, rolls, and loaves of bread. 

We just follow the recipes in the booklet. It’s easy and fun to make palm oil free breads from scratch. 

We owned this product before we learned about our son’s palm oil sensitivity and have baked breads dozens of times. 

The one we use is Oster CKSTBRTW20. 

Products which make it easy to live palm oil free

Norwex cloths

It’s difficult to clean without palm oil because so many of the chemicals in cleaners contain palm oil. Using Norwex cloths means we don’t need them.

In the kitchen, we use Norwex EnviroCloths. We have different color towels for cleaning the bathroom.

To clean our windows, we use their EnviroCloth and Window Cloth which enables you to wash windows without spray cleaners. We also have the dust mitt for dusting. 

Using these cloths eliminates the need for cleaners and also means we aren’t using paper towels making it more environmentally friendly.

I haven’t read the ingredients in their spray cleaners to know if they contain palm oil. However, we love the cloths because we don’t need them. 

At some point, I hope to get the Norwex floor mopping system, EnviroWand, Optic Scarves, and their entry rugs.

In the meantime, we are using a Swiffer floor sweeper — but not the Swiffers. We aren’t sure what’s in them. We wrap a damp microfiber cloth around the Swiffer sweeper base, and use it for our floors. 

EcoLunchbox 

There are times we need to take food on the go. EcoLunchbox containers make it easy to do that.

We have a set of three containers from EcoLunchbox we pack for school lunches. These enable my son to bring real, whole foods easily. The containers are made from food-grade stainless steel and are leakproof.  

For school lunch, he brings two containers filled with fruits and some vegetables. Often I will put watermelon or pineapple in one. In the other, I will put a variety of produce. Some examples: 

• Cut apple, snap peas, and pepper
• Peeled mandarin and snow peas
• Cut up strawberries and blueberries
• Carrots and peppers

I am happy I can wash these in the dishwasher. In addition, I’m thrilled they aren’t plastic. While most of the plastic containers available now are BPA-free, etc., I still much prefer his food in stainless steel.

He doesn’t usually bring the larger one to school because he doesn’t eat sandwiches, and he doesn’t bring leftovers to school. However, we use it a lot when we are out. I’ll pack salmon or ham and lettuce with peppers. 

LunchBots Dips

In addition to the above containers, we also have a set of LunchBot Dips. These are perfect for our son to bring to lunch as well.

They are leakproof, lightweight, and don’t take up a lot of room in his lunchbag. They are easy to open and close. In addition, they are dishwasher safe.

They come in a set of three. Some of the things we use them for are:

• Blueberries
• Nuts
• Figs, dates

Our son doesn’t use ketchup or dressing but these are an easy way to pack ranch dressing, etc. for your child’s lunch or to bring to work.

Easy-to-use containers to pack healthy snacks and foods for when you are away from home are essential for us. They make it easy to not have to rely on restaurants and fast food.

Lotus Produce Bags

Now that we’ve been avoiding palm oil, we buy more fruits and vegetables than ever before.

While much of the produce in stores is already packaged, we try to buy it loose. But we don’t want to have to use the disposable plastic produce bags from the stores.

We try to bring Lotus Produce Bags with us when we go to the grocery store. They are mesh bags that list the tare weight on them as well. 

You can store your vegetables and fruits in them at home too. They allow for airflow which is helpful when storing produce. They are machine washable so you can use them as cheesecloth and for other purposes.

Soap holder ~ SoapStandle

You may surprised to learn how common palm oil is in self-care and personal care products.

We only use bar soap because all the liquid soaps we found contained mulitple palm oil derivatives.

When you buy soap, shampoo, and conditioner in a bar or block, it has a better chance of not containing palm oil. 

The issue, however, from these blocks is that they sit in water when you are done using them.

This leaves a mess — but even more importantly — it breaks down and disintegrates your soap bar. Your soap and shampoo won’t last as long when it’s sitting in water.

The SoapStandle is a small plastic that rests on your countertop. You keep your block of soap, conditioner or shampoo on it so that it can be lifted out of the water and so that air can circulate around it.

We have a SoapStandle at every sink and in every shower of our home. 

Stainless steel water bottle

For sports and other activities, our son can only drink water.

Once, a sports drink with a palm oil derivative made him so sick, we don’t even read the ingredients on them anymore. He just knows to not have them. 

Therefore, having a water bottle is important for him at school, when we are out, on vacation, etc. Everyone in our household brings them.

Coffee pot and coffee tumbler

While our son doesn’t drink coffee, the adults in our house do. Having a coffee pot means we can make our own coffee at home. In addition, having a stainless steel coffee tumbler means we can take it with us.

Many “naturally flavored” coffees — such as Vanilla Creme Brulee, Caramel, etc. — can contain palm oil derivatives. The creamers and whipped cream do as well. When you make it at home and take it with you, you have a better chance of having less palm oil and less impact on the earth in general. 

List of palm oil derivatives

This is a very helpful item to live without palm oil. It’s been a game-changer for our family so we wanted to share it with you in case you or someone you know suffers from a palm oil allergy or palm oil intolerance.

This list of the ways palm oil is in foods and non-foods has helped us learn more about the ways companies use palm oil.

It’s helped us to be able to read ingredient labels to know what not to buy.

The International Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark Programme (POFCAP) has a list of palm oil derivatives which helped keep our son safe when we didn’t know all the ways palm oil was hiding in foods and non-foods.

We are forever grateful for this list. We have a condensed version you can bookmark. Even though we’ve been avoiding palm oil for over two years, we still reference this list.

Companies continue to find ways to hide palm oil in products so we reference it often. Learn palm oil uses and products that contain it so you can learn how to avoid it. 

Products to make it easier to live without palm oil

We do our best to live palm oil free. 

Palm oil is more common in foods now because the FDA banned artificial trans fats from foods. Many companies turned to palm oil as an alternative. Why? Palm oil is trans fat free and it is inexpensive.

There are consumers who avoid palm oil because of the environmental concerns. Others avoid it because they have reactions from it or other health concerns.

When you avoid palm oil, you most likely end up living a less-waste, healthier life overall. Remember, palm oil isn’t in fresh foods. Here are ways to use less palm oil.

Reading labels is a great start. Be loyal to companies who make products without it. See our list of products without palm oil.

If you are interested in trying to live without palm oil for environmental reasons or health reasons, choose one area to focus on. Then, add another. 

Here are palm oil free lists of what our son eats and the personal care products he uses.

It’s a lot easier to live palm oil free when we have these items to help us.

While it’s certainly challenging to reduce your dependence on palm oil, there are products you can use to make it easier. They can help with making food, storing ingredients, shopping, making products last longer, cleaning, etc.  

Updated: February 19th, 2020

There are many consumers who avoid palm oil for health reasons. This may include dietary or allergen concerns. Yet the question remains, is palm oil good or bad for you?

While environmental concerns may still be a leading reason people avoid palm oil, there is a growing segment who seek alternatives because they experience reactions from it.

Others may be concerned about palm oil’s saturated fat content.

What are palm oil health dangers? Are there palm oil health benefits? What’s the difference between red palm oil and palm oil?

Is palm oil saturated or unsaturated?

As reported in health.com, palm oil’s nutritional profile is similar to other edible and cooking oils. According to the USDA, one tablespoon is the equivalent to 120 calories and 14 grams of total fat.

Of those 14 grams, 7 grams are in the form of saturated fat, and 5 grams are monounsaturated fat. There are 1.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat. .

Palm kernel oil contains 11 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon.

To compare, olive oil contains 2 grams of saturated fat.

Palm oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil are high in saturated fat.

Many health and wellness experts believe food high in saturated fat negatively affect the heart.

What is saturated fat?

In general, the higher the saturated fat content, the more solid it is at room temperature.

This makes it ideal for baking. It also contributes greatly to mouthfeel — think creamy products like ice cream, frozen desserts, chocolate candies, dough, canned frosting, margarine, and more.

Palm oil is versatile. Just as it can remain semi-solid at room temperature, companies can also process it into liquid form for cooking.

Is palm oil bad for your health?

There hasn’t been enough research to determine the potential health affects of palm oil. 

The US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health states the main argument against using palm oil as an edible oil is because it contains palmitic acid which is a saturated fatty acid.

They report that would contribute to rising total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. 

They note its effects on serum lipid levels and cardiovascular disease in humans is still a point of discussion.

Is palm oil dangerous to health?

This is a popular question, perhaps because there is a lot of controversy around palm oil. The biggest reason is its impact on the environment.

Palm oil has a high saturated fat content which many argue affects cardiovascular health. Most health experts recommend other oils — olive oil in particular — for cooking.

Please discuss with your health professional if you suspect you are allergic or sensitive to palm oil. Many people report having digestive issues when they have palm oil.

Demand continues 

Palm oil has become one of the world’s most widely produced edible fats. The palm oil that’s now so common in foods and non-food products comes from the African oil palm: Elaeis guineensis. 

Most of the world’s palm oil grows in Malaysia and Indonesia. 

It used to be that people who were avoiding palm oil did so because of the environment.

Now that it’s become more commonplace in foods, people are starting to take notice of it. They see it on labels more and more.

Much of this is because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned food manufacturers from adding artificial trans fats into their products.

In 2015, the FDA gave companies until 2018 to phase palm oil out of their food products; some have extensions until January 2020.

Many companies turned to palm oil as a replacement for artificial trans fats.

As companies worked through their ingredient reformulations, palm oil appeared on labels more frequently. 

Palm oil became and is now a common ingredient in margarine and other butter substititutes. It’s a staple in shortening, canned frosting, frozen desserts, desserts, candy, cookies, snack bars, and cereal. It’s in everything from Twizzlers to Dunkin’ Donuts.

Many companies are using palm oil and palm oil derivatives in new products and flavors they introduce to market. 

Consumers are eating more of it than ever before. 

While palm oil is an edible vegetable oil, non-food companies use it in many non-food products as well. 

You can learn to lessen overall demand for palm oil by learning how to use less palm oil each week.

Avoiding palm oil for health reasons

We have a popular post, Can You Be Allergic to Palm Oil. I wrote it because my son gets sick from anything with palm oil in it. There are consumers who are negatively affected by it. Palm oil affects their health. They have reactions from it, and they are seeking answers.

Whether it’s an allergy, intolerance, or sensitivity, palm oil is proving to negatively affect some people.

In addition, in BakeryandSnacks.com, the International Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark Programme (POFCAP) explained they want to “help consumers find foods without palm oil for ethical, allergen, or dietary reasons.”

POFCAP is authorized to certify products as “Palm Oil Free” in 20 countries. They have nearly 1,000 products certified.

Consumers are more exposed to palm oil

As the demand increases and its prevalence is more common in foods, consumers are eating more of it in processed and packaged foods than ever before.

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that palm oil production almost doubled from 2003 to 2013. This was even before the FDA banned the use of artificial trans fats in foods.

Palm oil is now in half of packaged foods and consumer goods.

In addition to processed foods, consumers are also exposed to palm oil in cleaning products, toothpaste, cosmetics, lotion, deodorant, soap, over-the-counter medicines, sunscreen, and many more products.

Some consumers are noticing reactions to it. Others may be concerned with the saturated fat content in the foods.

Is palm oil healthy? Is palm oil good for you?

The question of whether palm oil is healthy for you is a common one. Many wonder: Is palm oil good for you?

According to Harvard Medical School nutrition experts, palm oil is better for us than artificial trans fats. However, they encourage consumers to use olive oil and canola oil because — unlike palm oil — they are naturally liquid at room temperature.

Is palm oil carcinogenic?

Healthline.com also reports that palm oil is high in saturated fat and that it’s been linked to a cancer risk. They cite a study from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which reports palm oil can cause cancer when processed at high temperatures, approximately 200 degrees Celcius (393 degrees F).

Their expert Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain found glycidol to be a carcinogenic and genotoxic. 

As reported on WebMD, the EFSA stated palm oil may cause cancer based on studies on mice. Note, the study didn’t test on humans.

Glycidyl fatty acid esters, or GEs

Glycidyl fatty acid esters (GEs) are a new class of food-processing contaminant. 

When palm oil is heated to temperatures above 200 degrees C  or higher, harmful substances form. These are called Glycidyl fatty acid esters — GEs. The highest form of them are in palm oil. 

Avoiding palm oil for health concerns

While consumers avoid palm oil for health reasons and environmental reasons, if you have reactions to palm oil or other conditions, talk to your doctor. Please do not use this for medical advice. 

It’s very common in everyday products. It’s a very versatile oil. Companies use palm oil in many ways. 

Because palm oil has so many different applications in so many types of products, it goes by hundreds of names. Many of them do not have the word “palm” in them. This makes reading labels challenging — though it can be done! 

Here are some tips for avoiding palm oil. Limit buying processed and packaged foods. Choose whole foods such as fruits and vegetables. Cook at home. Choose food and non-food products with the least amount of ingredients. These are favorite products we use which make it easier to live without it.

Limiting processed foods is one of the best things you can do.

When you learn the types of products palm oil is in, you may be surprised how much you encounter each day in foods and non-food items.

Start reading labels. 

Since the artificial trans fat ban went into effect in the United States, companies needed to find other cheap alternatives. They used trans fats because they were cheap. Now they’ve turned to palm oil. 

Red palm oil health benefits

Red palm oil originally attracted attention for its health benefits. 

According to CleanEatingMag.com, the benefits from red palm oil are when the “red” in the palm oil stays intact and isn’t processed and stripped down.

Virgin red palm oil — in it’s most natural state and still red — is high in lycopene, beta-carotene, and tocotrienols.

They recommend up to 1 – 2 tablespoons per day as well as using ones that are sustainable.

Is palm oil good or bad?

RealSimple.com tries to answer the question if palm oil is bad for you. In one section, they compare the palm oil industry to that of the tobacco and alcohol industries. Palm oil is big business. It’s also very political as well.

Companies are burning and deforesting rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia for palm oil plantations. However, in both of these countries, companies are not allowed to sell products advertising “Palm Oil Free” and “No Palm Oil.”

When you read about palm oil, it’s critical you determine the source. Also consider who may be profiting from the study or may be damaged from the study.

This is particularly important as you research sustainable palm oil and the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil. There are many sides to this issue. Just because a company says it uses sustainable palm oil doesn’t mean it is.

POFCAP — the organization who certifies products as Palm Oil Free — estimates up to 80% of what’s considered sustainable is not.

This post explains how companies are forbidden to advertise their products as palm oil free and from seeking Palm Oil Free Certification labeling. By promoting a product as Palm Oil Free, this leading palm oil organization believes it suggests products without it are superior to those with it. 

So no matter what you read, be aware of who is circulating those lists and how they may benefit from positioning palm oil in a positive or negative light.

Palm oil health

Now that palm oil has become more common in foods, especially in the United States, there are questions about palm oil health. Consumers see it on labels and wonder what it is and if it’s good for them.

As consumers are more exposed to palm oil, it’s likely medical experts will take a better look at how it may affect them.

Some experts believe palm oil health dangers may surface now that consumers using more products with it (in the United States) than ever before. 

Whereas consumers come in contact with palm oil and may consume it daily, this was not the case 5 – 10 years ago. Many people unknowingly use it morning, noon and night. It’s in their soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant. It’s in their creamer and muffin as well as their granola bar, bread, and spices.

Many consumers experience trouble digesting palm oil. Others report allergy-like symptoms. If you experience reactions from palm oil, be sure to report them to the FDA. 

Report symptoms to FDA

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has a MedWatch Voluntary Reporting online form. It’s easy to complete and submit to report your symptoms. Just be sure to have the product information.

Bookmark this link and click on Consumer/Patient. Another option is call them at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Health professionals continue to recommend olive oil instead of palm oil.

If you are avoiding palm for health reasons or if you are concerned with the amount you consume, you can start by reading labels.