MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Cooking Oil Blends Worry Chinese Consumers
Cooking Oil Blends Worry Chinese Consumers
28/10/2013 (WantChinaTimes) - Cooking oils labeled as peanut, olive or soybean oil in China reportedly contain a significant amount of cheap palm oil. Their producers continue to refuse to reveal the percentages of different oils in their products, claiming that it will reduce their profit margins, reports the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald.
A bottle of blended peanut oil may contain less than 5% peanut oil, while a bottle labeled as olive oil could contain as little as a drop of pure olive oil. These practices have been widely criticized by Chinese consumers but oil producers claim their products' formulas are commercial secrets and continue to conceal the true amount of blended oils in their products.
Many people are particularly concerned over the amount of palm oil in these blended oils, as palm oil contains a high level of saturated fat, in some cases as high as 50%. A source said that palm oil is of low quality, and will congeal and become a lump of white mass at low temperatures. Ingesting the oil over a long period of time could also result in cardio and cerebral vascular diseases, the source added.
The state-owned China Grain Reserves Corporation — which owns an oil and grain processing business, and is also known as Sinograin — said that the blended cook oils in the market contain less than 10% of the oil stated on their labels. Wang Qinrong, general manager of Sinograin, said the oils' producers are unwilling to reveal their formulas because it would also reveal their costs and prevent the producers from promoting the oils as a new products.
Although labels on these oil products do not specify the percentages of the different oils they contain, it is possible to glean the information through the order that they are stated on the labels, said the 21st Century Business Herald. The label on a bottle of edible blended oil that claims to be fish oil said it contains soybean oil, canola oil, peanut oil, fish oil, sesame oil and food additives. Their orders suggested fish oils amounted to less than 25% of the oil.
The practices have influenced the sales of blended oils in recent years. Market research institute Neilsen reported that percentages of blended oils among edible oil sales was 40.6% in 2010 and declined for two consecutive years from 37.1% in 2011 to 33.7% last year.
A source from a large cooking oil company said major cook oil brands usually do not use palm oil in their products to avoid harming their business reputation. Meanwhile, a grain and oil retailer in Shanghai said that cooking oil containing palm oils are widely used in restaurants.
Since palm oil would congeal in cold weather, it is often added into cooking oils in southern China where the weather is warm, the source said, adding that using palm oils can significantly reduce costs as the price of the oil has been declining. Twenty four degree palm oils were priced between 5,500- 5,800 yuan (US$900- US$950) per tonne in October, which was lower than that of soybean oils at around 7,100 yuan (US$1,100) and canola oil at 9,200 yuan (US$1,500).
Wang said although the palm oil-added blend oils have been loosing popularity since 2011, China has not produced a national standard to regulate their production, while their producers refuse to reveal their formulas. There is also lack of a technology to measure the oils within the blended oils accurately, Wang added.
A bottle of blended peanut oil may contain less than 5% peanut oil, while a bottle labeled as olive oil could contain as little as a drop of pure olive oil. These practices have been widely criticized by Chinese consumers but oil producers claim their products' formulas are commercial secrets and continue to conceal the true amount of blended oils in their products.
Many people are particularly concerned over the amount of palm oil in these blended oils, as palm oil contains a high level of saturated fat, in some cases as high as 50%. A source said that palm oil is of low quality, and will congeal and become a lump of white mass at low temperatures. Ingesting the oil over a long period of time could also result in cardio and cerebral vascular diseases, the source added.
The state-owned China Grain Reserves Corporation — which owns an oil and grain processing business, and is also known as Sinograin — said that the blended cook oils in the market contain less than 10% of the oil stated on their labels. Wang Qinrong, general manager of Sinograin, said the oils' producers are unwilling to reveal their formulas because it would also reveal their costs and prevent the producers from promoting the oils as a new products.
Although labels on these oil products do not specify the percentages of the different oils they contain, it is possible to glean the information through the order that they are stated on the labels, said the 21st Century Business Herald. The label on a bottle of edible blended oil that claims to be fish oil said it contains soybean oil, canola oil, peanut oil, fish oil, sesame oil and food additives. Their orders suggested fish oils amounted to less than 25% of the oil.
The practices have influenced the sales of blended oils in recent years. Market research institute Neilsen reported that percentages of blended oils among edible oil sales was 40.6% in 2010 and declined for two consecutive years from 37.1% in 2011 to 33.7% last year.
A source from a large cooking oil company said major cook oil brands usually do not use palm oil in their products to avoid harming their business reputation. Meanwhile, a grain and oil retailer in Shanghai said that cooking oil containing palm oils are widely used in restaurants.
Since palm oil would congeal in cold weather, it is often added into cooking oils in southern China where the weather is warm, the source said, adding that using palm oils can significantly reduce costs as the price of the oil has been declining. Twenty four degree palm oils were priced between 5,500- 5,800 yuan (US$900- US$950) per tonne in October, which was lower than that of soybean oils at around 7,100 yuan (US$1,100) and canola oil at 9,200 yuan (US$1,500).
Wang said although the palm oil-added blend oils have been loosing popularity since 2011, China has not produced a national standard to regulate their production, while their producers refuse to reveal their formulas. There is also lack of a technology to measure the oils within the blended oils accurately, Wang added.