07/08/2009 (My Palm Oil) - I'm now on vacation in Los Angeles, California. This morning, I sauntered into a local chain grocer called Trader Joe's, famed for catering to shoppers who care deeply for certified organic food. California is the first state in the US to ban trans fat from its food and palm oil would deem ideal to fulfill this health requirement.

While a handful of food manufacturer have started to recognise the versatility and nutritional benefits of palm oil, outright retail of palm cooking oil on supermarket shelves is almost non-existent. As I walked past the aisle displaying shelves of cooking oil, my eyes scanned through all the lables.

There were plenty of extra virgin olive oil, canola, grapeseed and sunflower. But, there was no soybean or palm oil.

Soybean and palm oil are not freely available as cooking oil in the US because they are very much incorporated in processed food like cookies, cakes, pastry, chewing gum, chocolate, and many more.

If you have a a frank talk with scientists in snack food companies, they'll tell you that palm oil is one of the rare 'cheap and good products' that is still available today.