Stop demonising palm oil

THE Malaysian Estate Owners’ Association (MEOA) is gravely concerned over the continued demonisation of palm oil by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), food companies and retailers, and calls on them to immediately cease their actions because they are discriminatory and not holistic in presenting the facts.

The latest act in this systematic demonisation campaign is the anti-palm oil advertisement placed by Iceland, a British supermarket chain, that was to be aired on television over the Christmas period. The advertisement has been banned by the United Kingdom’s regulatory advertising authority for being political in nature. Nevertheless, if the point of the advertisement is anti-deforestation rather than anti-palm oil (as claimed by Iceland’s managing director), why isn’t it addressing other sectors and other edible oil crops that are responsible for more deforestation than palm oil?