When a journalist, NGO, or any type of public writer discusses palm oil, they usually focus on the multi-billion dollar corporations that source conflict palm oil— palm oil produced through exploitative and unsustainable means — and the environmental destruction that leaves dozens of species like orangutans and rhinos without a home. 

In The Shocking Truth About Palm Oil, Dr. Bruce Fife takes a different approach. He focuses on the effects of palm oil on human health. Dr. Fife is a certified nutritionist, naturopathic physician, and author of over twenty books. The titles of some of these books, such as Stop Autism Now! and Coconut Therapy for Pets, do raise concerns about the legitimacy of his work. 

Fife makes the case for the several health benefits of red palm oil (unrefined palm oil), which according to him has been providing humans and animals with nutrients for millennia — he mentions it was prized by the pharaohs that ruled ancient Egypt. 

Fife claims that Palm oil is one of the healthiest vegetable oils. Before the USDA required labelling of trans fats, food manufacturers used hydrogenated vegetable oils in packaged goods. The word hydrogenated refers to the process where vegetable oils, like soy and canola, are loaded with hydrogen atoms in order to make the oil less susceptible to spoilage— this turns these oils into trans fats. But when the United States Institute of Medicine declared “No level of trans fats is safe”, there was a shift. This declaration, according to Dr. Fife, contributed to palm oil’s widespread use today. 

In addition to being a good source of dietary fat, Fife explains palm oil’s healing properties. Before the arrival of modern medicine in Africa, a cup of palm oil was gulped down when someone was sick. Today, Fife writes, the value of red palm oil is being recognized for treating and preventing malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies due to its high levels of antioxidants and richness in vitamins A and E. 

Though Fife’s claims about the nutritional value of palm oil can be backed by other sources, other arguments he makes throughout the book (like how green groups are sabotaging the palm oil industry) makes me question his legitimacy. 

The lack of discussion of species extinction, deforestation, and the broader issue of climate change leaves out an important piece to understanding the palm oil industry’s negative impacts. Instead, tangentially, he dedicates two chapters to the harmful effects of genetically engineered (GE) foods.  

While Fife distracts the reader with his argument against GE foods, the Amazonian rainforest is being deforested at unprecedented rates. Every minute, the equivalent of a football field of rainforest is torn down. Southeast Asia has lost approximately 50% of its original forest cover, and that rate is projected to increase annually. Much of this deforestation is attributed to expansion in agricultural production.

Fife lightly touches upon deforestation when highlighting soybean oil production. He claims that soybean production is even more destructive than palm oil production, 

“More Amazon rainforest in Brazil has been destroyed to make room for soybean cultivation than Malaysia has cleared in the past 100 years for palm oil production” (Fife, 73). 

Fife defends his pro-palm oil stance by making his case against soybean and other seed oils — he calls this the “war on palm oil”. The commanders in this so-called “war” are environmental groups like  Greenpeace, WWF, and Friends of the Earth. Fife claims to expose the alliances these green groups have with the seed oil industry, and accuses them of being biased against palm oil. According to Fife, misleading data from the soy and seed industries has led these environmental groups to point the finger at palm oil for its role in environmental destruction. 

Talks of the soybean oil industry sabotaging the palm oil industry through misleading data and clandestine alliances sounds like it belongs in a gossip magazine. 

The lack of discussion on issues regarding deforestation, species extinction, and the bigger issue of climate change should be central topics when describing the “shocking truth” behind palm oil. For these reasons, If you’re looking to learn about palm oil and real the issues that surround it, this is not the book. 

Although there has been a limited amount of general literature on the palm oil controversy, as the issue has been growing in concern over the years, so has the amount of press and public writing. In fact, there are a couple new book releases coming this summer 2021 that focus on the issues of palm oil. Hopefully these new books can help fill the large gap that Dr. Bruce Fife has failed to fill.