Squeeze game: palm oil will be banned in products for schools and kindergartens
Palm oil will disappear from schools, universities and kindergartens. A bill banning it in dairy, bakery and confectionery products for educational institutions is being prepared for submission to the State Duma in the spring session, Izvestia has learned. Earlier, its speaker Vyacheslav Volodin instructed to work out the issue of limiting the import of palm oil and reducing its use in the food industry.
Why do they want to ban palm oil?
In early April, Vyacheslav Volodin instructed Vladimir Kashin, Chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Issues of the lower house of Parliament, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, to prepare proposals that would limit the turnover of palm oil in Russia. In particular, we are talking about reducing the import and use of these products in the food industry, according to the documents signed by the chairman of the lower house of parliament. As Izvestia learned, the first bill on this topic will be submitted to the State Duma in the spring session. The editorial board sent a request to Vyacheslav Volodin's office.
"It is unacceptable that dairy, bakery, confectionery and other products offered in kindergartens, school and student canteens contain artificial substitutes and palm oil," Vladimir Kashin told Izvestia.
That is why it is necessary to legalize the ban on its use in these products, which will be purchased by educational institutions, he noted. Schools, kindergartens and other organizations will have to specify this requirement in the terms of reference for public procurement.
With routine monitoring, Rospotrebnadzor and Rosselkhoznadzor will be able to assess whether the products meet the stated requirements.
Vladimir Kashin mentioned that experts are still debating whether palm oil is safe. It is already clear that it is inferior to other types of oil in terms of the content of useful substances — for example, olive, sunflower or flax, the deputy noted.
— But palm oil is consistently used in the Russian Federation. For example, according to the Federal Customs Service and dairy producers, imports of these products and their fractions have been at the level of 1 million tons in recent years. Moreover, virtually the entire volume goes to the food industry. Thus, 30% of the purchased palm oil goes to the confectionery industry, another 25% is involved in the preparation of fast food, 15% goes to the production of bakery products, and the remaining share goes to the dairy industry, to the production of margarines and spreads," he said.
According to Vladimir Kashin, the volume of natural milk production in the Russian Federation is still insufficient to provide the country's population with dairy products and replace incoming imports. The level of self-sufficiency in milk and its derivatives in Russia is about 87%, although the food security doctrine defines this indicator at a level not lower than 90%, the expert explained. As a result, today one person consumes only 220 kg of natural milk per year, while the recommended medical norm is 320 kg.
Manufacturers are increasing the production of dairy products, replacing animal fats with vegetable fats, including at the expense of palm oil. At the same time, those companies that "hide" such fats in dairy products, that is, they manufacture counterfeit products, do not always reduce the cost of goods, so the new ban will not affect the price of products, the deputy believes.
The Ministry of Agriculture told Izvestia that they had received Vladimir Kashin's proposal and would consider it in due course.
Why palm oil gets into adulteration
High-quality palm oil is harmless, Dmitry Leonov, Deputy chairman of the Board of Rusprodsoyuz, emphasized to Izvestia. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that it was actively used in baby food as a substitute for breast milk during the Soviet era, he noted.
— Palm oil is difficult to replace in the production of a number of products, primarily in the confectionery industry. Its characteristics create an advantage over other types of oils — for example, it contains almost no cholesterol, it has a semi-solid structure and does not require additional manipulation during use. In addition, palm has a naturally neutral taste and smell, which is a serious advantage for many industries," he noted.
The expert explained that palm oil is negatively treated due to the fact that it is used to produce counterfeit products. That is, they replace animal fats with vegetable fats and do not indicate them in the product composition. But the share of such falsifications is only about 5%, according to Roskachestvo estimates.
Meanwhile, the State Duma is seriously concerned about the spread of milk adulteration in the Russian Federation, Deputy chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Issues Yulia Ogloblina told Izvestia. There are quite a lot of complaints about him — some manufacturers make their products cheaper in this way, she noted.
Manufacturers not only do not indicate the presence of a plant component on the label, but also exceed its permissible level in the manufacture of dairy products. The technical regulations on the safety of milk require that the proportion of vegetable fats does not exceed 50%. Therefore, the deputy proposes to seriously toughen the punishment for producers of milk adulteration.
— In case of violations, companies should be charged turnover fines of up to 15% of revenue. This proposal is already being worked out in the Committee on Agrarian Issues. It is this approach that can make the production of counterfeit products unprofitable. For comparison, now the fine for such a violation is 300 thousand rubles. Such low sanctions make the manufacture of counterfeit goods profitable, while turnover fines can become more painful for companies," the deputy noted.
The Rosselkhoznadzor supports this approach, she noted.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Rosselkhoznadzor, Rospotrebnadzor and the regions. Soyuzmolok, the Russian Bakers' Union, as well as the Association of Confectionery Industry Enterprises and the Fat and Oil Union did not respond to editorial questions.
The problem of adulteration of various types of food products through the hidden use of palm oil is really very acute, confirmed Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative. At the same time, palm oil itself varies significantly in its properties depending on the production technology, he added.
"For example, unrefined palm oil does not undergo any treatments and retains vitamins A, E, antioxidants, unsaturated fats and other useful substances that, when consumed in moderation, have a positive effect on the body," he told Izvestia. — But during processing, trans fats can form in such oil, which the World Health Organization blames for the increase in the number of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, with improper heat treatment, carcinogens can form in palm oil, as in other types of oils.
It turns out that the danger to consumers is precisely the hidden use of certain varieties of palm oil, Oleg Pavlov added. Therefore, legislative decisions aimed at limiting such unfair practices are quite timely, the expert believes.
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