Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran has decreased the importation of palm oil due to health concerns, ISNA news agency reported on Dec. 9.
The country imported 7.415 million metric tons of palm oil in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21), which is a 30 percent fall year on year.
Iran Customs Administration Director Masoud Karbasian said the value of palm imports amounted to $11 million.
During the past two Iranian months (September 23-November 21) some 2.068 million metric tons of palm oil was imported, showing a 16 percent decrease compared to the same period in the previous year, he noted.
Iran's Health Minister Seyyed Hassan Hashemi has previously warned people against consuming high-fat milk and yogurt produced by industrial dairy companies.
He said that some dairy companies are using palm oil in high fat milk and yogurt, saying such companies are endangering public health by adding the industrial oil to the milk.
The Health Ministry has not given license to any dairy company to use palm oil, he added.
Iranian Health Ministry statistics show that last year 120 thousand metric tons of palm oil was used in dairy industry in the country. Palm oil constitutes one third of oil consumption in Iran.
Statistics show that 50 percent of oil consumption of Iranian people last year was palm oil which is expected to drop to 30 percent this year. Iran imported over $650 million worth of palm oil from Malaysia last year.
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