Red palm oil is produced in several areas, including Malaysia, West Africa and Ecuador. Oil pressed from the flesh of the fruit of the palm tree is naturally a deep orange color. But most palm fruit oil is bleached and refined at high temperatures, resulting in a yellow oil used in the food and cosmetics industries, says Johari Minal, Washington, D.C., regional manager of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, a government agency that promotes the country’s palm-oil industry. Red palm oil is refined either at lower temperatures or not heated at all during final processing, causing it to retain color and nutrients, he says.
