--- title: Trans Fat Deforestation Palm Oil: Why FDA Rule May Cause Deforestation description: The demand for palm oil, trans fat's leading replacement, will likely lead to deforestation as wooded areas in the tropics are cleared. canonical: https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-19T14:48:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:51.583Z article:section: Science og:title: Trans Fat Deforestation Palm Oil: Why FDA Rule May Cause Deforestation og:description: The demand for palm oil, trans fat's leading replacement, will likely lead to deforestation as wooded areas in the tropics are cleared. og:url: https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a678b40c4d4280a/698854d2428a9e8d25ccdbf2/palm-oil-malaysia-nutella.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: palm oil deforestration Nutella og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trans Fat Deforestation Palm Oil: Why FDA Rule May Cause Deforestation twitter:description: The demand for palm oil, trans fat's leading replacement, will likely lead to deforestation as wooded areas in the tropics are cleared. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a678b40c4d4280a/698854d2428a9e8d25ccdbf2/palm-oil-malaysia-nutella.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Surprising Link Between Trans Fat and Deforestation > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Wildfires, Beetles and Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Wildfires, Beetles and Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wYhUFMcF.m3u8) (4:46)  _Published 2009-09-14. In this Climate Central report, Dr. Susan Prichard explains how tree-killing bark beetles flourish in warmer temperatures, leading to severe wildfires_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 19, 2015 2:48 PM UTC  A tree stands alone in a logged area prepared for palm oil plantation near Lapok in Malaysia's Sarawak State in 2009. A tree stands alone in a logged area prepared for palm oil plantation near Lapok in Malaysia's Sarawak State in 2009. Saeed Khan—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 19, 2015 2:48 PM UTC The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [banned](http://time.com/3922583/trans-fats-hydrogenated-oils/) trans fat this week in a move hailed as major step forward in the fight against heart disease. But the move may have some unfortunate environmental consequences. The increased demand for palm oil—the leading replacement for trans fat—will likely lead to deforestation as wooded areas in the tropics are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. “It’s the single greatest immediate threat to tropical forests and wildlife,” said David Wilcove, Princeton University professor of public affairs and ecology and evolutionary biology, about palm oil. “It is the leading cause of deforestation and has been for a number of years.” When the trans fat ban takes effect in three years, experts say that palm oil will be the clear alternative for food producers. In 2006, the FDA enacted a rule that manufacturers label trans fat on food products—and palm oil imports the United States jumped by 60%. The number will be much larger this time around, experts say. “The labeling rule gives us a pretty clear indication that actually banning trans fats is going to further increase U.S. imports of palm oil,” said Jeff Conant, who leads the international forests program at the Friends of the Earth environmental group. But with the new demand for palm oil also comes an opportunity to advocate for creating better regulations for the product, Conant said. Many manufacturers already prohibit their suppliers from cutting down new forest and instead ask that they rely on land that was already cleared. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil develops these standards and monitors the production of palm oil. Conant says the FDA rule provides the perfect opportunity to encode standards like these into law. “Until now we’ve been saying avoid products that use palm oil but now that’s not really possible,” he said. “Now that we have mandatory rules for eliminating trans fat from our diets, we need mandatory rules to protect rain forests.” ## Transcript >> I find it amazing that such a small non- descript little beetle can reeks a tabic on forest systems. >> A research scientist at the University of Washington Dr. Susan Prichard studies the effects of disturbances like insect outbreaks and wildfires on forests. Over the last two decades, more trees in western forests are being killed by bark beetles and there have been more fires. But, is climate change to blame? >> Each one of these, yellow sap concentration is an actual site where a mountain pine beetle as board into the bark of the logical pine and then it will lay eggs and its larvae will actually feed on the cambium tissue, the living tissue of the tree. So here, each one of the centers is an example of the tree trying to pitch out the beetle. The actual sap of the tree has [ unk ] that are toxic to the beetles and then also they are physically pushed the beetle out of the tree. >> Wow. So this tree is literally just fighting for its life. >> It is fighting for its life. That's not an overstatement actually. So, I can tell that unfortunately for this particular tree, it's not winning the fight. >> Beetles thrive in warmer weather. Mild winters, earlier springs and longer summers mean more beetles. >> So there is a climate linked for mountain pine beetle for sure. And what we're noticing in Washington State even today that in the last 20 years with warmer climate, warmer [ unk ] climate, there has been an increased incidents of mountain pine beetle. >> A resident of the quaint town in Winthrop in Central Washington, Dr. Prichard also says, warmer temperatures across the Western US have made drought stressed trees more vulnerable to beetle attack. >> Now if you have a vigorous tree, it will have enough defenses to pitch out some beetles so the beetles will attack the more weakened trees and maybe kill them. In an outbreak there could be, you know, acres upon acres of host trees where that there would be weakened, maybe drought, stressed, dense trees for these beetles to build up enough of a population that then they could start spreading into both weakened trees and healthy trees. >> Scientists have already made a definitive connection between warming temperatures and increase fires in the west. The connection between beetles and fire is less understood but many scientists like Prichard believe the combination of beetles, warming and drying forest will pre- dispose Washington State Forests to more fire. This year, more than 800 wild fires ignited in Washington State well above the yearly average. Prichard says in an outbreak of bark beetles starting in the 1990's let accumulations of dead trees priming the forests for a big fire event, which is exactly what occurred in August 2006 when the so- called tripod complex fire swept through the Okanogan Wenatchee forest destroying 180 thousand acres and costing $ 80 million. >> I actually saw the initial big smoke flumes. And if you were to look across the valley floor, you would not have been able to see even the trees. >> For Prichard, large fire events have been part of the landscape for millennium, vital to the renewal of the forest. She's concern about the future with an increase frequency of hot, dry weather, beetle outbreak and big fires. >> It actually reset the stage. It is a very natural cycle in this ecosystem. However, we are also facing unprecedented changes and climate. Here's an example of a Douglas first seedling, and you can see that it, you know, smaller in stature, it's very shallowly rooted in the soil and it's vulnerable to drought so as the top soil dries. It might dry out and die. So if we have more high severity fire then it might mean that trees that ever existed here for hundreds of not thousands of years are not able to success or able to produce. >> But since understanding the effect of disturbances on forest is her passion and work, Dr. Prichard has no plans to leave Central Washington anytime soon. They choose to live in a fire prone landscape. I think that's an important thing for people to actually take in to consideration when they wanna live in the great outdoors. The great outdoors in the Inland west means fire in the summers. >> Prichard and other scientist say climate change is at the very least partly responsible. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/"},"headline":"The Surprising Link Between Trans Fat and Deforestation","datePublished":"2015-06-19T14:48:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:51.583Z","description":"The ban will likely lead to an increase in palm oil cultivation","url":"https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/","keywords":["Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a678b40c4d4280a/698854d2428a9e8d25ccdbf2/palm-oil-malaysia-nutella.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a678b40c4d4280a/698854d2428a9e8d25ccdbf2/palm-oil-malaysia-nutella.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"palm oil deforestration Nutella","caption":"palm oil deforestration Nutella","creditText":"Saeed Khan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/","name":"The Surprising Link Between Trans Fat and Deforestation"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Wildfires, Beetles and Climate Change","description":"In this Climate Central report, Dr. Susan Prichard explains how tree-killing bark beetles flourish in warmer temperatures, leading to severe wildfires","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wYhUFMcF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-09-14T03:15:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wYhUFMcF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/","duration":"PT4M46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3927023/trans-fat-ban-deforestation/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```