Palm Oil and Its Label Names: Palm Kernel, Fractionated, Modified

Palm oil shows up on US ingredient lists under many names: palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm olein, palm stearin, fractionated palm kernel oil, modified palm oil, hydrogenated palm oil, and palm fruit shortening. This guide explains where each one comes from, how they differ in fat content, how US labeling rules treat them, and what food safety agencies have said about palm oil processing.

Palm oil vs. palm kernel oil

Both oils come from the fruit of the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, but from different parts of it. According to a 2015 review in the journal Molecules, palm oil is pressed from the fleshy outer part of the fruit (the mesocarp), while palm kernel oil comes from the seed inside.

The two oils are quite different:

• Palm oil contains about 49 g of saturated fat per 100 g, according to USDA FoodData Central. Its main fatty acid is palmitic acid, with a large share of oleic acid, the same fat found in olive oil.
• Palm kernel oil contains about 82 g of saturated fat per 100 g (USDA FoodData Central). Its main fatty acid is lauric acid, which makes it more like coconut oil than like palm oil.

For comparison, USDA FoodData Central lists canola oil at about 7 g and soybean oil at about 16 g of saturated fat per 100 g. That difference answers a common shopper question, "canola or palm oil?": the two behave differently in food, and palm oil has far more saturated fat.

Fractionated palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin

Palm oil is semi-solid at warm room temperatures. Producers can separate it into parts that melt at different temperatures. This is called fractionation. According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), fractionation produces a lower-melting liquid part called palm olein, used as cooking oil, and a higher-melting solid part called palm stearin, used in foods that need a solid fat such as shortening and margarine. The common method, dry fractionation, uses temperature control rather than chemicals to separate the parts.

Fractionated palm kernel oil is the same idea applied to palm kernel oil: a fraction separated out because of the way it melts. Fractionation separates fats by melting point; it does not hydrogenate them.

Hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated palm oil

Under the FDA's ingredient labeling rule, 21 CFR 101.4(b)(14), a fat that has been completely hydrogenated must include the word "hydrogenated" in its name, and a partially hydrogenated fat must say "partially hydrogenated." Because the FDA removed partially hydrogenated oils from GRAS status, with compliance required from June 18, 2018, "hydrogenated palm oil" or "hydrogenated palm kernel oil" on a current US product usually means a fully hydrogenated fat. Fully hydrogenated fats contain very little trans fat but are almost entirely saturated fat; USDA FoodData Central lists one hydrogenated palm kernel filling fat at about 88 g of saturated fat per 100 g.

Non-hydrogenated palm oil simply means palm oil that has not been hydrogenated. It is the form most palm oil is sold in. The phrase is accurate, but it does not mean low saturated fat: plain palm oil is still about half saturated fat. See our guide to hydrogenated, interesterified and non-hydrogenated oils for more on these terms.

"Modified palm oil"

"Modified palm oil" is a broad description rather than a single process. It generally refers to palm oil whose melting behavior has been changed by fractionation, interesterification (rearranging the fatty acids on the fat molecule, as described by MPOB), hydrogenation, or a combination of these. The label alone usually won't tell you which method was used. If it matters to you, the Nutrition Facts panel shows the result: check saturated fat and trans fat.

Palm fruit shortening and blends

"Palm fruit shortening" or "palm oil shortening" is a solid shortening made from palm oil. MPOB notes that palm stearin fractions are common building blocks of shortening and margarine. Shortening blends are covered by 21 CFR 101.4(b)(14): a blend may be called "vegetable oil shortening," but the individual oils must follow in parentheses.

The same rule explains labels like "contains one or more of the following: canola oil, palm oil, soybean oil." Manufacturers may list fats that are only sometimes used, as long as words like "or," "and/or," or "contains one or more of the following" show that a listed oil may not be present.

Does palm oil contain soy?

Palm oil comes from the oil palm, not from soybeans, so pure palm oil does not contain soy. A product can still contain soy if it uses a blend with soybean oil or other soy ingredients, so read the full ingredients list. Under federal allergen law, soybeans are one of the major food allergens, but highly refined oils made from them are excluded from the definition of a major food allergen and do not have to be declared as allergens. If you have a soy allergy, talk with your allergist about refined soybean oil, and read the full ingredients list rather than relying on the "Contains" statement alone. Our guide to the 9 major allergens explains allergen labeling.

Palm oil and refining contaminants

Vegetable oils are usually refined to remove color, odor, and impurities. In 2016, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assessed three substances that form when vegetable oils are refined at high temperatures (about 200°C): glycidyl fatty acid esters, 3-MCPD, and 2-MCPD. EFSA found the highest levels of all three in palm oils and palm fats, followed by other oils and fats. EFSA concluded that glycidol, which is released from glycidyl esters during digestion, is genotoxic and carcinogenic, so it did not set a safe level for it. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the WHO, classifies glycidol as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A), based on animal evidence. The European Union later set maximum levels for glycidyl esters in vegetable oils and fats through Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/290.

These findings are about contaminants formed during refining, not about palm oil's fats themselves, and EFSA's concerns were based on estimated exposure from the whole diet, especially for infants and young children.

What about health and saturated fat?

The main nutrition point about palm oil is its saturated fat. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030 keep the advice to limit saturated fat to less than 10% of daily calories, and the FDA Daily Value for saturated fat is 20 g. Products high in palm kernel oil, palm stearin, or hydrogenated palm fats are usually the highest in saturated fat. Use the %DV on the Nutrition Facts label to compare similar products.

How to use this on myfoodfact.com

• Look up products by ingredient: palm oil, palm kernel oil, fractionated palm kernel oil, palm olein, palm stearin, modified palm oil, hydrogenated palm oil, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, non-hydrogenated palm oil, and palm fruit shortening.
• Compare with canola oil and coconut oil.
• Find options with less saturated fat on our low saturated fat list.

The bottom line

Palm oil and palm kernel oil come from different parts of the same fruit, and palm kernel oil is much higher in saturated fat. "Fractionated," "modified," and "hydrogenated" describe ways of changing how the fat melts; "non-hydrogenated" means it was left as is. Whatever the name, the saturated fat line on the Nutrition Facts label is the most practical way to compare products.

This guide is for general information and is not medical advice. If you have a food allergy, high cholesterol, or heart disease, follow the guidance of your health care team.