High concentrations of 3-monochloro- 1,2-propanediol (3-MCPD) were found in refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil recently, implying that the level in edible oil consumption will exceed the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.8 μg kg-1 body weight as determined by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2016). A study showed that the reaction prerequisites for ester formation are the presence of fatty acids and ionic-bound chlorine. Although fatty acids neutralisation is an effective oil purification method, various technologies have been introduced to address the de-chlorination issue in crude palm oil so that the MCPD ester content in palm oil meets the European and the American market requirements which are currently below 2 mg kg-1, and a further reduction to 0.5 ppm has been proposed.