Most Malaysian refineries employ physical refining to remove objectionable co-constituents in crude palm oil (CPO) with minimal damage and loss to glycerides and desirable components. Unfortunately, carcinogenic 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) esters can form during refining due to high temperatures, the presence of chlorine and an acidic environment. The formation of these esters could theoretically be prevented if these factors were eliminated. A conceptual alternative milling process flow is presented, where degummed, neutralised CPO could be refined. The novelty of the proposed process lies in preventing 3-MCPD formation during conventional refining by eliminating an acid medium. Preliminary results indicated that the optimal degumming conditions for diluted crude oil were 80°C with 0.05% v/v 85% phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and a 30-min reaction, reducing phosphorus content from 15.76 to 7.60 ppm. Membrane filtration resulted in 30% free fatty acids (FFA) rejection, decreasing from 4.72% to 3.26%. The contents of 3-MCPD and glycidyl ester in the refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil produced were 0.5 and 11.0 mg kg^-1, respectively, consistent with conventional products.