May 2023 - results
Saving rainforests: Reduce palm oil use
May Goal: Improve nature's ability to capture and store carbon through reducing palm oil use.
How: Avoid palm oil products, be aware of labelling, look for RSPO certification.
Verdict: Great! Discovered products to stop buying and those that are open and transparent on supply chain traceability and sustainability reporting.
Tackling palm oil use - our May theme
Palm oil free
Avoiding goods that use palm oil, especially snack foods.
Health first
Know the label
Understanding the secret names for palm oil on labels.
Stearic acid anyone?
RSPO certified
<20% of palm oil is RSPO certified so chase it down!
Check the badge
May results - how did we go?
Goal #1 - Use less
Recap: Palm oil has been a significant reason for tropical deforestation, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. The insatiable demand for vegetable oil globally has driven palm oil production to 76 million tonnes, from the 28 million it was twenty years ago.
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It's a complicated area, as palm oil is also a super-efficient crop, yielding as much as four to ten times the amount per hectare of other vegetable oil crops. So on a measure of land use only, palm oil is much, much better than other vegetable oil crops. But when all factors are taken into account, including that palm oil involves clearing tropical land (where our very important rainforests are), it may not always the best answer. In certain applications, canola is a much better choice. Not to mention palm oil consumption in high quantities is terrible for heart health as its very high in saturated fat.
Progress #1 - Using less
I don't think we've used drastically less palm oil, but we are much more conscious of trying to avoid it. I don't know how many kilos we were consuming before but I'd like to think the chocolate swap has reduced our consumption😉, and now the change in instant noodles we won't be eating anymore.
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We all know that prepackaged and heavily processed foods aren't that great for us (health wise). Having the added step of checking sugar, saturated fat and palm oil content hopefully leads to better choices. But the best choice here is probably to just make your own snacks, and lean towards whole foods, vegetables and fruits.
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Recently I took the kids shopping for 'treat' snacks to take with them to rehearsals after school ahead of a big event. It was cool to see Miss 10 reading the backs of packets to see if they contained palm oil, and surprisingly (or not) a number of snack foods deliberately targeted at children contain palm oil, with no hint of RSPO certification mentioned. We made better choices together and even looked at sugar content (wonders!).
Beauty is a tough one, this month has made me pretty aware that the use of the word sustainability in beauty products could be about using recycled packaging, or being in packaging that is recyclable, it doesn't as often mean full transparency across environmental and human rights issues in their ingredients list and full supply chain. Much like the fashion industry, beauty and make-up are ripe for a climate change makeover.
Goal #2 - Know the label
Recap: What surprised me the most this month, was to know that there is no requirement to label palm oil as such in Australia. Secondly, was how many names it can go by, making easy detection almost impossible. We really do rely on the transparency of manufacturers.
Just a few of the names, bolding the ones I came across most often (particularly in beauty products):
Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Fat, Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palmolein, Glyceryl, Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid, Palm Stearine, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate, Hyrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol.
Progress #2 - more informed, but its still hard work
It was more likely than not that products used these 'other' names for palm oil, making quick detection by reading labels super tricky. In many cases I had to turn, not only to their websites and search palm oil policies, but go all the way to the parent brand sites and send some emails. What was great was the brands who got back to me (yay, customer service!). Working out whether a product contains palm oil is super tricky without labelling requirements.
Add your voice to the petition to make this mandatory so consumers can be informed - check the link in the post.
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Some of the products I will pause on (for now) until they can jump on the RSPO certified across their full supply chain, or go palm oil free.
Drunk Elephant eye cream (contains Ethylhexyl Palmitate) I couldn't confirm RSPO palm oil in this specific product, but their parent company Shiseido are aiming for 100% certification by 2026.
Nars foundation (contains Ascorbyl Palmitate) - same parent company as above. Until 2026 folks.
Indomie Mi Goreng Noodles (contains palm oil) and while their supplier is aiming for full compliance to the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) standards, there has been some past controversy as to the exact nature of how and why they left the RSPO. Off our buy list.
Goal #3 - RSPO certified
Recap: The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the process of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) has been around for almost 20 years (established in 2004). Yet disappointingly, less than 20% of palm oil production is certified. Much, much, more needs to be done for certification and even for maturing of existing RSPO member's practices and adherence to the principles and criteria developed across RSPO's different focus areas.
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Remember, being a member doesn't guarantee being certified, so look at the actual words used.
The palm oil itself is not 100% certified through the supply chain if the words 'mixed' 'mass balance' or 'Contributes to the production of certified sustainable palm oil' are used.
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Progress #3 - again, it's work to find the answers sometimes
Many companies who state in their sustainability policies or on parent company websites for brands that they are in fact RSPO certified, do not include the labelling on their packaging. It leads one to wonder why. Is it difficult to uphold year to year? Are they perhaps only partially compliant and unable to use the badge?
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