Labelling Ingredients on Food Products - Palm oil

Contains vegetable oils, really? What oils are disguised under “vegetable oils”, We have the right as consumers to know what type of oil is used. Are we entering an age where oils might benefit from numbers?
Many of us now check for palm oil and other oils to avoid.

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Like most things I buy, I select a product that volunteers information instead of leaving you guessing.
Like eggs for example, there are 2 cartons both stating they’re free range but one mentions it’s stock density at 1,500 chooks per hectare…and that’s the one I’ll buy.
Even with biscuits and chips. I know they’re both unhealthy but I’ll buy the one that has a health star rating, regardless how low it is.

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Exactly @leesfamily01! Oils ain’t (all good) oils. In case you haven’t seen it yet, CHOICE is calling for specific labelling of oils, sugars and fats in ingredient lists. You can read more here.

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I’m all in favour of comprehensive labels, but they are not much use if they are too small to be read or are hidden under the join of the wrapper.

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I am absolutely all in favour of labelling palm oil. Currently it has over 200 names that it can be hidden under

If the company is using CSPO (certified sustainable palm oil) I would like it labelled as such therefore giving consumers an educated choice about purchasing it.
Too much to ask? I don’t think so!

PS I know some companies do label their palm oil as CSPO but it’s a small percentage.

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Vote with your dollar to support those manufacturers that are clear and transparent in their labelling.

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As Melbourne zoo sought to have Cadbury’s commit to only using certified sustainable palm oil, and Cadbury’s refused, l choose to boycott All Cadbury’s. Save the Orangutans.

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That is not quite right. Melbourne Zoo asked Cadbury to declare where its palm oil comes from and Cadbury fail to do so…the Zoo then made assumptions based on this.

The Cadbury NZ website indicates that Cadbury milk chocolate is palm oil free, and when palm oil is used in some fillings ‘we buy our palm oil from key suppliers who participate in the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) which develops and enforces standards for sustainable palm oil production.’ i can’t find the same page on the Australian website.

Even if say Cadbury’s used palm oil in one or two product fillings, one can still buy many products which are free of palm oil if one choses to.

Some companies claim they don’t add palm oil to their products but don’t state if the raw ingredients they receive may contain palm oil. For example, vegetable oils are often used to prevent sticky ingredients from not clumping (dried fruit is one example). While they might not add palm oil themselves, it would be interesting to know if they can guarantee it across the whole of the supply chain or in other products used through in production (cleaning agents, maintenance products, packaging etc).

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I don’t think it is so much which Cadbury blocks do or don’t use palm oil, I think @Wend and the Zoo are against any use of Palm Oil in any Cadbury product. So they do not support the entire Brand rather than help fund further use of palm oil by buying any Cadbury product.

What nowadays is sustainable palm oil production at the huge levels it must be produced to meet demand? Do they mean the areas they have already deforested? I’m seriously interested in how they determine this beyond the sell speak that is often put out.

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This possibly answers some of the questions…

and

I believe that this is very much a political position to make a point. Unfortunately palm oil is possibly used in the food industry (and many other domestic consumer products) a lot more than just what is potentially in the final food product.

Palm oil derived products are frequently used in cleaning agents and many other chemicals used in food production. Picking on say Cadbury which may use palm oil in one or two fillings in its whole product range whilst ignoring others (including those which market themselves as the fod product being palm oil free but fail to market themselves as being free of any palm oil through the products production from farm to the consumer) is somewhat a false stand, hoping it makes a difference.

It is worth noting that, chemicals or ingredients within industry using palm oil include those called :

Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Fat, Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palm olein, 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, Hydrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol, Laureth-7, Steareth-2, Cocamide MEA (fatty acid-derived) Cocamiede DEA (fatty acid derived), Stearamidopropyldimethylamine, Cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, Isopropylmyristate, Caprylic/capric Trigylceride, Fatty Isethionates (SCI), Alkylpolyglycoside (APG), Laurylamine oxide

Some of the above can also be derived from other sources rather than palm oil, however we use many products daily which contain these ingredients, and it is highly likely that some will be derived from palm oil. I would not know which ones are palm oil derivates and most consumer, like myself, would also be none the wiser.

I question those, such as the Zoo who ban Cadbury in their shops yet are most likely to use other products with hidden palm oil. It seems like double standard as they turn a blind eye to these as they are hidden ingredients or more difficult to identify or the product label doesn’t directly list palm oil.

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How do you turn a blind eye to that which is hidden?

Have a look at all coles in house baked by rote biscuits, cookies, buns etc. they all contain palm oil when there are farmers just down the road growing canola.