The hidden palm oil in your shopping list

The problem of palm oil has been a been in the news on and off for a number of years. As part of our worldwide campaign against climate change, one of the issues is how our attention seems to lock on to only a handful of problems at any one time — one month will see us all rallying against car fumes, then the next month, we’re all focused on avoiding plastic straws. But to make any real change, we must keep giving previously raised issues the same level of dedication as those that hit the headlines.

With this in mind, garden bark supplier Compost Direct is heading back to the issue of palm oil to see whether or not the situation has improved over the years.

What palm oil is

The vegetable oil ‘palm oil’ is found in the aptly named palm oil trees. The oil these trees produces is a fantastic product: it’s a healthier alternative to many other oils, aids with lathering in soaps, and holds colours in cosmetic items well while helping with a smooth application. It can enhance the texture of doughs, conditions hair, free from trans fats, makes chocolate look shiny, gives baked goods a creamy taste, removes dirt and oil, and relatively inexpensive.

Despite it being a high source of saturated fats, it’s clear to see why the many benefits of palm oil make it useful across the board. Sadly, as with most things, human demand is so much higher than the planet can naturally produce and replenish.

Why does it have a bad reputation then?

The palm oil itself isn’t the problem. The problem is mainly with the method of procurement, which can be highly destructive.

The oil is harvested from the fruit collected from the tree. These trees live for around 30 years, but they grow to considerable heights. If the trees become too tall, the fruit is more difficult to collect. So, the trees are cut down to make room for more trees.

As the product is so useful, the demand is incredibly high. It’s higher than the amount of oil the world’s palm oil trees can produce. According to the Guardian, India, China, and Indonesia’s demand for palm oil alone totals 40% of global palm oil consumptions. To meet this lucrative consumer demand, rainforests are cut down to plant the more profitable palm oil trees in their place. These rainforests are home to so many animals and delicate ecosystems. Essentially, we are replacing trees that benefit animals for trees that benefit humans. The impact has been devasting for orangutans in particular, with an estimated 100,000 deaths of the primate caused by deforestation over the last 16 years. On top of that, the burning of these rainforests is said to have contributed to the high levels of pollution witnessed in parts of Asia.

Products that use palm oil

The oil is used in so many different products, from kinds of margarine to cleaning products. It is also difficult to avoid products with palm oil in, as many products do not explicitly state their palm oil content — the ingredient has so many different names and derivatives that can be listed instead as a means to cloak its use. Some products will, however, list that they are “RSPO”, which means their palm oils have come from certified sustainable palm oil sources as certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oils. However, there has been some criticism of the RSPO due to their lack of clarity regarding clearing rainforests to grow more palm oil trees.

A small shopping-list study

How we conducted the mini-study

We decided to look at what’s on the shelves today. We’re putting together a small example shopping list from Which’s top rated online supermarket of 2018, Iceland. We’ve selected two ‘best seller’ products from each of Iceland’s ‘popular categories’: Frozen, Fresh, Food Cupboard, Household, Drinks, and Bakery*.

Then, we looked for palm oil in the products. Initially, we checked the ingredients list provided for each product (either on Iceland’s website or on the brand’s website) for any clear indication of palm oil. We included the terms ‘palm fat’, ‘vegetable oil (palm)’ and obvious variants. We then checked through the ingredients lists and compared it to the 426 alternative palm oil names listed by Palm Oil Investigations. In these instances, upon one alternative name being spotted in the ingredients list of a product, we marked the product as potentially containing palm oil, as these ingredients could come from other sources.

Product	Palm oil clearly listed in ingredients?	Palm oil referred to by a different name in ingredient?	Result
Frozen: Iceland 60 Crispy Chicken Dippers	No	No	Contains no palm oil**
Frozen: Chicago Town 2 Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizzas	No	No	Contains no palm oil**
Chilled: Utterly Butterly Spread	Yes	No	Contains palm oil**
Chilled: Rustlers Flame Grilled Cheese Burger	No	No	Contains no palm oil**
Food Cupboard: Kinder Bueno Milk and Hazelnut	Yes	No	Contains palm oil**
Food Cupboard: Pot Noodle Chicken & Mushroom	Yes	No	Contains palm oil**
Household: Peril Non-Bio Washing Liquid	No	Contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Household: Surf Tropical Lily Washing Powder	No	No	Contains no palm oil**
Drinks: Galaxy Instant Hot Chocolate	Yes	Contains palm fat	Contains palm oil**
Drinks: Pepsi Max	No	No	Contains no palm oil**
Bakery: Warburtons Toastie Thick Sliced Soft White Bread	Yes	Contains sustainable palm oil	Contains palm oil**
Bakery: Iceland Thick Tiger Bloomer Bread	No	No	Contains no palm oil**

Cosmetics

For cosmetics, we went to Superdrug as Iceland doesn’t stock them. Again, we used the ingredients lists available on the product page of Superdrug or consulted the brand’s own page if needed.

Product	Palm oil clearly listed in ingredients?	Palm oil referred to by a different name in ingredient?	Result
Face: NYX Professional Makeup Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Foundation – Light Ivory	No	Contains Caprylyl Glycol	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Face: NYX Professional Makeup Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Concealer – Neutral Buff	No	Contains Ethylhexylglycerin	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Lip: Revolution Rose Gold Lipstick Chauffeur	No	Contains Ethylhexyl Palmitate	Contains palm oil**
Lip: Nyx Professional Makeup Candy Stick Lip – Birthday Sprinkles	No	Contains Glycerin	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Eyes: MUA Eyeshadow Palette – Elysium	No	No	Contains no palm oil**
Eyes: Max Factor Rise & Shine Mascara Black	No	Contains glycerol	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Washing & Bathing: Palmolive Gourmet Vanilla Pleasure Shower Gel Cream	No	Contains Cocamidopropyl Betaine	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Washing & Bathing: Imperial Leather Cosmic Unicorn Shower Gel	No	Contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Shampoo: TRESemme Moisture Rich Luxurious Moisture Shampoo	No	Contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate	Ingredients potentially derived from palm
Shampoo: Herbal Essences Bio: Renew Shampoo Argan Oil of Morocco	No	Contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate	Ingredients potentially derived from palm

*As of 4^th March 2019

**According to ingredient list research — potentially used under another name.

Conclusions

Our shopping list contained 22 items in total. Seven items did not appear to contain any form of palm oil. 15 items in total either contained or potentially contained palm oil-based ingredients. That’s a whopping 68% of our example shopping list that could rely on palm oil.

Clearly, palm oil is still rampant on our shop shelves, so the demand is still high enough to see waves of deforestation. Even if you’re seeking to live a greener, healthier life, it’s easy to get caught out by the numerous different names for palm oil as an ingredient. In order to truly help with the planet’s health, we must remember to be vigilant across all areas of climate change contributors, from plastic in the sea to deforestation, and not just whatever the current environmental trend is today. It’s an ongoing change we all need to be a part of in order to see success.