WHAT IS PALM OIL
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
What Is Palm Oil: Everything You Need To Know
Palm Oil – everyone has heard of it!
But what is it? Why is it so bad? Why does it matter? And what can you do about it?
These are all very good questions and we’ll answer them here!
If you care strongly about reducing your impact on the planet whilst travelling and would like to know how you can help protect our world in other ways at the same time. We will cover topics like this in our conservation series.
Palm Oil is a huge threat to our planet, our environment and for the beautiful creatures that live here.
Find out more about it…
Table of Contents
What is Palm Oil?
It is a type of vegetable oil which is edible.
The oil is produced from the fruit that grows on Oil Palm trees – did you know they can grow up to 60 feet tall!
It’s scientific name is Elaeis Guineesis.
There are two different types:
- Crude – it is squeezed out from the fruit itself.
- Kernal – which is produced by crushing the stone (kernal) from the centre of the fruit.
Oil Palm trees originated in Africa however, 100 years ago they were introduced into South East Asia . They were originally introduced as an ornamental tree.
It has been distributed around the world over the years and is now found in 42 countries.
The top 3 producing countries are: Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Why is Palm Oil bad?
The quickest and cheapest way to clear large forest areas to make way for new Oil Palm crops is to use fire.
Palm oil production has a massive impact on:
- Environment – Deforestation for palm oil is a huge problem. The destruction of the worlds rainforests means the loss of habitat for many animals including already endangered species such as Orangutan, Sumatran Rhino, Pygmy Elephants and Tigers. It effects the whole rainforest ecosystem and bad practices also lead to negative effects on rivers, the soil and even the air.
- Climate – The effect of the loss of large areas of rainforest along with changes to the soil causes carbon dioxide to be released into our atmosphere which in turn contributes to climate change. Fires used to clear the rainforests causes large amount of greenhouse gases to be emitted.
- People – Sometimes local people, particularly those that live in the rainforests, are not consulted before they are put in place. Which often leads to them losing their livelihoods. Additionally the chemicals used on Oil Palm plantations contaminate the soil which means other types of agriculture are no longer possible. Employment conditions are not always good and there is sometimes exploitation of the workers and even child labour.
Isn't an Oil Palm plantation a type of forest too?
Well…. yes it is BUT it does not support the same incredible biodiversity that the natural rainforests do.
For this reason the species that lose their habitat when the plantations are created cannot live in the plantations. The plantations are the wrong environment for them.
What is Palm Oil Used For?
Palm Oil has been used for thousands of years and can be dated as far back as the Egyptians 5000 years ago! They found traces of it in a tomb from approx 3000BC.
There are a great many uses for it!
It originated from Africa where it has been used as a cooking oil for centuries. It is still used as a cooking oil in Asia and Africa today.
The British even used it as a machine lubricant during the industrial revolution.
Oil Palms are easy to grow and relatively cheap compared to other vegetable oils.
For this reason Palm Oil is used in literally thousands of products these days.
It is very versatile:
- Keeps spreads spreadable because it remains semi-solid at room temperature.
- Gives products a longer shelf-life because it is resistant to oxidation
- Gives friend products that crispy texture we all love because it remains stable at high temperatures
- Doesn’t alter the way foods look or smell because it is not only colourless but it is odourless too!
What products have Palm Oil in?
Palm Oil is EVERYWHERE!
It can be found in:
- Food – pizza, chocolate, bread products etc
- Takeaways – fast food
- Toiletries – shampoo, soap and toothpaste
- Cosmetics – lipsticks
- Nutritional Supplements
- Cleaning Products – laundry detergents and dishwashing products
- Animal feeds – cat, dog, chicken and cattle food etc
- Bio-fuel – as an alternative to fossil fuels in vehicles
Consequently, it’s a lot harder to find products that DON’T contain Palm Oil than you might think!
It has great properties which make it so popular for use in all of these products.
Identifying products that contain Palm Oil
This is not easy!
Within the EU it is required to list it as an ingredient, unfortunately this is not the case in other countries.
Many manufacturers choose to hide it by labeling it as a vegetable oil or fat – which appeals to many who are trying to eat more healthily. Unfortunately Palm Oil is high in saturated fats so not the most healthy choice!
Palm Oil is also given other names on ingredient lists, such as: octyl palmitat, palmytil alcohol, Palm kernal oil, Palm fruit oil, Palm stearine, cetyl alcohol, sodium kenelate and many others.
In fact there are over 200 alternative names used for it on ingredient lists! The Orangutan Alliance has a full list HERE
Why isn't an alternative used?
Whilst this sounds like a fantastic idea and it would be great to just switch to widespread use of another type of vegetable oil, it isn’t that simple.
As far as vegetable oil crops go Oil Palms are the most efficient. They produce more oil per land area than any other equivalent crop.
For example: to get the same amount of alternative oil such as coconut oil or soybean oil it would require 4-10 times the amount of land! Which would come with problems of it’s own, including the effect on different types of habitats and animals.
In addition to this many smaller producers/farmers rely on the plantations for their livelihoods and it would become a huge problem if everyone were to suddenly stop using it tomorrow!
Reducing the amount of Palm Oil used would result in alternative oils being produced – which, if produced in less biodiverse areas, could be a good thing.
Finding a balance is the best way forward.
There are also a variety of innovative alternatives that could make a big difference…
The Orangutan Alliance has more information about them HERE if you’d like to know more.
What can be done about it?
Unfortunately, it looks like Palm Oil is here to stay because it is both cheap and versatile.
So many industries rely heavily on it for their products. Even organic food manufacturers use it in the production of their foods.
There are two main opinions:
Opinion 1 – People should boycott Palm Oil and avoid it altogether.
In other words, ultimately people need to talk with their wallets and avoid buying products containing Palm Oil. Subsequently the theory is that the big companies will have to take notice. In turn the reduction in consumption will mean less areas of rainforest being cleared in the future.
The problem with this is that boycotting it completely will lead to increased production of other types of vegetable oils, which require even more land than Oil Palms and will potentially create an even bigger issue.
Opinion 2 – People should reduce their usage of Palm Oil and encourage sustainable production and practices.
So only purchasing the products that are sustainably produced from plantations that are adhering to set practices and are not clearing land with forest fires.
The problem with this is that it is very hard to police. Many companies have been certified but there is no follow up and rules aren’t necessarily enforced.
Can Palm Oil be sustainable?
Whilst a boycott on Palm Oil is often said to be the solution, it really isn’t that simple. There will always be a need for some kind of oil in packaged products and they will produce it one way or another.
Sustainable Palm Oil basically means it has been grown in a way to minimise it’s impact on the environment and biodiversity along with ensuring high standards of human rights.
Their aim is to promote certified sustainable Palm Oil. As a result companies who become ‘certified’ get to claim that their Palm Oil is sustainable.
Unfortunately the RSPO didn’t ban the burning of rainforests until 2018 and they haven’t enforced it. As a result some RSPO members are still destroying forests!
In an ideal world all companies using it would ensure adherence to strict rules and it would be produced sustainably.
No doubt about it, every manufacture around the globe needs to start taking responsibility and start using more sustainable practices.
It is important to remember that the Palm Oil industry provides many jobs throughout countries where there would otherwise be even wider spread poverty.
5 million people in Indonesia are employed by plantations. Many people would lose the jobs they rely on to support their families if there was a sudden cease in production.
Sustainability is definitely something we need to strive for.
What can you do to help?
Avoid unsustainable Palm Oil!
It is unrealistic to say that you will avoid it altogether because it is simply used in too many products.
Reducing the number of products containing Palm Oil that you use would certainly help. As well as making sure that those products you do buy only contain sustainably sourced oil.
Raise awareness – let friends and family know what you have learnt – share this post with them!
You can help support charities who are taking care of the animals and people affected by rainforest destruction.
Such as:
The Orangutan Project
Rainforest Foundation UK
Greenpeace
How can you avoid Palm Oil?
In all honesty, it would be incredibly difficult to avoid it altogether.
Reducing the amount you purchase is great but pushing for more sustainable practices is definitely the best action over all.
In order to reduce your usage you could simply…
- Avoid buying packaged foods and have a healthier more natural diet instead. Many of the food products containing Palm Oil are packaged foods which are unhealthy choices.
Switching to healthier foods will not only have a positive impact on the environment but also on your own health too!
- Make food from scratch. Use fresh ingredients instead of using processed products. This doesn’t have to be difficult, there are so many easy and delicious recipes out there to choose from.
- Do your research before you choose your cosmetic products, find out the ingredients and only buy products that do not contain any or choose those that contain certified sustainable Palm Oil.
Palm Oil free products
There are Palm Oil free products out there.
The best way to know if something contains it is to read labels. Although this is a bit of a minefield, as discussed above.
Obviously fresh foods do not contain any!
- Fruit
- Fresh and Frozen Vegetables
- Eggs
- Pasta
- Fresh meat
- Fresh seafood
- Butter – not spreads/margarines
- Nuts
- Herbs and Spices
Products to look for:
- Warburton’s Danish White Bread
- Ben and Jerry’s Icecream
- BEAR Yoyo Snacks
- Whole Earth Peanut Butter
- Neek Lipsticks – these are awesome! Click HERE to check for stockists near you and find out more about them.
If you are in the UK all of Icelands own brand foods are Palm Oil free.
So there you have it...
Everything you need to know about Palm Oil.
How do you feel about it?
Do you know of other Palm Oil free foods/products that we could add to our list?
Let us know in the comments below!
Please share this post on social media or forward to you friends to make more people aware of the problem and what they can do about it!
Find out more...
Find out how you can travel more sustainably as a family:
What is sustainable family travel?
18 easy ways to travel more sustainably as a family
See all sustainable travel posts – Sustainable Travel
See all family travel tips – Family Travel
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