7 surprising items which contain palm oil
As Iceland pledges to ditch palm oil, here are 7 surprising items which contain it
It can be a hard-to-escape ingredient, so always check the label.
Iceland has taken a huge step in environmental terms, promising to stop using palm oil as an ingredient in its own-brand food by the end of 2018.
Warning that the oil – derived from the fruits of African oil palms – drives the destruction of rainforests, they are first UK supermarket to decide to phase it out of their products.
They plan to remove it from 130 of their own-brand food lines – substituting it with butter, lard and sunflower oil, among other items – which is set to reduce demand by more than 500 tonnes a year.
BREAKING NEWS: We’re the UK’s first supermarket to commit to removing #palmoil from our own label products by the end of this year! Watch here to find out why…#PalmOilAlarmCall pic.twitter.com/hfGvH2QRDW
— Iceland Foods ❄️ (@IcelandFoods) April 10, 2018
What is palm oil?
It’s a vegetable oil (like sunflower or rapeseed) that comes from palm trees which originally appeared naturally in tropical rainforests, but now the trees are both harvested and farmed intensively for their oil.
What’s the problem with it?
While some people argue that producing palm oil is more efficient and sustainable than the likes of coconut oil, and that it provides work for huge numbers of people in developing countries, environmentally speaking, its production is very troubling.
It is estimated that 8% of the world’s deforestation from 1990 to 2008 occurred to make space for palm oil farming – this has significantly knocked habitats, wildlife and biodiversity, while contributing to climate change, as well as air pollution levels.
What food is it in?
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) there’s a stack of items you’re probably used to chucking in your trolley that may contain palm oil…
1. Ice cream – palm oil increases the creaminess of ice cream.
2. Chocolate – apparently it helps prevent chocolate from melting and boosts the glossiness.
3. Biscuits – check your favourite brands, even vegan-friendly Oreos contain palm oil.
4. Bread – the packaged kind, not the artisan sourdough kind.
5. Margarine – it’s used in marg because at room temperature, palm oil solidifies, and doesn’t contain trans fats.
6. Pizza – apparently palm oil stops the dough sticking.
7. Instant noodles – while this is largely a problem in the US, where packets of ramen noodles are incredibly popular, it’s always worth double checking your noodle packets here, too.
How can you avoid it?
Always check the label, and look out for the RSPO label, which means the product uses certified sustainable palm oil, and the Green Palm label, which means farmers are being supported to become sustainably certified. That, and shop at Iceland.
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