I have been avoiding buying products that contain palm oil because I knew rainforests were being destroyed to create palm oil plantations. But I never realized just how devastating the effects of these plantations are affecting our environment, wildlife, and people living in areas where plantations are being built until I saw this video:
http://orangutanvideo.littlethings.com/
This video motivated me to learn more about palm oil’s production and consumption and it’s rippling worldwide affects.
Palm oil is derived from the fruit of oil palms. In order for palm trees to grow, they need warm temperatures, sunshine and a lot of rain. Palm oil is mostly derived from Asia, Africa, and South America. Once palm trees are planted, they can produce fruit for more than 30 years which can yield a high amount of oil (1).
Palm oil is the cheapest vegetable oil to produce and refine. The properties of palm oil are used in a variety of products such as food like ice cream, chocolate, pizza dough. It is also found in cosmetics, detergents, shampoo, and candles (2). It is estimated that 50% of consumer goods are derived from palm oil (2). Most pre-packaged snack foods from companies like Nestle and Unilever contain palm oil. Therefore the production of palm oil is highly lucrative and highly sought after by many manufacturers.
But what is all the negative buzz surrounding palm oil? As I mentioned earlier, because palm trees thrive in a tropical region with lots of sun, warm weather, and rain, Indonesia has become the largest supplier of palm oil for the global market which generated 33,500,000 tons of palm oil in 2014 with Malaysia coming in second (3). The issue appears to be that the tropical peat swamp forests located in these regions are being drained to create palm tree plantations. Peat swamp forests or peatlands form in areas where saturated soils are prevented from fully decomposing. It acts as a giant sponge and retains carbon. One hectare (2.4 acres) of peatland can store 2,009 metric tons of carbon. This average store of carbon is equivalent to greenhouse gases released in one year by 1,551 passenger vehicles in the United States. If the peatlands are left untouched, the carbon remains in the soil. However, when the peatlands become exposed to oxygen as when these peatlands are being dug up for palm tree plantations, the carbon becomes released into the atmosphere (4). The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) calculated that up to 66% of all climate change emissions from palm oil plantations accounts to 17% of plantations on peat soils. That appears to be a lot of carbon emission from a small percentage of land.
Not only is the emission of greenhouse gases from digging up peatlands a concern, the deforestation of these peatlands is a critical loss of habitat for endangered species such as orangutans, rhinoceros’, elephants, and tigers (5). A recent inventory of forest biodiversity found that 45 percent of the mammals and 33 percent of birds identified in peat habitat are listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) as either near threatened, vulnerable, or endangered (4).
The World Wildlife Foundation began the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in assistance with palm oil producers and consumers. The purpose of the RSPO was to ensure global standards for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). It was formed in 2003 with 10 members initially and has now grown to 1,300 members from 50 countries. According to rainforestrescue.org, the RSPO does not rule out clearing rainforests for palm oil plantations, only high conservation value (HCV) forests have remained off limits. Unfortunately, a global standard for HCV has not been established and distinctions between primary and secondary forests are blurred (2). Farmers and indigenous people are still displaced from their lands and are threatened or arrested if they resist land grabs. In an article by Gaiam Life.com, only 7% of the palm oil produced is certified as sustainable. Whole Foods decided in 2012, to no longer have their 365 Everyday Value brand contain palm oil sourced from converted rainforests. The premise of creating sustainable palm oil was a great initiative, however, it seems the environment, people and wildlife living in these regions continue to be highly affected by the need and production of palm oil.
As I mentioned earlier, nearly 50% of consumer products contain palm oil. But you won’t necessarily see palm oil or palm fat as an ingredient on a manufacturer’s label. It is usually disguised under different names. Listed below are other names you would see on a label:
English and latin names for palm oil
Likely to be palm oil
Palm oil kernel
Vegetable oil (if the product contains saturated fats, it's most likely palm oil)
Palmitate / palmate
Ingredient lists containing “stearate, stearyl”
Elaeis gunieensis
Ingredient lists containing the words “cetyl, cetearyl”
Hydrated palm gylcerides hexadecanoic
Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), sodium laureth sulphate, sodium dodecyl sulphate, (SDS or NaDS) sodium
Palmitic acid
Calcium stearoyl lactylate steareth -2, steareth -20 emulsifier 422, 430-36, 465-67, 470-8, 481-483
Source: http://www.orangutan.org.au/palm-oil
According to the Rain Forest Rescue, almost half of palm oil consists of saturated fats and Gaiam Life.com stated if a product’s saturated fat content makes up 40% or more of the total fat content, then it will always contain palm oil. Because oxidized palm oil is high in saturated fats, eating foods containing palm oil can lead to high cholesterol and heart disease. Palm oil also contains fatty acid esters, which is a combination of a fatty acid and alcohol which are considered to be carcinogenic and these substances are unfortunately found in infant formula (2).
Here is a link to a list of palm oil free products:
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/palmoilfreelist.aspx
Recently, researchers at the University of Bath have found an alternative to palm oil; yeast. It is called Metschnikowia pulcherrima or M. pulcherrima. The key ingredients of this yeast are nearly identical to that of palm oil. M. pulcherrima has been used in South Africa’s wine country for many years to help ferment wine. It can be found on tree leaves, flowers, and fruits and grow easily on organic feedstock (8). Therefore, to produce this yeast and use it as an alternative to palm oil could easily be done. However, the research is still in the early stages and it could take another three-four years before it is used commercially.
Fortunately, there is research looking for alternatives for palm oil. Until then, for us to help to reduce the need for palm oil, we can avoid foods and products that contain palm oil. This can help our environment, the people living in areas where palm oil is being produced, the wildlife that are being pushed to extinction because of palm oil production, and our health! Please pass on this information to others. Awareness is half the battle!
References:
1. Worldwatch.org
2. Rainforestrescue.org
3. Indonesia-investments.org
4. Mongabay.com
5. World Wildlife Organization (WWF)
6. Gaiam Life
7. Theguardian.com
