Palm Oil
Did you know that the majority of “chips” made in New Zealand are made using palm oil? “So what” you might say. Well, there are a couple of so whats that we think consumers should be aware of. Firstly, palm oil has a much higher saturated fat content than sunflower oil (around 14-15% compared with around 3-4% for sunflower oil). Secondly, and far more importantly, the demand for cheap palm oil is fuelling the growth in palm oil plantations and is causing massive deforestation of virgin rainforest in Malaysia and Indonesia where the majority of palm oil comes from, so much so that it is predicted if the current growth of palm oil plantations continues, orang utans will be extinct in the wild in less than 10 years. We think that this is too high a price to pay for a cheap packet of potato chips!
Now, such is the strength of the lobby of big food manufacturers in New Zealand and Australia, they are not required to declare that palm oil is used as an ingredient in their products, they can get away with just declaring “vegetable oil”. We think this is wrong as consumers should have a right to know of the wider consequences of their purchase decisions.
So what are we doing about it? Well obviously we will never use palm oil for making our crisps even though it is less than one third of the price of sunflower oil. We are also an active supporter of Auckland Zoo’s Conservation Fund which is a major participant in orang utan conservation projects in Sumatra and Borneo. We have also written to our MP to ask for his support in changing the food labelling laws in New Zealand.
What can you do? Next time you buy a packet of potato chips which states “vegetable oil” on the ingredients, have a look at the saturated fat content on the nutritional information, if it’s more than 5%, it’s highly probable that it’s palm oil. If you’d like to do more, have a look at the Auckland Zoo link below which detail some practical things that can be done right here in New Zealand to help the cause.
Learn More:
- http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/default.asp?sectionID=420
- http://www.palmoilaction.org.au/index.html
- http://www.orangutan.org.au/palmoil
The above photos were taken by us in 2004 during our visit to the Sepilok orang utan sanctuary in Borneo.
