20 facts you have to know about palm oil

Andrea Varga-Darabos 20 facts you have to know about palm oil 05 August 2016 | 5 minute reading time

You may already know that we use no palm oil in Manna products as we have a sense of responsibility for Indonesia’s rainforest and compassion for the orang-utans that call it home.

Here are 20 very good reasons that make us encourage you to join the growing community of responsible people who lead and advocate a palm oil-free lifestyle.

20 must-know facts about palm oil

1. Palm oil is the #1 most consumed vegetable oil worldwide.

2. Palm oil is gained from the fruit of the oil palm and used mainly in the production of food, cosmetics and fuel. It’s cheap to mass-produce and easy to use.

3. The oil palm originates from Africa – but today we see vast and fast-expanding plantations throughout South America and Indonesia. The reason for those plantations is the dynamically growing global demand for palm oil.

4. Oil palm plantations are the #1 cause of rainforest destruction. The combined expanse of rainforest cover that is felled or burned every hour on our planet would cover 300 football pitches. The reason for deforestation is to make room for oil palm plantations. Since 1990, Indonesia alone has lost its natural ecosystem in an area the size of Germany – thanks to palm oil.

5. The destruction of rainforests adds a lot of carbon-dioxide to the atmosphere – and CO₂ is plays a huge role in climate change.

6. In the past 20 years, global palm oil production has quadrupled to hit 60 million tons in 2015. Half of it was produced in a country hitherto known for its natural beauty: Indonesia. Experts have warned that from 2016, global palm oil output could grow by an annual 5 million tons.

7. Products made with palm oil are everywhere. They sit on the shelves of supermarkets and they are used in fast food restaurants. They have almost certainly found their way into your kitchen and bathroom in the form of chocolate, granola bars, biscuits, chocolate spread, margarine, cosmetics, creams and makeup.

8. Demand for palm oil started to rise steeply in the US and Europe after ‘trans fats’ were banned in food products (because of they were liable for cardiovascular diseases).

9. Palm oil is used mainly in processed and refined food. Medical associations have voiced serious concerns about the health effects of the regular consumption of refined palm oil.

10. Thanks to new palm plantations, indigenous tribes are simply evicted from their ancestral homeland. A range of a plant- and animal species also lose their natural habitat – and all that happens in the very regions of our planet that are famed for exceptional biodiversity.

11. Palm oil production often involves child- and slave labour as well as inhuman working conditions.

12. Expanding palm plantations threaten endangered species (e.g. elephants, rhinos, tigers and orang-utans) with extinction. A hundred years ago, Sumatra’s and Borneo’s orang-utan population was at 230,000 – today, it’s down to 7,300 according to the World Wildlife Fund.

13. After an oil palm plantation has been abandoned, it takes decades for the original flora to strike root again because of the loss of natural undergrowth.

14. According to environmental organisations, ‘Sustainable Palm Oil’ does not always guarantee that the source of palm oil is sustainable and/or scrutinised.

15. Less than 20% of total palm oil output comes from certified, sustainable producers – according to organisations that campaign to protect rainforests. The level of consumer awareness in this field is also very low.

16. A UN report has stated that palm oil production requires huge amounts of fertilizer and pesticides and therefore it’s heavily polluting the soil and freshwater systems.

17. Check the list of ingredients of the products you are about to buy. Palm oil has a number of different names:
Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil (PKO), Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palm Stearine, Palm Kernel Stearin (PKs); Palm Kernel Olein (PKOo), Palmityl Alchohol, Palmolein, Partially Hydrogenated Palm and Palm Kernel Oil (PHP(K)O), Fractionated Palm and Palm Kernel Oil (FP(K)O), Palmitate – Vitamin A or Ascorbyl Palmitate, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid (Palmitine acid), Palmitoyloxostearamide, Palmitoyl tetrapeptide3, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Hyrated Palm Glycerides, Cetyl Palmitate (palmitil-palmitate), Octyl Palmitate (oktil-palmitate).

18. What’s more, the first ingredient of shampoos, liquid soaps – the one with a dubious reputation and the key quality of boosting foam –, SLS (Sodium Laureth Sulphate or Sodium Lauryl Sulphate) may also be made of palm oil.

19. You will find palm oil in many products that are supposed to be healthy – be it food or cosmetics. Even most natural, hand-made soaps, body creams and shower gels contain palm oil, so check the labels before you buy.

20. There are a number of civil organisations and environmental bodies that organise protests against palm oil-related deforestation. They have been joined by some famous people too – e.g. Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio who has recently campaigned for the safeguarding of orang-utans in Indonesia. The world’s most famous primate researcher Jane Goodall has also been fighting for the cause.

I hope all these arguments have convinced you why it’s important to live palm oil free.