What is Palm Oil?
Palm oil is an edible substance derived from the fruits of the Elaeis Guineensis tree, also known as the palm oil tree. Cooking oils such as palm oil have been extracted from boiled and pounded fruit for millennia – a technique that’s as old as weaving leaves to create baskets for our belongings.
The African oil palm is an oil-producing machine. For millennia humans have boiled and pounded their fruit to extract cooking oil, burned their seed-kernel shells for heat, and woven their leaves into everything from roofs to baskets. Once scientists discovered how to isolate glycerin from the oil, its applications multiplied, from pharmaceuticals to perfumes and cosmetics.
Over the past few decades, however, palm oil use has exploded. It is cheap to produce, stable in processing plus
it has a long shelf life. In 2018 global consumption reached 72 million tonnes, or roughly 10kg of palm oil per person on the planet.
Palm oil production quadrupled between 1995 and 2015, with wide-ranging implications for our planet.
Why is palm oil considered a problem?
Why is palm oil considered a problem?
Supplying the demand has taken a huge toll.
Our Palm Oil Free commitment
Since the very start we have always been against the use of Palm Oil. Alternatives are available but palm oil is functional and cheap… it’s also contributing to climate change and devastating essential habitat. And the fact that brands are finding different names for it within their ingredients list confirms they know it’s bad.
What can be done?
What can be done?
The crop is here to stay and producing countries depend on the income. Boycotting palm oil on a global scale is undoubtedly unrealistic. The only way forward is to make its production less harmful. But to do this we must make the debate louder and universal. We all consume it so we must all participate.
This is why we have always been palm oil free and support the work of the International Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark Programme (POFCAP).
BetterYou investigates the origin of every ingredient we use ensuring that it has never been exposed to palm oil or palm oil derivatives at any point in its life.
A number of organisations now work hard to monitor and control the operations of palm oil companies and also to ensure a growing use of sustainable palm oil that is fully traceable. Whilst a step forward, we believe this alone is not enough.
Many governments globally are yet to be considered ‘on board’ to stand for change, or don’t have the capacity to influence for good, which will be an essential driver in a more sustainable future for the palm oil industry.
Until any meaningful change is seen, we have decided to make a stand.
We would like to thank Hillary Rosner for her amazing work published within National Geographic magazine.
