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Damages of palm oil sourcing tackled by Government

Businesses have joined the Government in a campaign to end the use of unsustainable palm oil in the UK.Supermarkets, manufacturers, charities and WWF have joined forces to make the UK a leader in the sourcing of environmentally friendly palm oil.

It is an ingredient that is rarely directly named on packaging, as it comes under the “vegetable oil” bracket, however deforestation for palm oil farming is a major problem for wildlife in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Palm oil is used in everyday household products such as margarine, chocolate biscuits, soaps and cosmetics, as well as biodiesel and animal feed.

The Government has announced plans to completely stop the ingredient being sourced from irresponsible plantations by 2015, and has urged UK businesses to join the campaign.

Environment Minister, Richard Benyon, said: “The Government is leading the way by ensuring that only environmentally friendly sourced palm oil is used in its central food and catering services.

“People want to know that the products they are using are not contributing to deforestation and climate change and many UK businesses are already starting to make changes.

“Producers, manufacturers and charities will continue working together to speed up the move to 100% sustainable palm oil in everyday products.”

Advice will be offered to organisations on how to work towards 100% sustainability in palm oil sourcing, after the UK imported 450, 000 tonnes of palm oil and palm kernel oil last year alone.

The annual conference on the ingredient is currently in session in Singapore, where delegates from the International Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil are meeting.

Andrew Kuyk, the Director of Sustainability for the Food and Drink Federation, said: “Many food and drink manufacturers have in place long-standing commitments to using 100% certified sustainable palm oil and the national statement is an important step towards a wider reassurance for consumers that the products they enjoy contain oil from environmentally friendly sources.

“We have seen significant progress towards achieving this aim since the first shipment of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil arrived in November 2008 and we believe the joint agreement will encourage increased uptake by British industry.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .