Palm oil is a commonly used natural vegetable ingredient, found in at least 50% of products on the market. Among these, over 70% is food products (e.g. margarine, ice cream, biscuits, chocolate and snacks), about 20% is consumer products such as candles, detergents and cosmetics (obtained from processing waste from the food sector) and the remainder is energy production (one for all: biofuels).
It is therefore easy to understand how, with industrialisation and the increasing consumption of refined and low-cost foods, the demand for this substance has been growing steadily for decades.
Indeed, it is the vegetable oil produced in the largest quantities worldwide and the least expensive one on the market.
For reasons of climate, 90% of the crops for the production of palm oil are in Malaysia and Indonesia, while the remaining 10% comes from Africa and America where the rainforests are.
This concentration of crops is the main cause of the associated environmental damage: CO2 emissions, first and foremost, and the loss of biodiversity.
Preparing the ground for the new plantations, in fact, involves slash-and-burn: all the trees are cut down and the remaining vegetation burned. As a result, tropical deforestation is currently responsible for about 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. This involves the destruction of habitat for rhinos, tigers and orangutans, as well as obviously the disappearance of plants and other animals not yet identified, pollution of the soil and subsoil due to the use of pesticides and chemicals and the eviction of indigenous people or small farmers from the areas concerned.
In order to stem these “side effects” without giving up producing palm oil (and palm kernel oil), the commodity market offers palm oil from organic farming and RSPO palm oil (round table on sustainable palm oil).
However, while the supply of organic palm oil is certainly unable to meet global demand, RSPO palm oil solves only some aspects of the problem, mostly by limiting the damage associated with its production, while partially ignoring ecological and ethical issues.
The only effective answer, therefore, seems to be the adoption of oils other than palm oil, in the sectors of largest consumption.
As regards the food market, it must be considered that about 50% of palm oil and 80% of palm kernel contain SATURATED FAT, which causes high levels of LDL cholesterol (the baddy), heart problems and obesity.
If we consider that palm oil is used lavishly in snacks, biscuits, ice cream and various sweets (very popular with children), we understand how saturated fats have a much greater impact on the smaller consumers!
In the cosmetic sector, giving palm oil up is neither easy nor painless. This oil only has positive features: it is versatile, pleasant, functional as well as being low cost, nor does it have any negative properties for external use.
It should also be said that the palm oil intended for the cosmetic sector is extracted form the processing waste of the food sector.
Although all these aspects in fact “acquit” the use of palm oil in cosmetics, we consider it a useful and ethically correct challenge to invest in research and development, to find alternatives to the use of palm oil (and palm kernel oil) also in our sector. We therefore looked for and found, not without difficulty, substitute ingredients that are very close to the sensory performance of palm derivatives, but derive from other vegetable oils. Since not all the necessary ingredients are available palm free, for the time being we guarantee purchasing those few still derived from palm from RSPO certified suppliers, while waiting for conscious and far-sighted entrepreneurs to do their part, invest in research and development, and produce the palm-free raw materials that are still missing.
Lastly, although PALM FREE raw materials really cost a lot more, we want to give our small contribution to belie the forecast that Asian rainforests will be reduced by 98% in 15 years.
Let us choose palm free food and palm free and palm friend cosmetics and soaps: Nature will thank us.