Have you heard of palm oil?  How about vegetable oil or olive oil?  Oils from plants, vegetables, seeds and nuts have been used for centuries all over the world for many different foods and products, so what makes palm oil such a controversial product?

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A palm by any other name

In 2014, the EU changed the law to say that any product containing palm oil must say so in the ingredients list. However, palm oil products have many other names! In non EU products, palm oil is often listed simply as “Vegetable Oil” or “Vegetable Fat”. Furthermore, every single one of the ingredients listed below actually comes from the palm oil tree. Have a look at some of the products you have at home and see how many contain at least one of these!

Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palm olein, Glyceryl, Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid, Palm Stearine, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate, Hydrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol, Laureth-7, Steareth-2, Cocamide MEA (fatty acid-derived) Cocamiede DEA (fatty acid derived), Stearamidopropyldimethylamine, Cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, Isopropylmyristate, Caprylic/capric Trigylceride, Fatty Isethionates (SCI),  Alkylpolyglycoside (APG), Laurylamine oxide.

Read More: Why is Palm Oil a Problem?

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