Don't Palm Us Off

Palm oil is found in most food products and its rampant cultivation is destroying the Orangutans habitat at an alarming rate. The United Nations has warned that Orangutans could be extinct within a generation if we don't act quickly. The simple fact is that you can't tell whether you are contributing to this crisis because palm oil is not labelled on most food products. Most of the palm oil that ends up in our food is unsustainably harvested. In fact, only one to four percent of the palm oil used in our food comes from sustainable RSPO certified sources.

Without proper labeling we as consumers cannot demand palm oil that is sustainable RSPO certified in our food products. You have a right to know whether the products you buy contain palm oil. However without legislation change, palm oil will remain unlabelled and you will continue to push orangutans towards extinction.

• Over 85% of the worlds palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. 

• Today, the most common cause of deforestation and fragmentation in Indonesia is related to palm oil development.

• An estimated 10% of supermarket ingredients contain Palm Oil. However without adequate labeling, it is difficult to be sure and many assume that the figure is much higher. 

• In SE Asia alone, the equivalent of 300 football fields are deforested every hour for palm oil production

• Palm Oil typically costs the lives of up to 50 Orang-utans each week.

• Australians unknowingly consume on average 10 kilograms of palm oil each year because we do not currently have the ability to exercise consumer choice. 

•  Sustainable Palm Oil Plantations are a possibility however we need you to tell FSANZ you want palm oil labeling if they are to become a reality

• We share 97% of our DNA with Orang-utans. You could say they are our wild cousins.