Make the presence of Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil compulsory on NZ food labelling
- par: Pip Reading
- destinataire: Hon Amy Adams, Hon Nikki Haye, Ministry for Primary Industries, Ministry For Envirnoment, New Zealand Food Safety Authority
Nearly one in ten of our supermarket products contains palm oil, but you'll have a hard time finding it on any ingredient lists. Palm oil is often concealed as "vegetable oil" in supermarket products.
The problem is, the consumption of palm oil is leading to the destruction of the rainforest - at a rate of approximately 300 football-sized sections every hour. Hundreds of species have seen their habitat destroyed, including orangutans.
Because of this reduction of habitat the orangutan is now threatened with extinction, their numbers having decreased by around 50% in the last decade. If we continue to consume products that contain palm oil at the current rate, we could be responsible for causing the extinction of a species that shares nearly 97% of their genetic material with us.
Tell the government to clearly label palm oil so that we have the power to make a difference, to reduce the demand for palm oil, and to help save orangutans and the rainforest.
Dear Hon. Amy Adams, Hon. Nikki Kaye, Mr. Wayne McNee - Ministry for Primary Industries and Dr. Paul Reynolds - Ministry For Environment,
We are asking you to take the time to consider making it compulsory to state the use of palm oil and palm kernel oil as an ingredient on product labels.
We are not asking for a total ban on products that contain palm oil or palm kernel oil (though that would be an ideal outcome), but to allow people the right to make educated choices about whether or not they want to purchase a product based on its ingredients.
At present, there are hundreds of products sold in supermarkets that contain palm oil or palm kernel oil, but the ingredients simply state "vegetable oil" on the product label. This does not allow the purchaser to make informed choices.
Please make it a legal requirement for products sold in New Zealand to label this product as what it is, palm oil, and not to allow it to be hidden under another name.
Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name here]
