What can you put on your face AND on your toast? Palm Oil.

Palm oil is now included in one out of every 10 products you’ll find on the supermarket shelf.  That includes cosmetics, spreads and just about everything in between including detergents, chocolate and even bread. You probably won’t even know it’s there because the manufacturers aren’t obliged to tell you on the label.

The demand for palm oil in food production and even biofuel is huge but it’s also the major cause of rainforest destruction. Great swathes of forest are ripped up to make way for more palm oil plantations that replace tropical rainforest, kill endagered species, uproot local communities and contribute to the release of climate warming gases. It’s enough to turn your stomach!

Indonesia emits more greenhouse gases than any country besides China and the United States. Palm oil biodiesel was once supported as a solution to climate change, a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuel-based gasoline. In recent years, research has shown that palm oil development can contribute far more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than it can help to avoid.

Human rights groups are concerned that the increase in palm oil demand will lead to accelerated seizure of indigenous people’s land, further dismantling local communities and cultures.

Palm oil is the greatest current threat to Orangutans. Vast areas of habitat are cleared for palm oil plantations every day. Protecting this land is critical to the Orangutans’ survival.

This issue affects us all: more than 1 million kilos of palm oil is imported into Australia each year.

As a consumer, it is crucial to know what your dollars are helping to support. Read the back of labels and try to avoid palm oil in products. Under Food Standards Australia New Zealand requirements, it is sufficient to have vegetable oil in the list of ingredients on the packet, even though the product contains palm oil.

As a rule of thumb, if the saturated fat content is about 50 per cent, there is a good chance the vegetable oil will be palm oil.

If you are feeling more proactive, demand that food companies label their use of palm oil in products and urge supermarkets to stop using palm oil from destructive sources, and switch to environmentally and socially responsible sources.

For a list of products that don’t contain palm oil go to www.orangutans.com.au