Palm oil: Be aware of these 10 food products.
Palm oil is a type of oil that is made in places where forests are cut down to grow palm trees. This hurts the environment and the animals that live there.
Palm oil is used in a lot of different foods, so it can be hard to avoid it completely. But, there are some specific foods you should watch out for if you want to use less palm oil.
Cut down on palm oil
Palm oil may not always be listed as "palm oil" when you read the ingredients list on your supermarket products. Here are some of the most common terms used for palm oil: Palm oil, Vegetable oil (palm), Vegetable fat (palm), Palm kernel oil, Palm fruit oil
Pizza topping
Pizza topping is often not cheese, even though it is often placed next to the cheese in supermarkets. Often, the milk fat pizza topping is replaced with palm oil.
Ready made pizza dough and frozen pizzas
Processed foods like pizza dough and frozen pizzas often contain a lot of palm oil to improve their texture.
Instant noodles
A large part of the total weight of cup and instant noodles often consists of palm oil.
Make your own instant noodles
There are many recipes for homemade noodles. The ingredients just need to be cut finely so that the vegetables become softer when you pour boiling water over them.
Margarine
A lot of margarine products contain large amounts of plant oils. Often, they are based on palm oil, but there are also margarine products without palm oil.
Ready-made meals
Ready-made dishes that you can buy in supermarkets - like soups and stews - can also contain a lot of palm oil. This is also true for frozen foods.
Chocolate and peanut butter
Some types of chocolate - especially the cheaper ones - have palm oil in them so they don't melt too quickly. Palm oil is also used in many peanut butter products to make them smooth and creamy.
Cookies and biscuits
Cookies, biscuits, and other pre-packaged baked treats often have palm oil in them to make them taste better. Even some ice cream cones have palm oil in the wafers.
Packaged bread
Palm oil is sometimes used as a fat in bread because it is a cheap alternative to other fats. Choose bread without palm oil or bake your own bread.
Candy
Licorice candy often contains vegetable oil, such as palm oil and coconut oil.
Vegan cheese
Palm oil is used in some types of vegan cheese as a replacement for milk fat and to give a texture similar to dairy-based cheese.
