Is palm oil the secret ingredient of your favourite food?

New Zealand food companies are not prepared to tell consumers which products contain palm oil, Green Party Food spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

Ms Kedgley wrote to 20 of New Zealand’s largest food companies, asking them for a list of products they manufacture which contain palm oil ingredients.

Watties confirmed that they do not use palm oil in any of their products, and Delmaines said it only used palm oil in one of their products, which they were prepared to identify.

Six other companies confirmed that they use palm oil, but were not prepared to disclose which products contained it. Twelve companies did not respond to Ms Kedgley’s query, despite receiving follow-up letters.

Ms Kedgley said the refusal of manufacturers to disclose what food products contained palm oil was extraordinary, since this was one of the reasons Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) had given for refusing to require palm oil to be labelled.

“FSANZ said in its decision not to require palm oil labelling that if consumers wished to avoid the consumption of palm oil they could contact food manufacturers for the information. Well, we have contacted food manufacturers, and nearly all have refused to disclose this information.

“We know that palm oil is widely used in food products in New Zealand, and consumers have a right to know which food products contain it.

“Consumers want to know this information for a variety of reasons, and are entitled to an answer. Surely it is the right of every consumer to know what the ingredients are of the food they are about to purchase.”

“We need to change our labelling laws so that companies are required to disclose whether they use palm oil or not, because companies are not prepared to disclose this information voluntarily.”

Summary of responses:
http://www.greens.org.nz/sites/default/files/GE_Palm_Oil_letter_summary_2.pdf
FSANZ on palm oil labelling:
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/factsheets/factsheets2009/palmoilandfood.cfm