Palm oil and food
A number of people have contacted Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) calling for the labelling of palm oil as they are concerned around the destruction of native rainforest habitat for orang-utans due to an expansion of farmed palm oil plantations in certain parts of the world.
Current food labelling regulations do not require the naming of the specific source of an oil, such as palm oil, and a generic name such as ‘vegetable oil’ can be used.
We previously considered an application requesting a mandatory labelling requirement for palm oil and, after careful consideration, decided to reject it. Our food regulations do not extend to environmental issues.
If you wish to avoid the consumption of palm oil you can contact food manufacturers for information on the source of the vegetable oil.
Food manufacturers can also include environmental information on the labels of their products as a voluntary initiative if they believe there is a demand for such information. Some companies are members of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil http://www.rspo.org/