Kelloggs

Whilst I'm waiting for the rest of the large supermarket / shops to respond in my letter campaign (only half have responded so far) I decided it was time to hit the manufacturers. So I've sent off my letters and emails this week. It's surprising how many 'brands' are under the one company.

One of the companies I targeted was Kelloggs. I was first alerted to the fact they were using palm oil in their products through @kusasi on Twitter who had noticed the confusing labelling on Special K. The Independent's black listed (viewable at Kusasi's great blog) labelled it as containing palm oil, but on examination, none of the ingredients mentioned anything remotely vegetable oily. So he contacted Kelloggs. Then, along with some other 'Twits' (including @DAYLEE) I contacted Kelloggs. Together we can make them sit up and take notice. I was told "We use minimal amounts of palm oil in 50 of our products - most of which are snacks" and @kusasi & @DAYLEE were both told "Yes we do use a limited amount of Palm Oil in our products. In 2009, Kellogg will offset 4 percent of its worldwide palm oil use."

If anyone can tell us what 'offset 4 percent of its worldwide palm oil use" - we would really like to know. Surely if it's not sustainable, it's not sustainable and to be honest 4% is an extremely low number and not something to be proud of.

So, to be honest, I'm not really any the wiser to what Kelloggs products are orangutan & forest friendly, so I think the best thing to do is to avoid them as much as possible until they get their act together!