Thorntons

I love Thorntons chocolates. It's a real treat when a box of these turns up in our house. Reading the ingredients the other day I spotted that 'vegetable oil' was listed. Not knowing whether this was palm oil or not I sent off a quick email to find out. Here is the response:

"You will be reassured that our chocolate contains no palm oil or vegetable oils, only natural cocoa butter as we believe this delivers the best taste and product experiences.

However, palm oil has unique flavour and texture properties that are difficult to match for the centres of chocolates, so we use this in a number of centres.

We are concerned about the impact that some palm oil growers have on the environment and only use suppliers who are members of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

We are also committed to ensuring all our bulk supplies of palm oil are sustainably sourced before 2012."

So, once again, another product containing palm oil. It really does seem to be in everything. It is a good sign that Thorntons only use suppliers who are part of the RSPO as this means if the oil isn't sustainable yet, it is encouraging the suppliers to get there. It's also encouraging that their deadline for bulk supplies to be sustainable is 2012, much sooner than most other producers.

I'm not convinced that palm oil has such a unique and amazing texture and flavour that nothing else can be used instead. Didn't the Australians recently convince Cadbury to take palm oil out of their chocolate bars and return to the original recipe because they prefered the taste. I think palm oil is a cheap alternative more than anything. I'd certainly be happy to do some chocolate tasting!

Hurray for Baked Beans

In my quest to learn just how much palm oil is in the everyday goods we buy, what it is in, and what manufacturers are doing about the environmental issues, I contacted Heinz. They came back with a speedy response, and the good news is that Heinz Baked Beans do not contain palm oil. This is what else they said:

"Heinz policy is that it only uses palm oil that is produced in a sustainable manner, based on economic, social and environmental viability. We ask our suppliers to guarantee that the palm oil they supply is produced according to that policy. Our Baked Beans however, do not contain any palm oil.

You may like to know that Heinz is also a member of the "Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)" which addresses this issue and promotes the sustainable production and use of palm oil.

You will find more information about the RSPO at the following website: www.rspo.org "

I think my next task is to find out what they accept as a guarantee from their suppliers that their palm oil is produced with an economic, social and environmental viability. I'll keep you updated.