Hilary Benn raises the Government’s concerns over the production of palm oil

The UK Government joins the campaign to stop the unsustainable production of palm oil which is causing deforestation in South East Asia. Palm oil, often labelled in food and cosmetic products as ‘vegetable oil’ or ‘vegetable fat’ is harvested from palms planted in the open spaces left from cleared rainforest. Due to vast areas of rainforest being cleared for the production of this ingredient, orangutans and other rare species are now under increasing threat.

Only four per cent of palm oil is produced sustainably and is certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (Rspo) and Hilary Benn is calling for companies to use only sustainably sourced palm oil in their products. The Independent found that 43 of the UK’s top selling 100 household products contain palm oil including Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Dove soap.

Read more of this story at The Independent.