I wrote to Lord Mandelson in May 2009 and received this reply(below) in October 2009 which was a little disappointing time wise, however it is a lengthy reply and at last answers my questions.
I was delighted to find that the Government are funding a two year project with the RSPO to review and improve the criteria of ‘sustainable palm oil’. This is very important, as we have found that the criteria currently in place by the RSPO is not sufficient. It has loopholes and does not properly address the issues of current ‘unsustainable plantations’ as these planations will Continue reading Reply from Defra regarding palm oil and Orangutan issues
Reply from Clarins on their palm oil useage
The reply from Clarins was dismal – it took nearly 4 months and a lot of pestering to get any reply at all, and when I did it was insufficient. I had already promised to use body shop products and use up the Clarins that I was using, and I am pleased to say that I have nearly used it all up now and definitely will not be buying anymore. Clarins are not members of the RSPO, which is not the be all and end all, but at least it is a token gesture, and they will not confirm if Continue reading Reply from Clarins on their palm oil useage
Second reply from Clinique RE: their use of palm oil
My comments: I am really quite upset to hear that some of their products will contain unsustainable palm oil derivatives, they are not members of the RSPO (for what that is worth) and they are currently doing nothing to find out about the source of the palm oil derivatives that they use. I am further upset that they currently do still test on animals for certain products. To be honest, law or not, if the Body Shop can produce all types of cosmetics and toiletries without testing on animals, then why can’t Clinique and all the other Cosmetic Companies do the same? I wish I had the answers, and I hope one of them will tell us in further detail….. Continue reading Second reply from Clinique RE: their use of palm oil
I now have a very prompt reply letter received from the Customer Service Department of Marks & Spencer regarding the palm oil used in many of their supermarket products…
Once again, I am disappointed that this ‘own brand’ supermarket did not list its products that contain palm oil. If I don’t know which they are then I cannot avoid them, so I will have to follow that up with them. It would be easy to do, as they only sell ‘own brand products’.
Secondly, they have not outlined a date properly, that they will be listing palm oil as a specific oil in the ingredients Continue reading Reply from Marks and Spencer Re: palm oil use in their products
Cadbury and Palm oil
I had the comment below posted on my site this week, regarding Cadbury and their palm oil use – is it sustainable or unsustainable that they are using? I think this is useful to see – maybe you can get involved and contact them too or comment to this page or the page shown below! Below the comment, you will see my reply….. Continue reading Cadbury and their use of Palm oil….
reply from dept of energy & climate change
At the end of June 2009, I finally recieved this 3 page letter from the Department of Energy & Climate Change with regard to their commitments and efforts to save the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra and the unsustainable palm oil plantation situation.
Their reply is thorough in a sense, but it does not tell me much that I already didnt know – lots about the RSPO (roundtable of sustainable palm oil) and apparently our UK government have donated £600,000 to the GRASP Continue reading Reply from the Department of Energy & Climate Change re: Palm oil & Orangutans
Morrisons reply re palm oil June 09
This is the reply letter I received from the Customer Service Department of Morrisons regarding the palm oil used in many of their supermarket products…
I am really disappointed that yet another Supermarket is hiding under the fact that they are a member of the RSPO, yet outline nothing that they are actually doing - they have failed to answer the questions that have been asked, apart from number 8 below:
1. Do you have any own brand products that contain palm oil? If so, which ones?
2. Are you using sustainable RSPO approved or unsustainable oil in your products?
3. If unsustainable, do you need to use it?
4. If unsustainable, when do you plan to switch to sustainable RSPO oil or alternative oil at the earliest opportunity. I have read that only 1% of all the sustainably grown palm oil is currently being bought by companies. Continue reading Reply from Morrisons Re: Palm oil
I have a reply from Clinique on their palm oil useage
to see what letters I sent to them, please CLICK HERE and see the cosmetics link…
Dear Sandra,
Thank you for your interest in Clinique.
“We appreciate the opportunity to explain that Palm Oil is not used as an ingredient in any Clinique product. However, some Clinique products do contain ingredients which are palm oil derivatives, such as hydrogenated palm Continue reading Reply from Clinique on their palm oil useage
I recieved this email reply from Unilever below, but I am afraid it does not clarify much about anything, including which products have palm oil in, what timescales they have for using sustainable palm oil, or what they are doing. there are sustainable sources available in Columbia, so what is wrong with those?
If you would like to see what I sent them, then Click HERE
Dear Sandra,
Thanks for your recent email.
Palm Oil is an ingredient which is used in many food products, toiletry and cosmetic products. Due to our broad portfolio and scale of business, Unilever is the world’s largest user of palm oil. Continue reading Reply email from Unilever Re: their palm oil useagae
This is the reply letter I received from Justin King (Group Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s), regarding the palm oil used in many of their supermarket products… Continue reading Reply letter from Sainsbury’s re: Palm oil
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