PALM OIL AVOID it like the plague!

[RAINRA]

I know it is a strong claim but treehugger.com and a bunch of other eco sites state that palm oil is not only unhealthy but terrible for the environment. Rainforest are being replaced to grow palms for palm oil. I been hunting down some food products that contain the word palm in it. I came across that all the alternatives to milk seem to carry Isolated Vitamine A. Isolated A has shown to worsen patients with lung cancer in a study. Isolated Vitamines specially fat soluble not so great for you with out the other nutrients from the plant source.

 

Here is more about it:

 

http://www.cspinet.org/palm/

 

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/int/palmoil

 

Palmitate: An antioxidant and a vitamin A compound that is added to low-fat and fat-free milk to replace the vitamin content lost through the removal of milk fat. Palmitate (more formally known as retinyl palmitate) contains palmitic acid, a 16-carbon saturated fatty acid, which is the major fatty acid found in palm oil. The palmitic acid is attached to the alcohol form of vitamin A, called retinol, to make vitamin A stable in milk. The name "palmitate" comes from the French "palmitique" from palmite, the pith of the palm tree.

 

Ingredients: filtered water, organic brown rice (partially milled), organic expeller pressed safflower and/or canola oil, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, vitamin B12.

[Im Your Man]

thanks for the info. Fortunately there's some brands of soy/rice etc milks that make both a fortified and a non-fortified version of their milk.

[RAINRA]

cool which products are non fortified. I would love to know specially non soy.

[Richard]

My brother is very concerned about this and gives me info about it regularly. He has found out that not all palm oil production is the same, some of it is not destructive. Some companies get their palm oil from renewable / environmentally sound sources. But you have to be very careful, my brother contacts companies directly, and if they give any BS about it, or talk about how they "strive" to do XYZ, that's not good enough. If they are ethical, they will tell you the source of the palm oil, sometimes it will be okay. It is in a lot of products, which is why my brother goes to those lengths to find out about it - since simply cutting out all palm oil would cut out a lot of the foods he eats

[Fallen_Horse]

From Clif:

 

"Hi Dax,

 

Thank you for contacting us about the Organic Palm Kernel Oil that we use in our Builders bars.

 

First of all I would like to assure you that our palm oil is not sourced from Indonesia where the majority of the deforestation is taking place.

 

We are in close contact with our suppliers and the direct sources of our ingredients. The farms from which our palm oil comes from use retired grazing and farmland and the plants themselves provide vital shelter for other organically, sustainable grown crops for the climate and terrain.

 

The farms provide job security for the local population and help keep the towns’ agricultural and economical structure in balance.

 

I hope this information eases your concern a bit.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions, comments or concerns.

 

Thanks again for being in touch.

Best,

 

Emily Zisman

Clif Bar & Company

Consumer Services

[email protected]"

[liftandcode]

From Clif:

 

"Hi Dax,

 

Thank you for contacting us about the Organic Palm Kernel Oil that we use in our Builders bars.

 

First of all I would like to assure you that our palm oil is not sourced from Indonesia where the majority of the deforestation is taking place.

 

We are in close contact with our suppliers and the direct sources of our ingredients. The farms from which our palm oil comes from use retired grazing and farmland and the plants themselves provide vital shelter for other organically, sustainable grown crops for the climate and terrain.

 

The farms provide job security for the local population and help keep the towns’ agricultural and economical structure in balance.

 

I hope this information eases your concern a bit.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions, comments or concerns.

 

Thanks again for being in touch.

Best,

 

Emily Zisman

Clif Bar & Company

Consumer Services

[email protected]"

 

Awesome, That's pretty much most of the Palm oil I eat.

[Marcina]

I read about palm oil in Alive magazine. The hydrogenated kind is the worst for you. Hydrogenated palm oil is found in a lot of commercial snacks, cookies, crackers, and cereals. Pretty much any hydrogenated oils are bad for the heart but I think palm is the worst.

[beforewisdom]

My spring cleaning health fast is to live off nothing but palm oil, salt, high fructose corn syrup, pixie sticks and white flour for 10 days in April.

[Marcina]

Goodbye Beforewisdom. It was nice knowing you

[beforewisdom]

LOL!

[RAINRA]

I wrote to living harvest, pacific, and to rice dream with this letter.

hopefully they will respond positive.

 

either that or make fake claims.

 

I am concerned about your use of palmitate as a vitamin A source in your drinks. I hope you read the study on isolated betacarotine. I enjoy your product

 

http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/final-CARET1204

 

Palm products are destroying our rainforest.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Oil#Environmental.2C_social_and_cultural_impact

 

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=22378

 

Please remove the extra vitamine A from your product.

[Im Your Man]

cool which products are non fortified. I would love to know specially non soy.

I'm not sure but I think VitaSoy, and also some rice milks. Most of hemp and almond milk were not fortified except in calcium. I don't know the name of the brands, I will check next time I go to the food store.