Avoid Palm Oil

Food manufacturers are scrambling to eliminate trans fats from crunchy foods such as cookies and chips. In the place of partially hydrogenated oils, they are using palm oil. It turns out that palm oil is nearly as dangerous for your heart as P-H oils. In addition, palm oil is primarily produced in Malaysia and Indonesia (83%), where rainforest is being cleared to make room for massive palm oil plantations. This is causing enormous environmental damage, including the death of hundreds of orangutans, which are already nearing extinction.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has called on Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart, to use other oils for its house products. In a full-page ad in the New York Times, CSPI also urges consumers to read labels and to select products with non-hydrogenated soybean, corn, canola, or peanut oils, all of which are more environmentally friendly and better for human hearts and arteries than palm oil.

“We can find other ways of making cookies,” the ad reads. “We can’t find other ways of making orangutans.”

To take action, sign this petition to urge Wal-Mart to reformulate their house brand products to be heart-healthy and environmentally friendly.