I am Maretta Mann, the founder of Two-winged fruit and a scientist with a PhD. Two-winged fruit is a palm oil free soap & skin care brand. I am passionate about science and passionate about making sure my products really are palm oil free.
Having recently gained accreditation with Orangutan Alliance as Palm Oil Free, I know just how hard it is to detect palm oil in its many guises and because of this, I wanted to share some of my strategies with you.
Having just gone through Orangutan Alliance's certification process, I can attest to the meticulous detective work their team does to check the products they certify are palm oil free. They leave no stone unturned and I respect them for this. ORANGUTAN ALLIANCE CERTIFIED BRANDS ARE CLEARLY RECOGNISABLE WITH THEIR PALM OIL FREE SEAL. YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT THEIR PALM OIL FREE CERTIFIED BRANDS ON THEIR WEBSITE. PALM OIL INVESTIGATION APPROVED BRANDS AND RETAIL STORES ARE LISTED ON THEIR WEBSITE. BY PURCHASING CERTIFIED PALM OIL FREE PRODUCTS, YOU ARE HELPING TO SUPPORT THAT BRAND AND ITS CERTIFIER, AND THE PALM OIL FREE MOVEMENT TO PROTECT RAINFORESTS.
Non-profit organisations including Orangutan Alliance and Palm Oil Investigations are crusaders doing amazing work to help people buy genuinely palm oil free products. Orangutan Alliance certifies palm oil free brands and provides transparency for consumers. Palm Oil Investigations is a non-profit consumer watchdog. They educate consumers and brands on how to identify and avoid palm oil and campaigns for truth in labelling. If you follow these organisations on social media you can keep up to date with news on palm oil.
When you're in the supermarket, you can use the POI bar scanner app to check if products contain palm oil, and to look for alternatives. If the product isn't on the app, it is helpful to take pictures of the product name, ingredients label and bar code email them to POI to help them build their database.
As a scientist, my training has taught me to never take things at face value and neither should you. Here is more specific information on how to spot palm oil and some of the unfortunate truths I learnt while creating a palm oil free brand.ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr Maretta Mann has a PhD in chemistry and a passion for environmental conservation, who has combined these passions to create a certified palm oil free soap & skin care brand, Two-winged fruit. Maretta lives on the Gold Coast (Australia) with her husband, two children, four chooks and two guinea pigs.