SC Johnson update

I'm pleased to report that SC Johnson have responded and they have been able to reassure me that the items I wrote to them about do not contain palm oil so I can continue to use Mr Muscle Window and Glass, all the different Pledge furniture polishes and brillo pads.

They go on to state the following:

Corporately, SC Johnson´s direct use of this material is quite limited. Also, SC Johnson is a member of the international Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), to ensure that any Palm Oil the company does use, comes from sustainable sources.

We hope we were able to help and please do not hesitate to contact us for any further query.

This is a good response; so much more helpful than Unilever who are just ignoring me now so I will have to stop using Cif cream lemon cleaner and Domestos Bleach. I already have some Hobrite in the cupboard but I haven't written to the manufacturer, Homecare Products, yet - on my list for the new year. They seem to have quite an ethical stance from their website so I'm hopeful I can just drop Cif altogether and use Hobrite instead. I'll have to look into alternative bleach suppliers - I don't use much and I tend to dilute it most of the time. (Again, it's on the to do list!)

The indicaton from SC Johnson is that they would be happy to give further help and I will look to their ranges first when I come to replacing any household products that contain palm oil.

No more dumplings? Arghh!

I thought I had got to the stage where everything I eat and drink at home was palm oil free but I have just discovered another foodstuff that I think probably contains palm oil. At this time of year I love to make stews and casseroles. It's particularly useful to make double or triple quantities towards the end of the week so I have a quick meal to reheat when I get home after a cold day of manning my jewellery stall. I never feel like cooking after such a long cold day and whilst I will occasionally resort to a frozen pizza (some of Co-op's own brand are palm oil free). I always prefer to eat non-processed food.

Stew wouldn't be stew without dumplings and I usually use a dumpling mix rather than make my own from fresh (what a contradiction after the last paragraph!) but all the brands I buy contain vegetable oil or vegetable fat. I have only just discovered dumpling mixes and suet contain vegetable fat because the cold weather has been so long arriving, I've only just got out the casserole dishes!

I haven't written to the brand manufacturers to enquire if - as is usually the case - the vegetable oil/fat is palm oil but I am abstaining from dumplings in the meantime until I have chance to write some letters/e-mails.

In the new year, when the big rush for my business has becalmed, I will be researching dumplings quite thoroughly. In the meantime, if anyone knows of palm oil free dumplings, I'd be very grateful!

EDIT: Recipe here that uses butter for dumplings. I will give these a go!

Update on household products, I have the following list of further manufacturers to write to about the household products that I use:

Clorox Car Care Ltd
Colron
Darcy Industries Ltd, Bolton
Emma Ltd
Homecare Products Ltd
Jeyes
Kiwi
Mykal Industries
PC Products (1001) Ltd
Persil
Proctor & Gamble
Reckit Benckiser
WD-40 Company Ltd