Thursday 25 February 2010

Der!

Proctor and Gamble have an address on the back of their products so I can write to them there about their 4-5 products in my cupboards - yay! (I hate using the phone!) But, I know when the Independent pressed them for information about palm oil, they didn't say anything so I don't know if li'l ole me will get on any better. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, enjoy this photograph of my angel wings fairy cakes (made by my own fair hand and palm oil free!)

Monday 22 February 2010

Dying for a biscuit

Panorama have a programme on this evening in the UK (BBC1 8.30pm) which highlights palm oil and the devastation it is causing to the rainforest and wildlife.

The region in which it was recently filmed is one which Hardi (Centre for Orangutan Protection) and Nature Alert have been shouting 'emergency - please help' to everyone for a long time, particularly governments and the media. Panorama went to West Kalimantan because of this.

Please watch it if you can.

Wednesday 17 February 2010

Some replies

Ronseal tell me that Colron Liquid Beeswax in antique pine contains no palm oil or palm oil derivatives.

Jeyes tell me that they don't use palm oil in any of their products and specifically confirm that Parazone Citrus thick bleach doesn't contain any. Unilever won't tell me if Domestos contains palm oil or not. I therefore view it as suspect and am switching to Parazone from now on.

Mykal Industries tell me that no palm oil is used in the manufacture of their Sticky Stuff Remover which is useful for getting labels off bottles when I'm recycling them into glass beads so that's a relief. They go on to say that they use citrus oil as the key ingredient which provides the excellent anti-adhesive effect of their product. Furthermore, no palm oil is used in any of their retail products.

I have received a policy statement from Reckett Benckiser but they haven't responded individually about the products I asked about. They link to a website which they say has ingredients for Dettol products so I'll do more research and possibly write to them again before posting information about their products.

Sunday 14 February 2010

Still on the household products trail

I have sent out a raft of e-mails to various companies on my long list of the products under my kitchen sink that I purchase for cleaning the house etc. I'll log any responses here.

Some of the products I use are made by Proctor & Gamble but they make it very difficult to contact them in writing either by e-mail or letter. I tried going to the individual product websites, where one exists, but they were exactly the same. I did finally find a form to fill in but they wanted all kinds of information like date of birth which isn't relevant to such an enquiry and is powerful information for people who want to steal your identity so I declined to continue on that line of enquiry. I need to make time to telephone them at some point during the day on the number that they give. I'd prefer a written response but needs must.

I'm still using Vecon vegetable stock, which is confirmed as palm oil free. It doesn't seem to be stocked by supermarkets, certainly not Tescos or Sainsbury's. I've been getting it from Holland & Barratt in Cambridge - but we find it a bit salty and as my husband has high blood pressure, we need to keep his sodium intake within sensible limits.

I noticed that Sainsbury's sell "Very Low Salt Vegetable Stock cubes" made by Kallo Foods. I wrote to them last week but I just got a one-liner reply stating "We would like to inform you that this product is made using palm fat". Not even a policy statement on sustainable palm oil! Very disappointing. We'll keep going with the Vecon but have to use it sparingly. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye out for other palm oil free stock cubes.

Good news on the dumplings front, Atora The Original contains only beef dripping and wheat flour so I can use that instead of the mixes that are based on vegetable fat (and probably therefore palm oil). After a very cold day of being snowed, sleeted and rained on manning my stall at Cambridge Art & Craft market yesterday, I tried some dumplings made using the straightforward recipe on the side of the packet with beef stew and they were delicious! Not very healthy but comforting and warm - an occasional mid-winter treat - a little of what you fancy, does you good :-)