Updates - shampoo/conditioner, Hob Brite

The anti-dandruff shampoo and a couple of other palm oil free products (conditioner and dry skin moisturiser) I blogged about a few days ago have arrived from Health Monthly. The smell of them isn't unpleasant, very neutral (which means my husband won't moan about whiffing of girly-stuff like he does with some of the Lush soap I buy! But I wouldn't describe it as pleasant either.

Anyway, if the anti-dandruff shampoo works on Geoff and in the absence of a response from Proctor & Gamble, it will mean one less suspected product removed from our cupboards for good.

I chased P&G up a couple of weeks ago about Head & Shoulders shampoo as well as Fairy Liquid, Oil of Olay
and Flash One for All. If I don't get a reply soon, I think it's safe to assume they're ignoring me in the same way as Unilever are and therefore all those products will not be purchased again. Actually, whilst they've been delaying, I started buying Sainsbury's washing up liquid as they were really quick to let me know that it was palm oil free. I'm also using Little Satsuma's moisturiser on my face so if Proctor and Gamble are indeed ignoring me, I only really need to replace Flash One for All.

I chased up Reckitt Benckiser at the same time; they they have responded as follows:

Thank you for your e-mail.

I am waiting to hear from the relevant department so I can pass the correct information onto you Ms Doran.

As soon as I have an answer I will be in contact with you.

I'll let you know when they do.

On Hob Brite, I have received a further letter from Homecare Technology who make it.

Thank you for your recent letter in which you have listed the chemicals that can contain palm oil or are derived from palm oil.

The production staff has looked over the list to see which products are used here in our manufacturing plant and there are four items that we do purchase; none of which are used in Hob Brite

For your information they are:

Caprylyl glycol
Isopropyl
Mono-glycerides of fatty acids
Sodium Laureth Sulfate

So, it sounds as if Hob Brite may well be palm oil free. The reason I'm not 100% sure is that they have ignored the concern that I raised in my letter stating that if my list of euphemisms for palm oil/palm oil derivatives is not complete, there may be other suspect ingredients that are contained in Hob Brite that I'm just not aware of yet. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt though (as well as that, I haven't found anything else that does a good job except for Cif which Unilever won't tell me about).

Proctor & Gamble reply

I have received a response from Proctor & Gamble which contains all the usual generalisations about sustainable palm oil and how they buy it. Worryingly, they only say most of their palm oil suppliers are members of the RSPO so I guess if they get caught with some that isn't they can say "oh yes, just that bit isn't sustainable".

I'm no great believer that palm oil can be grown sustainably anyway all the time demand continues to rise so much - where is the new palm oil going to come from to fuel the proposed EU increase from 5% to 10% in biofuels sustainability criteria?

All it means is that responsible companies will buy the sustainable palm oil, leaving the rest for those with no scruples. It's not good enough to pat ourselves on the back and say ours is sustainable so we don't have to worry about it anymore. It's unacceptable that the rainforest is continuing to decline even though every single company that I write to claims to either already be buying sustainable palm oil or will be doing by 2015. Rainforest is still disappearing. We have to raise our game if it's going to stop.

Anyway, the response from P&G is very similar to that of Reckitt Benckiser - no individual answers about the products I buy. They give me a website address and invite me to investigate the list ingredients to establish whether the products contain palm oil. I will write a similar response to P&G and hope that in the interests of customer services, they will be prepared to give me a yes or no for the products that I buy.

L'Occitane haven't replied to my e-mail so I've had to snail mailed them as well. If they would only reply using e-mail, it would save paper - I shouldn't have to send letters using paper in this day and age - for goodness sake, L'Occitane - join the 21st Century! Paper use is another cause of rainforest decline.

Do I sound irritated? That's because I am :-(