Peeling back the label—exploring sustainable palm oil ecolabelling and consumption in the United Kingdom

Ostfeld, Rosemary; Howarth, David; Reiner, David; Krasny, Pawel

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aaf0e4

Cited by 39 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In contrast to other conservation behaviours such as recycling or saving electricity, many consumers may not know that they can benefit the environment by reducing the amount of palm oil they consume. For example, most consumers surveyed by Giam et al (2016) did not seem to identify palm oil as a product that may cause deforestation (cf., Ostfeld et al 2019). However, when consumers are given information on the environmental consequences of palm oil, their knowledge about the issue appears to increase along with their support for mandatory palm oil labelling (Pearson et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of consumer knowledge in reducing the demand for palm oil

Lange

Coremans

2020

Envir. Conserv.

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SummaryAttempts to mitigate the environmental impact of oil-palm expansion by improving production standards have been of limited success. An alternative approach aims at a better understanding of the factors that drive consumers to reduce excessive vegetable oil consumption. Our studies focused on consumers’ environmental knowledge as a potential determinant of palm oil consumption. They revealed critical limitations in consumers’ palm oil-related knowledge across different domains, study settings and assessment approaches. The more our participants knew about palm oil and its environmental consequences, the stronger were their reported intentions to reduce their consumption. This relationship was significantly stronger for subjective versus objective palm oil-related knowledge. In addition, we examined whether consumers can be stimulated to consult information about palm oil by making information access the default option. While this simple situational nudge promoted information access, we did not find it to significantly increase actual engagement with the information material. This result suggests that it might be necessary to complement default nudges for information access with other measures to enhance palm oil-related knowledge and to reduce palm oil consumption to more sustainable levels.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of consumer knowledge in reducing the demand for palm oil

Lange

Coremans

2020

Envir. Conserv.

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“…15% for ‘soybean oil’) (Ostfeld et al . ). There was also very low recognition of the RSPO ‘ecolabel’ trademark (5% of respondents), which can be used on products containing at least 95% RSPO certified palm‐derived components (RSPO ).…”

Section: Communicating About Interesterified and Other Dietary Fatsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…A YouGov survey of 1695 UK adults, conducted in March 2016, indicated that 41% of respondents considered palm oil to be 'environmentally unfriendly', a higher proportion than for all other types of vegetable oil included in the survey (e.g. 15% for 'soybean oil') (Ostfeld et al 2019). There was also very low recognition of the RSPO 'ecolabel' trademark (5% of respondents), which can be used on products containing at least 95% RSPO certified palm-derived components (RSPO 2016).…”

Section: Communicating About Interesterified and Other Dietary Fatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interesterified fats: What are they and why are they used? A briefing report from the Roundtable on Interesterified Fats in Foods

Berry

Bruce²,

Steenson

et al. 2019

Nutrition Bulletin

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Interesterification rearranges the position of fatty acids within triacylglycerols, the main component of dietary fat, altering physical properties such as the melting point and providing suitable functionality for use in a range of food applications. Interesterified (IE) fats are one of a number of alternatives which have been adopted to reformulate products to remove fats containing trans fatty acids generated during partial hydrogenation, which are known to be detrimental to cardiovascular health. The use of IE fats can also reduce the saturated fatty acid (SFA) content of the final product (e.g. up to 20% in spreads), while maintaining suitable physical properties (e.g. melt profile). A novel analysis was presented during the roundtable which combined data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2012/2013–2013/2014) with expert industry knowledge of the IE fats typically used in food products, to provide the first known estimate of population intakes of IE fats among UK children and adults. IE fats were found to contribute approximately 1% of daily energy across all ages. The major contributors to overall IE fat intakes were fat spreads (~54%) and bakery products (~22%), as well as biscuits (~8%), dairy cream alternatives (~6%) and confectionery (~6%). Increasing use of IE fats could contribute towards reducing total SFA intakes in the population, but would depend on which food products were reformulated and their frequency of consumption among sub‐groups of the population. Studies comparing the effect of IE and non‐IE fats on markers of lipid metabolism have not shown any consistent differences, either in the fasted or in the postprandial state, suggesting a neutral effect of IE fats on cardiovascular disease risk. However, these studies did not use the type of IE fats present in the food supply. This issue has been addressed in two studies by King's College London, which measured the postprandial response to a commercially relevant palm stearin/palm kernel (80:20) IE ‘hard stock’, although again no consistent effects of the IE fat on markers of lipid metabolism were found. Another study is currently investigating the same IE hard stock, consumed as a fat spread (blended with vegetable oil), and will measure a broader range of postprandial cardiometabolic risk factors. However, further long‐term trials using commercially relevant IE fats are needed. Subsequent to the roundtable, a consumer survey of UK adults (n = 2062; aged 18+ years) suggested that there is confusion about the health effects of dietary fats/fatty acids, including trans fats and partially hydrogenated fats. This may indicate that providing evidence‐based information to the public on dietary fats and health could be helpful, including the reformulation efforts of food producers and retailers to improve the fatty acid profile of some commonly consumed foods.

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“…Still, this is not how most people view oil palm. To some the oil palm is highly positive in its provision of vital opportunities and income and a vital tool in the poverty eradication toolbox; to others it is a crop with very high negative impacts (Rosemary et al, 2019), "the Lord Voldemort of the plant world" (Meijaard, 2014); or indeed, in an example of satire predicting reality, "oil palm ate our children" (Meijaard and Sheil, 2011;Chao, 2018). This moral minefield lies at the core of ethical decision-making in sustainable development.…”

Section: Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%