Palm oil rule doesn’t look any closer

Kiwis won’t be any closer to knowing whether their food contains palm oil after Australian and New Zealand ministers discuss the issue at a highlevel meeting tomorrow.

On the agenda at the transtasman forum are talks on whether palm oil should be specifically identified on food labels. Under existing standards, labels can simply say “vegetable oils” or “vegetable fats”.

NZ Food Safety Minister David Bennett said he would mostly be gauging other ministers’ positions and he did not expect a vote about adopting mandatory labelling.

Although the forum has been considering more specific labelling since 2009, Bennett said the process was still in its early stages.

The forum’s focus is mainly on the health effects of palm oil, which is higher in saturated fats than most other oils.

But the issue is also an environmental one. The palm oil industry is blamed for rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia including precious habitats which are home to orangutans, tigers and elephants.

Auckland Zoo director Jonathan Wilcken, who has lobbied for palm oil labelling, said he was disappointed ministers were still unable to decide.

“We’re not asking them to break new ground,” Wilcken said. “This is a decision that would just mirror what’s already been implemented in the EU, in America and in Canada.”

Campaigners say that close to half of the products on NZ supermarket shelves contain palm oil.

The Food and Grocery Council, which represents producers and manufacturers, opposes labelling.