Capital zoo calls for palm oil action
Palm oil is present in almost half the packaged food we buy at the supermarket, but you wouldn’t know it.
There is currently no legal requirement for palm oil to be labelled in New Zealand, but that could soon change.
One month out from a crucial vote on mandatory palm oil labelling in Australia and New Zealand, more than 6000 Wellingtonians have signalled their support.
The chief executive of Wellington Zoo Karen Fifield, which is supporting the labelling campaign, and the leader of the Unmask Palm Oil have both called on Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew to make her position public ahead of her vote.
For campaigners, a successful vote will empower consumers to make decisions about palm oil and support sustainable farming practices.
Four New Zealand zoos are backing the campaign, with Wellington Zoo receiving more than 6000 signed postcards in support of the campaign.
Goodhew, who will cast New Zealand’s only vote on the 10-person Food Standards Australia New Zealand panel on November 25, would not say if she would support the recommendation.
The decision could require the listing of specific ingredients such as palm oil and sunflower oil on all food packaging.
She said the purpose of food labelling was to provide information about safety and nutritional value of food.
‘‘Focussing on health and safety information rather than ethical concerns helps avoid overly complex regulatory standards’’.
Wellington Zoo primate keeper Jacqui Hooper has seen first-hand the destruction caused by palm oil in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Hooper has spent almost eight years as a zoo keeper and her visit to Indonesia in March this year ‘‘reignited my passion’’ to get clear labelling of palm oil to prevent further habitat loss.
She describes endless miles of plantations where rainforest used to be.
‘‘Say if someone went to the [Wellington] town belt and everything is cleared to make the palm plantations, so not even a small moss or a small insect survives – it is everything that is gone.’’
Hooper still finds it difficult to buy products with sustainably farmed palm oil because of the lack of clear labelling.
‘‘No one wants to blindly pick a product, people want to know what’s in it.’’