A greener Hula Hoop?

United Biscuits' decision to switch to more sustainable palm oil has done little to quell criticism by environmentalists
Palm oil is the 4x4 of processed food ingredients – ubiquitous (it's in one in 10 supermarket products), unnecessary (there are many more sustainable ways to get fat into our biscuits, ice creams and ready meals), and fantastically damaging to the environment.
The palm oil industry in south-eastern Asia is a major emitter of greenhouse gases, chiefly because of the process of clearing rain forest and underlying peat to plant the palms. If that doesn't move you – there's the orang-utans displaced for palm oil plantations to worry about. The palm oil industry is, it's said, the greatest threat orang-utans face.
And that doesn't look good for Penguins. Or Hula Hoops. So their makers, United Biscuits, has joined the list of big food corporations that, after years of fruitless lobbying by green groups, is beginning to take notice of the palm oil problem.UB has just announced that from spring next year Jaffa Cakes, McVities and its other brands so on will start to be made with palm oil from a company whose plantations are certified sustainable. And UB has committed to reduce the overall amount of palm oil it uses.
It sounds good, but this is not turning out to be quite the PR coup it looks. In fact the word 'greenwashing' is being bandied about. Greenpeace and other groups are not satisfied by the sustainability claims of New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL), UB's new supplier, which has plantations in Papua New Guinea. Its sustainability credentials are based on signing up to standards drawn up by the industry's own Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – which most environmental groups consider pretty inadequate.
Says Greenpeace's Ian Duff:
"It is a good thing that United Biscuits is able to trace the palm oil its uses back to source but until the RSPO standards used to define sustainability are improved, United Biscuits' customers will have little guarantee that these products are not contributing to the destruction of rainforest and driving climate change."
Greenpeace has evidence that some RSPO members (though not NBPOL) are still clearing rainforest and burning peat. It doesn't believe the RSPO's own guidelines are strong enough to prevent this. So don't hold your breath for the chance to pick up a green p-p-p Penguin.