OMG, This UK Grocery Chain Is Getting Rid Of Palm Oil In All Its Own Products

Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, and Iceland grocery stores plan to eliminate it from its products by the end of 2018.

Whether or not you've heard of it, you probably consume palm oil every day.

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According to World Wildlife, palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, and is in about half of all packaged products sold in the supermarket, from ice cream to chocolate to lipstick.

And while it's not the most unhealthy kind of oil, but it's also not that good for you, either.

And this week, Iceland (a UK grocery chain, not the country) *went there* and announced that it plans to eliminate palm oil from all its own-brand products by the end of 2018 to explore more sustainable options.

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If you don't live in the UK and have never heard of Iceland, it has almost double the number of total locations that Trader Joe's or Whole Foods does. It's v v popular.

The company said it will reformulate 130 of its store brand food lines, helping reduce demand for palm oil by an alleged 500 tons per year. "We don't believe there is such a thing as verifiably 'sustainable' palm oil available in the mass market," said Iceland Managing Director Richard Walker in a press release.

@paulamccarry / Via instagram.com

"There are a number of alternatives to palm oil that are not destroying the rainforest," an Iceland spokesperson told BuzzFeed. "Alternatives will include sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, and butter."

If you're wondering what palm oil is* and why this matters, it's because producing the oil has contributed to widespread deforestation in southeast Asia.

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According to one BBC report, palm oil production is said to have been responsible for about 8% of the world's deforestation between 1990 and 2008.

*I'm going to be completely honest, I had no idea what oil palms looked like before researching this article. 😟

It also endangers the lives of wild orangutans. You know, these lil' guys:

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As the first major UK supermarket to ban palm oil from its products, Iceland might be at the forefront of a big trend away from the eco-unfriendly vegetable oil.

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The move hasn't come without pushback: Malaysia and Indonesia, the two biggest producers of palm oil, have criticized the move away from palm oil. They see any EU ban on it as crop discrimination (or "crop apartheid," as the Malaysian government has called it), and have vowed to stop buying European products as a result.

In general, though, people are pretty pleased with this new direction:

@Robert17916841 / Via Twitter: @https://twitter.com//status/983613329599025152

And some hope others will follow suit:

@Jugistoteles / Via Twitter: @Jugistoteles