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NZers Urged to Join Palm Oil Labelling Campaigners at Parliament
NZers Urged to Join Palm Oil Labelling Campaigners at Parliament
18/11/2016 (Voxy) - New Zealand’s big zoos and Unmask Palm Oil are urging Kiwis to join them at Parliament this Monday lunchtime when they’ll be delivering thousands of signed postcards calling for the mandatory labelling of palm oil on food products.
The bulk delivery to NZ Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew is ahead of a key Trans-
Tasman meeting on 25 November. At this meeting, Minister Goodhew and nine Australian ministers representing Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), will vote on whether to introduce mandatory labelling of palm oil on food products.
The 21 November 12-1pm event in Parliament grounds will also give community the opportunity to sign postcards in support of labelling if they haven’t already done so.
"New Zealanders and Australians are proud to be on the same team in their call for transparency around the use of palm oil. It’s clear, both want a win for wildlife and for the right to choose what’s in their food, and they expect ministers to vote in favour of consumers," says Unmask Palm Oil director, Ben Dowdle.
"The ‘Ask for Choice’ campaign with Auckland Zoo, Hamilton Zoo, Wellington Zoo, and Orana Wildlife Park and a parallel Australian zoos campaign has to date seen over 83,000 people sign online letters or printed postcards calling on their ministers to vote for mandatory labelling. We’ve also had strong support from public health and consumer interest organisations and independent polling shows 92% of New Zealanders and 84% of Australians support this change," adds Dowdle.
While labelling of palm oil is already a legal requirement in Europe, the United States and Canada, in New Zealand and Australia it only has to be labelled generically as vegetable oil, making it impossible to identify.
Palm oil is now the world’s most widely consumed vegetable oil with current global production (62 million metric tonnes a year) set to double by 2020. Over 85% of it is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. Here illegal deforestation to grow it is decimating vital rainforest ecosystems that act as the lungs of our planet, and driving wildlife species like orangutan, tiger, rhino and elephant towards extinction. This is despite non-forested land being available.
"As well as finally bringing our regulation down under in line with the rest of the Western world, labelling would empower consumers to make informed health based decisions and demand Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), which certifies palm oil plantations to ensure they are deforestation-free," says Dowdle.
"We know labelling is a powerful driver for positive change as subsequent to mandatory labelling coming into force in Europe in 2014, there was a 67% spike in the uptake of sustainable palm oil."
The bulk delivery to NZ Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew is ahead of a key Trans-
Tasman meeting on 25 November. At this meeting, Minister Goodhew and nine Australian ministers representing Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), will vote on whether to introduce mandatory labelling of palm oil on food products.
The 21 November 12-1pm event in Parliament grounds will also give community the opportunity to sign postcards in support of labelling if they haven’t already done so.
"New Zealanders and Australians are proud to be on the same team in their call for transparency around the use of palm oil. It’s clear, both want a win for wildlife and for the right to choose what’s in their food, and they expect ministers to vote in favour of consumers," says Unmask Palm Oil director, Ben Dowdle.
"The ‘Ask for Choice’ campaign with Auckland Zoo, Hamilton Zoo, Wellington Zoo, and Orana Wildlife Park and a parallel Australian zoos campaign has to date seen over 83,000 people sign online letters or printed postcards calling on their ministers to vote for mandatory labelling. We’ve also had strong support from public health and consumer interest organisations and independent polling shows 92% of New Zealanders and 84% of Australians support this change," adds Dowdle.
While labelling of palm oil is already a legal requirement in Europe, the United States and Canada, in New Zealand and Australia it only has to be labelled generically as vegetable oil, making it impossible to identify.
Palm oil is now the world’s most widely consumed vegetable oil with current global production (62 million metric tonnes a year) set to double by 2020. Over 85% of it is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. Here illegal deforestation to grow it is decimating vital rainforest ecosystems that act as the lungs of our planet, and driving wildlife species like orangutan, tiger, rhino and elephant towards extinction. This is despite non-forested land being available.
"As well as finally bringing our regulation down under in line with the rest of the Western world, labelling would empower consumers to make informed health based decisions and demand Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), which certifies palm oil plantations to ensure they are deforestation-free," says Dowdle.
"We know labelling is a powerful driver for positive change as subsequent to mandatory labelling coming into force in Europe in 2014, there was a 67% spike in the uptake of sustainable palm oil."