I’ve sent them an email to ask for clarity and will update with their response.

Having a read of the food labeling standards (https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/food-standards-code/legislation) 1.2.2, 2.4, and schedule 10-2 any edible oil is only required to be identified as follows:

(a) The statement of ingredients must declare:

(i) whether the source is animal or vegetable; and

if the food is a dairy product, including ice cream—the specific source of animal fats or oils.

(b) This generic name must not be used for >diacylglycerol oil.

As such it turns out anything labelled as vegetable oil could contain palm oil, which is relatively likely given it’s ~36% of global oil trade and the number 1 producer. https://ourworldindata.org/palm-oil

So I recommend that unless you have specific knowledge, if anything has a thick texture at room temp and claims not to be hydrogenated you should assume it is palm oil. Especially if it’s quite low in saturated and polyunsaturated fats which is a bit of a coconut oil tell.

RIP to a delicious one.

  • A former sinner
  • enkersEnglish
    5·
    6 hours ago

    Of course it is not actually vegan to clearcut rainforest for food oil

    I’m going to push back on this one. Palm oil doesn’t contain animal products, so it’s vegan. Full stop. I’m not saying it’s not bad, or that people shouldn’t avoid it, but it’s still technically vegan.

    All farming causes some amount of animal suffering. If your argument is that the harvesting thereof causes more animal suffering than other oils and that makes it not vegan, the same logic should be applied to vegetables as well. Monocrop and even organic farming causes more animal suffering than veganic farming, so should those vegetables also be considered non-vegan?

    • Alliegaytor[she/her]@vegantheoryclub.orgMEnglish
      21·
      4 hours ago

      Palm oil doesn’t contain animal products, so it’s vegan. Full stop.

      This is a misleading argument to make. Plenty of things can be nonvegan even if it doesn’t contain animal products (slave labor, horse riding, drug testing, etc.). Whether or not something merely contains animal products is not a measure of somethings vegan status. Please see the definition of veganism here: https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism

      • enkersEnglish
        1·
        3 hours ago

        Yeah, fair, as Naeva also said, that was overly reductive.

        Palm oil is still a grey area, though, as is pointed out in the VS quote I posted lower in the comment chain.

    • NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.orgOPMEnglish
      3·
      6 hours ago

      “Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.”

      Is it practicable to avoid palm oil farmed via rainforest clearing in favour of not having oil or using oils farmed in less harmful ways?

      it is absurdly reductive to reduce veganism to the presence of animal products. That would imply animal testing of plant based products is vegan.

      • enkersEnglish
        1·
        5 hours ago

        Are you asking if it’s practicable to avoid everything that contains vegetable oil, as that may contain palm oil? Because, no, I wouldn’t consider that practicable. Or at least not any more practicable than not purchasing vegetables from a grocery store.

        Edit: Since we’re quoting the Vegan Society:

        Is palm oil vegan?

        In itself, palm oil is a vegetable product which does not need to involve the (ab)use of animals and therefore is suitable for vegans. However, the palm oil and palm timber industries are rife with very bad practices. In the EU, palm oil used in food must now be labelled, but ingredients derived from palm oil in food and non-food products still do not have to be labelled

        So, it is not possible for consumers to boycott palm products. Instead, ending the abuses of the palm tree (oil and timber) industries requires co-ordinated action by consumers, policymakers, vegans and non-vegans together.

        Vegans should also be aware that due to the fact that single-issue campaigns have focused solely on the negative effects of palm oil, other types of crop farming that cause harm to many animals are overlooked. We are working towards a world where animals are not (ab)used for human purposes. We encourage stock-free farming and alternatives to widespread crop clearance and other farming methods which currently cause many animals to die every year. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible or practical for individual vegans to only support vegan farming. However, the consumption of plant-based crops, such as wheat, barley, oil palm and soybeans, causes far fewer animals to lose their lives than eating animals.