This is an issue I've been struggling with for some months now. It all started a few months ago while I was selling at a local market. A customer was picking up each bar and reading the ingredient list on the back. Eventually she asked "Do you have anything without soy or palm oil?" I replied that I did, I make three different types of Castille, using only olive and super fatting a couple with Cocoa butter. I asked why she didn't like the palm or soy and she explained about the deforestation issues with palm and the GM issues regarding a good deal of soy oil. Hmm, what to do? In the end I sent an email to the company who make the palm oil I had been using sunnzfood to ask where they source their palm oil. Did it come from an approved plantation?
I got no reply, so I tried again. Still no answer.So, I will not be buying that again. I don't know if they use a legitimate producer or not. If they do, and they have nothing to hide, then their customer service sucks. If they don't, I don't want to buy their product. Either way, no sale.
This leaves us with the question, what to use instead?I started using a bit of animal fat. Old fashioned I know, but it gives a really stable lather and contributes well to the hardness of the bar. Some vegetarians will object I'm sure, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. So, unless they are willing to pay for a pure castille, they will have to choose between the use of animal fats (animals that have already been slaughtered for their meat, thus the fat is a waste product), or the use of palm (maybe ripping up virgin forest & making animals homeless), or soy oil that is possibly GM! Argg! At times I wish I had never asked that woman what the problem was. This whole question is an ethical nightmare. As to the soy question, I don't know what to do. At this point I am doing nothing as I believe the soy oil being sold in NZ is GM free, but I may well be wrong. Does anyone have any information on that?
Gina Roberts wrote:
Try coconut. The food industry and bio oil industry are by far causing the issue. I am not sure about the hand made soap people like us but there is such a thing as sustainable palm that can be bought but it costs more of course.Palm is a great filler for soap and I will continue to watch this issue.Gina RobertsSoapcraft www.soapcraft.co.nz <http://www.soapcraft.co.nz> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Maggie Bath <mcbath@xxxxxxxxxx> *To:* soapcraft@xxxxxxxxxxxxx *Sent:* Sun, 21 March, 2010 10:55:01 PM *Subject:* [soapcraft] Palm Oil Fellow Soapers.....With all the hoo haa about Palm Oil on TV/Radio these days, what say you all about using the product? I have a couple of soap recipes that use Palm Oil but am loathe to make them unless I can find a substitute for Palm Oil. Any suggestions? *Maggie *Add FUN to your email - CLICK HERE! <http://www.incredimail.com/index.asp?id=54475>
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