Shiny packaging covers corporate sins of palm oil

P

alm oil is a much sought after product, so much so that frequently we disregard human and environmental costs.

Easter sees a continuation of how the corporate ills of the world are hidden beneath some shiny packaging, with many of the traditional chocolate Easter eggs being made use palm oil.

Dense and climate sustaining forests are often cleared to allow for palm oil farming and frequently child labour is exploited to ensure production costs are kept as low as possible and, of course, corporate profits at the maximum.

In its story - “Child labour and palm oil lend chocolate Easter eggs a bitter taste” – the Sydney Morning Herald says that a growing number of ethical consumers are looking beyond the shiny packaging to buy chocolate made without the use of child, forced or trafficked labour, and palm oil, an ingredient linked with deforestation, animal cruelty and climate change.