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On March 15, World Consumer Rights Day raises awareness about consumer rights, promoting transparency and accurate information to ensure informed purchasing decisions. However, in recent years, we have witnessed a distortion of these principles, with marketing campaigns exploiting consumer sensitivities rather than protecting them. A prominent example is the demonization of palm oil and the proliferation of “palm oil-free” claims, driven more by commercial strategies than by factual data.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE CRITICISM

Palm oil has been the target of media, political, and commercial attacks, accused of being harmful to both health and the environment. However, these claims have been shown to be either unfounded or at least exaggerated:

• Health safety: european regulations ensure that palm oil entering the market is safe, with strict limits on contaminants – limits that are also present in many other food ingredients.
• Nutrition: while palm oil contains saturated fats, recent studies have shown that products containing palm oil have similar or even lower fat levels compared to those made with substitutes such as coconut oil or butter. Moreover, saturated fats are essential for a balanced diet. The issue is not the nutrient itself, but the quantity, frequency of consumption, and overall lifestyle.
• Sustainability: palm oil plantations have contributed to deforestation in tropical regions, just as other plantations and crops have. However, research from independent institutions – including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change  (CMCC) – shows that palm oil is vital for food security. Its replacement with other alternatives would not reduce deforestation but, in fact, would increase it.

PALM OIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

According to the CMCC, replacing palm oil could require up to 385 million additional hectares of land due to the lower agricultural yield of other crops. One hectare of oil palm produces an average of four tons of oil, while soy, rapeseed, and sunflower yield only 0.6–0.8 tons per hectare. As a result, producing the same amount of oil would require significantly more land. Furthermore, as highlighted by IUCN studies, with the global population projected to grow in the coming years, all vegetable oil sources will be necessary to meet increasing global demand. Boycotting palm oil, therefore, is illogical.

NEW RULES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Institutions – especially in Europe – but also the industry and governments of producing countries have worked to reduce deforestation by increasing agricultural productivity without expanding plantations into forested areas. Starting on December 30, 2025, the EU Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR) will require that all palm oil – along with six other commodities – entering the EU be “deforestation-free”. In this regard, palm oil can serve as a benchmark: currently, according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), 4.8 million hectares of palm oil plantations are certified as sustainable, preventing deforestation, and producing approximately 15 million tons of palm oil.

THE DECLINE OF “PALM OIL-FREE” CLAIMS

Despite these facts, many products on supermarket shelves still carry the “palm oil-free” claim – a misleading practice aimed at consumers. Labels like “free from” or “rich in” are primarily designed to appeal to consumer emotions, which change over time. In the early 2000s, food labels emphasized what was added to products, promising benefits to attract consumers. Today, however, the trend has shifted to highlighting what is absent. While “free from” labels make sense for allergies or specific health conditions, in the case of palm oil, they provide no relevant information and are, in fact, misleading.

Despite the persistence of this claim, the market is finally evolving. In Italy, the number of products carrying this label has decreased: in the past year, sales dropped by 1.6%, and volumes by 6.4%. The supply has also decreased by 4.6% (Osservatorio Immagino, 2024) – a sign that the market is reassessing its strategy. But what is driving this change? Eliminating this ingredient not only affects costs and quality, but it does not offer any environmental benefits. The pandemic, price tensions, and the war in Ukraine have underscored the importance of sustainable palm oil as a versatile ingredient.

An additional step forward could come with the Green Claims Directive, which aims to regulate environmental claims on products, ensuring they are based on verifiable scientific evidence. If properly implemented, this regulation could end unfounded claims like “palm oil-free,” which provide no real environmental benefit.

THE RIGHT TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES

World Consumer Rights Day should aim to empower consumers, not coddle them. Consumers must have access to the knowledge needed to make informed – and therefore truly free – choices. Information should be clear, based on scientific data rather than emotions, simple but not simplistic.

Read Certify, Don’t Replace: The Path to Sustainable Palm Oil>>>