Hello Fellow CCer's -

I want to start off by saying that it is not my intention to call anyone out, or to put anyone on the spot by posting this thread. I just wanted to post this INFORMATION here, so that if anyone wanted more information I could help them attain it easily.

About a year ago, I discovered the affects of palm oil consumption on the rainforests. This article explains it better than I can:
http://www.mongabay.com/external/foe_palm_oil.htm
(I know it's a little feisty, but it is strictly for information purposes.)

Basically, it states the massive international use of palm oil contributes to the destruction of rainforests.

Sweetex, Dream Whip, Crisco, Coffeemate Creamer (as well as many others) and many ingredients we use in cakes all have palm oil listed in their top 3 ingredients.

It was recommended to me that if I wanted to help, that I could try to purchase products without palm oil (or any of its derivatives such as palmate and palmitate) in them.

So, if this is a subject of interest to you...I just wanted to let you know that if you're shopping at the grocery store and you look for alternate brands...as opposed to the ones you may by used to...several do not include palm oil in their ingredients at all.

Just a little "food" for thought.....

And again, I *PROMISE* I'm not trying to be preachy - and I'm not trying to get anyone to change how they do things...I just wanted to share the information with you in case you were interested.

Thanks....and happy caking. I learn from this website every day and I love it!

Palm oil, in the form of hydrogenated (as in Trans-Fats) palm kernel oil, is also used in most of the brands of candy melts, which some folks are using to make chocolate clay.

I stopped using them after I read the label. Now, it's strictly chocolate.

Paramount Crystals, which are used to thin molten candy melts, are also made with hydrogenated palm kernel oil.

Theresa

I didn't realize that since I haven't even had a chance to try working with them yet. Thanks for the info.

Let me put it this way - if you want to learn how to make chocolate clay or use candy molds, then start with the candy melts, only because they are easier to work with.

When you are ready to graduate to filled candies, or chocolate clay pieces which someone might eat, use real chocolate.

I learned how to temper chocolate on a marble slab earlier this year - I loved it! It's a bit of work, but the end result was so very worth it.

Theresa

Just a question.... don't get mad for me asking... but isn't palm oil a really important commodity/trade item for southeast asian areas like the Indian costline, Thailand and the Phillipines (beach costs and jungle coasts)? I was pretty sure I read about this and in some tropical areas as mentioned, it is one of their major exports... how can we reconcile this with palm oil as being a source of discruction of rainforests, too?

loriana -

I always tell members here that they are entitled to their opinions. It is always my hope that when they do, they present facts to back up their statements, such as you have.

I would rather have someone teach me, than argue with them, any day. It may not cause me to change my mind, but it will allow me to respect their opinions more.

Theresa

To answer your question, I do know that it is one of the major exports of some of those Southeast Asian areas...and to be honest, I don't know if there is a way to reconcile the use of palm oil and the destruction of the rainforests. I wish there were, because I'd do it!!

So I'm just making one choice over another, I suppose. This whole thing got started for me because of a statistic I read at our zoo that said that due to the destruction of rainforests to put in palm farms, there aren't enough orangutans left in the wild to fill a football stadium. That bummed me out, so I just decided to dig around a bit more and see what I could do to help offset the issue.

Again, I didn't want to offend anyone or ask them to change things - I just remember that when I saw that exhibit at the zoo I thought, "Wow, I had no idea this was even an issue." So, I was hoping to share it with others in case they didn't know either.

Hope that makes sense.