Bubbling away onthe back burner...
Of all the things in the cupboard, cooking oil is probably one of the things we think about the least when it comes to shopping ethically. Well, it's just the oil squeezed out of seeds, right? What's to think about? Bryony Moore delves deeper...
Biofuels
With the rapidly dwindling supply of fossil fuels, interest in biofuels has erupted. The crops used to produce these fuels are the same ones used to produce our domestic cooking oil — soya, palm and rape (currently Europe's main biofuel crop(2). It therefore follows that many of the companies behind domestic oils are also involved in, or looking to become involved in, biofuel production.
Major biofuel players included in this report are Archer Daniels Midland (Pura brand), which produces 1.1 billion gallons of the 6.5 billion gallons of ethanol produced in the USA,(3) and Carotino, a member of the J C Chang Group, who produce 180,000 tonnes of palm biodiesel a year in Malaysia.(4)
Also, AarhusKarlshamn (who make Again & Again oil and Midsummer organic oil) signed an agreement in July 2007 with Lantmannen Energi to invest in a new crushing plant for edible oils and biodiesel, which will have a capacity sufficient to crush and refine all Swedish rapeseed.(5)
Supporters of biofuels argue that they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, because the crops grown to produce them absorb carbon dioxide from the air. However, opinions are divided. Environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE) believes that the potential for the usefulness of biofuels in reduction of emissions is limited, and that it would be better to cut them at source, as biofuel crops may potentially end up contributing to emissions rather than reducing them.(6)
Campaigners also fear that valuable food-growing land is being diverted to be used for biofuel crops.
Deepak Rughani of BiofuelWatch notes that the price of basic food staples such as grains and vegetable oils have risen by over 40% in just a year. He is concerned that even in this country regulations for set-aside land have been repealed to grow more agrofuels. "Not only will this further reduce farmland biodiversity, but the nitrous oxide emissions associated with rapeseed oil production have been shown to increase overall greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70% when compared with the diesel fuel it replaces."
"On April 15th 2008, the RTFO (Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation) legislation comes into effect. From then on you can't simply boycott biofuel; it will be mixed at 2.5% in all petrol and diesel. Each of us will be contributing to deforestation, species loss, humanitarian abuses and starvation irrespective of conscience."(7)
Genetic Modification
An article in the Ecologist states that most corn grown for ethanol production in the US is GM, and suggests that, since GM varieties offer no particular advantage over conventional corn for ethanol production, this might be a result of the rejection of GM crops for food use.(8) Therefore increased demand may also mean more demand for GM oilseed crops, in particular soya beans.
The Archer Daniels Midland company have no group-wide GM policy(9) which may suggest that the company uses GM ingredients for it's biofuels arm. During a shop survey Ethical Consumer found that KTC's vegetable oil was labelled as containing GM soya, although the company is not involved in biofuels.(10)
Health
Cooking oils are extracted either mechanically, or with the use of solvents. With the latter, a solvent (such as hexane or heptane,(11) both of which which are skin and lung irritants(12) and nervous system depressants(13)) is mixed with the cracked seeds to draw out the oil. The oil-solvent mixture is then heated to evaporate the solvent off.
Doesn't sound too appetising? There is no firm regulation of what "cold-pressed" means, and this varies from country to country, but these oils will usually have been machine extracted and not heated above a temperature of around 27 degrees Celsius in the EU. Also from a health point of view, look out for other dodgy additions to cooking oil, like artificial colours, flavourings (beef flavouring found in the Harry Ramsden's cooking oil, which wasn't featured in this report) and anti-foaming agents (found in Again & Again and Crisp'n'Dry).
Do one thing
We have the capacity to grow and bottle our own domestic cooking oil within the boundaries of the UK, so buy these products and help reduce carbon emissions from non-essential food miles.
Links
References
2 www.biofuelstp.eu/crops.html 03/03/2008 3 http://www.forbes.com/ 03/03/2008 4 www.biodieselinvesting.com 03/03/2008 5 www.flex-news-food.com 03/03/2008 6 http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/palm_oil_biofuel_position.pdf 03/03/2008 7 Deepak ____ via email 11/03/08 8 www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=831 03/03/2008 9 www.admworld.com 03/03/2008 10 Shop survey by ECRA 06/02/08 11 www.innvista.com/03/03/2008 12 www.co.thurston.wa.us/health/ehhm/hazards.html Hazards of Household Materials 03/03/2008 13 www.trianglesolvents.co.za/attachments/Benzine%20MSDS.pdf 03/03/2008 14 www.innavista.com 03/03/2008 15 www.corpwatch.org: Green Fuels Dirty Secret (1 June 2006) 16 J.C.Chang Group corporate communications:JC Chang Group/Carotino Corporate Environment Policy (27 February 2008) 17 SOMO Reports: Unilever ? Ghana (27 March 2007) 18 PETA ? Companies that test on animals: Companies that do test on animals (11 January 2007) 19 Ecologist, the: July/August 2006