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Palm Oil Free Toothpaste

Image: blue and white toothpaste on blue and white toothbrush
Tim Hunt
By
Tim Hunt

How to avoid toothpaste brands that use palm oil

Palm oil and palm oil derivatives have become an important component in many toothpaste products.

In our shopping guide to toothpaste we rated and ranked 34 toothpaste brands and companies on their palm oil policy. 

Palm oil in toothpaste

Palm oil and its derivatives are found in a vast number of cosmetics and food products. In toothpaste it is often used as a dispersant, and can appear under many names, including:

Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Fat, Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palmolein, Glyceryl, Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid, Palm Stearine, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate, Hydrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol *

Palm oil company ratings

Georganics is the only palm oil free company in this guide.

Best rating for palm oil policy:

  • Lush
  • Weleda
  • A Vogel

Middle rating for palm oil policy:

  • Green People
  • Kingfisher
  • Church & Dwight Co Inc. (Pearl Drops, Arm & Hammer)
  • Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Theramed, Denivit)

Worst rating for palm oil policy:

  • Urtekram
  • GlaxoSmithKline (Corsodyl, Aquafresh, Biotene, Macleans, Poligrip, Sensodyne)
  • Lavera
  • Blanx
  • Clinomyn
  • Eucryl
  • Sarakan
  • Dr Organic
  • Procter and Gamble (Oral B)
  • Johnson & Johnson (Euthymol, Listerine)
  • Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate, Ultra Brite, Tom's of Maine)
  • Unilever (Mentadent, Signal)
  • Sante
  • JASÖN Natural Products
  • Superdrug

How we rate companies for Palm Oil Policy

Companies will receive one of the following ratings in our Palm Oil column on our scorecards:

Worst rating

Companies using no or minimal certified palm products, and with no or minimal positive commitments score a worst rating.

Middle rating

The minimum that needs to be achieved for a middle rating is a fully certified supply chain, or a partially certified supply chain with other positive commitments met, such as disclosure of suppliers.

Best rating

Companies able to demonstrate a fully certified supply chain for all palm ingredients used by the whole company group, and who also declare suppliers and volumes will receive a best rating.

Companies that are palm oil free - using neither palm oil (CPO), palm kernel oil (PKO) nor palm derivatives - will also receive a best rating.

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