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Palm Oil Free Toothpaste

Image: blue and white toothpaste on blue and white toothbrush
Jane Turner
By
Jane Turner

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 40 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

Palm oil free companies

  • Georganics
  • NOWA
  • Truthpaste

Best rating for palm oil policy:

  • Lavera

Middle rating for palm oil policy:

  • Green People
  • Kingfisher
  • Dr Organic
  • Aloe Dent
  • Boots

Worst rating for palm oil policy:

  • Lush
  • Weleda
  • A Vogel
  • Urtekram
  • Rapid White
  • Haleon (Corsodyl, Aquafresh, Biotene, Macleans, Poligrip, Sensodyne)
  • Church & Dwight Co Inc. (Pearl Drops, Arm & Hammer)
  • Procter and Gamble (Oral B)
  • Johnson & Johnson (Euthymol, Listerine)
  • Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate, Tom's of Maine)
  • Unilever (Mentadent)
  • JASÖN Natural Products
  • Superdrug

How we rate companies for Palm Oil Policy

Large companies will get the highest rating if they use no palm ingredients at all. If they do use palm ingredients their rating will be better the more of the following criteria they satisfy: 

  • all palm ingredients are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
  • over 50% of their palm ingredients are certified to the more stringent RSPO standards - Segregated or Identity Preserved
  • they list their mills and producers
  • they are not using producers identified as having the most ineffective 'No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation' measures
  • they publish an annual grievance list

Medium and smaller companies can also get higher ratings if they are using organic certified palm ingredients.

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