Trick or (Sustainable Palm Oil) Treat?

If you haven’t noticed, we talk about palm oil a lot during October. That’s because Halloween is known for being the holiday of candy, and a lot of candy contains palm oil. But don’t fret! That doesn’t mean you can’t buy any candy containing palm oil, and you definitely have to be that person passing out carrot sticks and boxes of raisins to trick or treaters (unless that’s your thing).

While yes, the palm oil industry has caused a major crisis for rainforests and critically endangered species around the world, many companies do source their palm oil from sustainable sources. So, you shouldn’t consider all palm oil to be “bad.” Instead, download Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Sustainable Palm Oil Shopping app to learn which products contain sustainable palm oil and which products you should avoid.

But, if you want to go straight to the Halloween candy topic, here’s a quick list of popular candies that have the green dot of sustainability on the palm oil app:

3 Musketeers
Almond Joy and Mounds
Cadbury products
Dove chocolates and candy bars
Ferrero Rocher
Ghirardelli products
Good and Plenty
Heath
Hershey’s products
Jolly Ranchers
Kit Kat
[BREAK]
Lifesavers (gummies and original)
Lindor truffles
Lindt chocolate products
All kinds of M&M’s
Milk Duds
Milky Way
Mr. Goodbar
Reese’s products
Rolo
Skittles
Snickers
Starburst
Take 5
Tic Tacs
Twix
Twizzlers
Whoppers
and last, but certainly not least … York! (my personal favorite)

That’s a pretty solid list! But, if you have a favorite candy that you didn’t see, it may mean they use palm oil from unsustainable sources. Or, perhaps that candy doesn’t contain palm oil at all – you just need to check the ingredients. And when in doubt, look on the Palm Oil Shopping app. The app isn’t just for candy; it’s for all kinds of products from soup to cleaning supplies to pet food to cereal. If you are concerned about rainforests and endangered animals, the best thing you can do is support companies and products that use sustainable methods to produce palm oil and join us in celebrating those who do, while not funding companies that use destructive methods.

Happy Sustainable Halloween!

(Photo by Morgan W.)