Even Pepperidge Farms is switching to including or only using Palm Oil in their entire product line, item by item. Your chocolate uses it. It's in most confections and packaged baked items now.
The problem is, it's bad for you. We've known about Palm Oil for quite a while now. Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Oil and Cocoa Butter are what we created a name to describe for that reason: Tropical Oils. They aren't Cholesterol, so you can use them in a product and still claim "cholesterol-free"-. But we were warned to stay away from "Tropical Oils" for food consumption purposes by the health community, and that was surprisingly scrupulously observed for quite a while, so far as to make the claim to the public on the package: "NO TROPICAL OILS" as a selling point to the health-conscious. Consuming them raises your LDLs (bad cholesterol) just like cholesterol itself does and might even interfere in HDLs (good cholesterol) but, as noted, it isn't counted as cholesterol, so using it is bad for you at the same time they can lie about it
The FDA should require labeling products containing Tropical Oils as CONTAINING Tropical Oils, since the food industry thinks openly going after profits in utter disregard for human health is fashionable again, assuming they ever quit.
In the meantime: READ THE INGREDIENTS in every baked and chocolcate-bearing item you buy, and if you like the product but find it contains Palm Oil or Coconut Oil or Cocoa Butter*, then don't buy it but do write a letter to the company telling them why you've stopped buying their stuff. You are entitled to be pissed off - call it "indignant" in the letter - especially places like Pepperidge Farm that cultivate a reputation based on "quality ingredients."
This ought to make much larger news. So far as I know I'm the only one announcing this as a problem to be watched. That needs to change.
(*) Cocoa Butter is an appropriate ingredient in some confections. Cheesecake is bad for you, but not in moderation: as long as you are aware that you're eating Tropical Oils, you can insure you don't overconsume them. But, READ THE INGREDIENTS - chances are the product you were buying that you thought was healthy has now replaced better oils with PALM OIL. (by omission.)
From WhatIWantToKnow: click here
