CRUEL OIL How Palm Oil Harms Health, Rainforest & Wildlife Center for Science in the Public Interest Cruel Oil was written by Ellie Brown, Ph.D., and Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., with information provided from Indonesia by Eric Wakker of AIDEnvironment, Amsterdam. The authors are grateful to numerous old colleagues and new acquaintances for providing insights on the environmental effects of oil palm plantations in southeast Asia and on the health effects of palm oil. Mari Cohen was a great help in doing the initial research. Hannia Campos, Bonnie Liebman, Ronald Mensink, Walter Willett, and others offered useful comments on the health section. Nita Congress designed and provided editorial assistance for this report. Cover design by Debra Brink. Cover photos: The Elephant Sanctuary, www.elephants.com (elephant); Honolulu Zoo, www.honoluluzoo.org (tiger); David Jenike, Cincinnati Zoo, www.cincinnatizoo.org (rhinoceros); and Sumatran Orangutan Society, www.orangutans-sos.org (orangutans). Copyright © 2005 by Center for Science in the Public Interest First Printing: May 2005 Printing: 5 4 3 2 1 The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), founded in 1971, is a nonprofit health-advocacy organization. CSPI conducts innovative research and advocacy programs in the areas of nutrition, food safety, and alcoholic beverages and provides consumers with current information about their own health and well-being. CSPI is supported by the 900,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants. CSPI does not accept funding from government or industry. Center for Science in the Public Interest 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, #300 Washington, DC 20009 Tel: 202-332-9110 Email:
[email protected] Fax: 202-265-4954 Internet: www.cspinet.org iii Cruel oil Contents Executive Summary ..............................................................................