The time bomb in our shopping baskets
Philip Barron looks at the palm oil problem
The tangled web of influences that make it so hard to protect the global environment is nowhere better exemplified than in the controversy over palm oil. Found in about one in ten supermarket products, from soaps and detergents to cosmetics and foods, this oil is now so widely used that demand for it has been outstripping sustainable supplies. 
To make matters worse, palm oil is also increasingly in demand as a biofuel for motor vehicles.
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