The total production of palm oil in 2024 was 80 million metric tons. The food industry makes extensive use of palm oil. From processed packaged food to cooking oils, almost every food item on the market contains palm oil. Despite its widespread use, palm oil has negative health effects (cardiovascular disease) and environmental consequences such as high greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. Palm oil accounts for approximately 10% of the global beauty and hygiene product market due to its low cost to manufacturers and versatile properties. Palm oil is used as an emollient, surfactant, and preservative in skincare and hair care products such as moisturizers, soaps, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, and hair masks. It is listed as sodium lauryl sulfate, cetyl palmitate, palmityl alcohol, and octyl palmitate in these products. These ingredients are derived from palm oil esterification, and research suggests that they promote the formation of microcomedones, which occurs primarily in the early stages of acne, making them comedogenic.
There are deforestation regulations in the US and the EU, but nothing particularly prominent that can drive the palm oil-free movement in the industry. The US recently requested that the EU delay its regulation, “The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR),” which mandates that companies can only sell certain products in the EU if they are “deforestation-free” and legally produced; this was supposed to take effect in December. Due to political pressure from palm oil-producing countries like Indonesia and Malaysia and pressure from the US, the EU has planned to postpone the implementation, but the new timeline has not yet been disclosed.
The personal care brand Cosphatec has introduced Cosphaderm® Propanediol, a novel natural and palm-free ingredient for skin and hair care products made from corn. By inhibiting the growth of bacteria in the formulations, this ingredient serves as an emollient, softener, and preservative.
Despite the availability of substitutes like shea butter and coconut oil, the industry has up until now mostly relied on palm oil because of its low price. While there are palm oil-free and innovative substitute products on the market, their number remains limited. For example, C16 Bioscience (US), a startup company backed up by Bill Gates funding, is creating an oil that mimics palm oil and is called palmless, produced using a particular strain of yeast and sugar from sugarcane. Xylome (US) is also experimenting with yeast fermentation to create a palm oil substitute called Yoil. Thomas Swan (UK) has introduced two new palm-free benzalkonium chloride (BKC) ingredients: Casamed BKC and BKC PF. These ingredients have antimicrobial properties, which means they kill harmful microbes and function as preservatives and active ingredients. Sasol (South Africa) launched a rapeseed oil-based palm oil alternative called NACOL 18-98, which claimed to be a drop-in replacement of palm oil in different formulations.
The sustainability aspect of palm oil is widely debated in the industry. Some companies, such as Nestlé, believe that sustainably sourced palm oil, certified by standards like RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), UEBT (Union for Ethical BioTrade), and RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials), has no harmful effects on human health or skin. However, others argue that palm oil, whether sustainable or not, poses various risks for human consumption and application. It is clear that businesses have begun to experiment with sustainable palm oil and other alternatives, but rather than implementing real changes to replace palm oil in all product lines, the innovation is concentrated more on how the alternative is positioned and labeled. Also, entirely banning palm oil will force formulators to move to oils sourced from coconut, sunflower, or rapeseed. These crops require more land area as compared to palm and might likely lead to deforestation. Eventually, though, the industry would need to focus on labeling transparency and the use of these substitutes, as well as find a genuine, affordable, and scalable alternative.
