Independent Senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, joined with renowned Australian neurosurgeon and Orangutan Foundation International Australia ambassador Dr Charlie Teo AM at the Adelaide Zoo on the 30/8/13 to renew their fight for accurate labelling of palm oil in food products.

The duo share a passion for primate preservation through the Orangutan Foundation’s campaign to preserve tropical rainforests from being devastated by palm oil production.

In 2009 Senator Xenophon introduced a Bill jointly with Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce and Greens Senator Bob Brown to require the accurate labelling of palm oil, which is currently used in 40 per cent of food products.
“I am determined to re-introduce this Bill straight after the election no matter which party is in power,” Nick said. “I want to make sure this is pushed through, because it’s too important to let go.”

Each year hundreds of Orangutans die in Borneo and Sumatra due to land clearing for unsustainably managed palm oil plantations—the equivalent of around 300 football fields are cleared every hour. Experts fear these incredible primates will be extinct in the wild in the next 10 years.

Dr Teo travelled to Kalamantan (Indonesian Borneo) last month as part of his work as ambassador for the Foundation. He was also recently voted Australia’s most trusted person for the third year in a row.

The pair will also launch a business-card sized guide to help consumers decode the many alternative names for palm oil in food and other products.

“This guide won’t be enough on its own, but it highlights how woefully inadequate our food labelling laws are,” said Nick.