Replacement palm tree: Europeans urged to treat with understanding the shortage of sunflower oil (Google Translate)
Urgent replacement of sunflower oil with an alternative, such as palm oil, may temporarily not be reflected on product labels, but companies must notify consumers via the Internet
International conflicts have turned into a shortage of sunflower oil for the European Union. That is why more and more manufacturers of cookies, sauces and chips are opting for substitutes.
So, in the Netherlands, oil substitutes are represented by soybean, rapeseed and palm oil. This is reported by the Central Office for Food Trade (CBL), the Dutch Food Industry Federation (FNLI) and MVO, the oils and fats network. Organizations talk about “secondary consequences of the political crisis,” writes Martin van Rossum on www.nieuweoogst.nl.
From the beginning of April, the first products that use vegetable oils other than sunflower oil will appear in Dutch supermarkets, and customers will be notified about this. No concessions are made regarding food safety to alternative oils, and any risks associated with allergens are always mentioned.
The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority has indicated that it understands the exceptional situation and accepts that the information on the packaging (the use of other vegetable oils as an ingredient in a certain product) may temporarily not correspond to the composition of the product.
Similar mechanisms exist in other European countries. Supermarkets will inform customers about the situation with the shortage of sunflower oil and that this applies to some products. For example, through information in stores and on brand websites.
According to CBL, FNLI and MVO, these are very different products. Each manufacturer will select a replacement oil that is most suitable for a given product. This will differ depending on the product. All parties strive to ensure that products can be produced again in their original form as quickly as possible. “But the supply of sunflower oil depends on many factors,” the organizations write in a press statement. — At the moment it is impossible to predict when the situation will return to normal. Therefore, there can be no statements on this matter yet.” (Google Translate).