A comprehensive consumer survey conducted in the UK regarding people's opinions on various vegetable oils identified palm oil as the least environmentally friendly, according to almost 41% of respondents. In comparison, 15% of respondents named soya oil as environmentally unfriendly, rapeseed oil 9%, sunflower oil 5%, and olive oil 2%. It should be noted that 43% of respondents answered "I don't know" to this question, indicating that they were not really sure which oil should be considered environmentally friendly.

Retailers are picking up on the trend, realising that consumer preferences are changing. Manufacturers are attempting to reduce the use of palm oil in shampoos, detergents, chocolate, and biscuits. If you enter "palm-oil free" (palm-oil free) into search engines (such as Google), you will find a very long list of offerings. A significant number of online grocery stores now offer a "palm-oil free" filter.

Why is it that consumers are turning their backs on palm oil? Are these actions and its poor reputation justified?