Kellogg, Mars, Unilever eliminate palm oil company's supply from products after sustainability violation

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Mega food and cosmetic companies cancelled contracts with a large supplier of palm oil this week, following allegations that the supplier was not in line with ethical palm oil standards. IOI Group, a Malaysian company that has been under fire for violating international standards of palm oil production that reduces its environmental impact, was kicked out of the body that designates sustainable palm oil companies. Kellogg, Mars and Unilever followed that announcement by saying they would stop sourcing palm oil from IOI Group. A statement from Kellogg said that 67 percent of the volume supplied by IOI and its subsidaries has already been replaced. The rest will be removed over the next 90 days, according to the company. The other companies have more flexible deadlines. -- Molly Harbarger mharbarger@oregonian.com503-294-5923@MollyHarbarger