Food Without Palm Oil

Updated: October 1st, 2019

Finding popcorn without palm oil is possible. You must be sure to read the labels. As with everything, the less ingredients, the better.

You can always make your own from an air popper or on the stove top. However, it’s great to have the option to buy pre-popped popcorn for convenience, as an easy snack, and when you’re on-the-go.

How to find popcorn without palm oil

Yes, it’s convenient and delicious, but do not buy microwave popcorn as it most always contains palm oil.

Update: See below for one brand of microwave popcorn without palm oil.

Regarding bags of already-popped popcorn, unless you know for certain they’re palm oil free, it’s best to avoid more exotic flavors such as chocolate, cheese, and coated varieties.

Often holiday varieties of popcorn contain palm oil.

Remember, many popcorn brands and flavors contain palm oil derivatives that won’t have the word “palm” in the ingredients.

Common palm oil ingredients in popcorn include:

• Palm oil
• Palm kernel oil
• Medium chain triglycerides
• Tocopherols

Learn about how companies use palm oil so you can find it on labels.

Ask before buying popcorn at movie theaters, sports events, stadiums, and events. They usually contain palm oil.

Please support these choices of palm oil free popcorn.

Popcorn without palm oil

Skinny Pop

• Original
• Sea Salt & Pepper
• Naturally Sweet
• Sea Salt Mini Cakes
• Salted Caramel Mini Cakes
• Cinnamon & Sugar Mini Cakes

Popcorn review: We buy Skinny Pop Original a lot. It’s a great snack for home and on the road.

It only contains Popcorn, Sunflower Oil, and Salt.

The Skinny Pop Mini Cakes are amazing. They are a fun way to eat popcorn in a small version of a rice cake. They are excellent for lunchboxes and snacks.

We regularly buy the Sea Salt, Salted Caramel, and Cinnamon & Sugar Mini Cakes. Sometimes we mix the Sea Salt with one of the other flavors for a sweet and salty mix.

We look forward to buying their other palm oil free flavors when we see them in our local stores.

Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop

• Sea Salt Popcorn
• Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn
• Light Kettle Corn
• Salted Caramel Popcorn
• Buttery Caramel Popcorn

Popcorn review: Ever since Costco started selling Angie’s Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, our family buys several bags monthly. My family and I love this popcorn.

It’s unbelievably great — the perfect blend of sugar and salt. It’s a convenient and healthy sweet treat for our family.

This popcorn, made without palm oil, only contains Popcorn, Sunflower Oil, Cane Sugar, and Sea Salt.

We’ve also had Angie’s Sea Salt Popcorn, which is also delicious.

Do be aware some of their specialty seasonal flavors, like Candy Corn flavored Kettle Corn and Pumpkin Spice Kettle Corn each contain palm oil and palm kernel oil.

Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl

• Classic Cheddah
• Himalayan Pink
• Oh My Ghee!
• Himalayan Sweetness
• Jalapeno ‘n Honey
• Avocado-Licious
• Himalayan Gold

Popcorn review: Look at these flavors! Lesser Evil doesn’t use any palm oil in their popcorn and other snacks.

Their organic popcorn uses quality ingredients. Depending on the flavor, some ingredients include Himalayan salt, organic extra-virgin coconut oil, and/or extra-virgin avocado oil.

Popcornopolis

• Nearly Naked Popcorn
• Caramel Corn
• Kettle Corn

Popcorn review: We enjoy the large bag of Popcornopolis’s Nearly Naked Popcorn when we see it at Costco. Unfortunately, it’s not always available. We buy it when it is.

This popcorn is delicious and very flavorful. There are few kernels at the bottom of the bag. My kids, husband and I all love it.

Hopefully, Popcornopolis will include their ingredients on their website soon. Because they aren’t listed, and we aren’t able to find all of their flavors in stores, we can’t cross-reference their ingredients to check for palm oil.

We were only able to verify the ones above.

Via email, Popcornopolis confirmed these popcorn flavors below are free from palm oil. Again, do your own due diligence and read labels.

• Nearly Naked Popcorn
• Almond Caramel
• Caramel Corn
• Cheddar Cheese
• Cinnamon Toast
• Fifty Fifty Popcorn
• Jalapeno Cheddar
• Cupcake
• Kettle Corn
• Lemon Heaven
• Pecan Caramel
• Red Velvet
• White Cheddar

Simple Truth

• Organic Sea Salt & Black Pepper Popcorn
• Kettle Popcorn
• Organic Low Sodium Popcorn

Popcorn review: We’ve tried Simple Truth Organic Low Sodium Popcorn and love it. This is also something we purchase when we are on road trips and going to friends’ homes.

Simple Truth is a Kroger brand, with organic and non-organic lines. While it’s not available everywhere, we were able to purchase this popcorn at Kroger-owned stores.

Please support these flavors of popcorn without palm oil. Let companies know you want products without it.

See our post which lists Palm Oil Free Products in different categories.

Microwave popcorn contains palm oil

Remember, you must avoid microwave popcorn unless you buy this one brand from Quinn as explained below. Otherwise, every single brand we researched contains palm oil or palm kernel oil.

If you look at the ingredients in stores, you will see this for yourself.

Microwave popcorn without palm oil

Quinn Snacks Microwave Popcorn

• Real Butter & Sea Salt
• Vermont Maple Kettle Corn
• White Cheddar
• Just Sea Salt
• Aged Parmesan & Rosemary
• Real Butter Tastes Better Truffle Butter
• Real Butter Tastes Better Butter & Sea Salt

We are grateful to Quinn Snacks for being so innovative with their microwave popcorn. We appreciate them using such quality ingredients.

(Be sure sure read labels and buy the ones above. Their Real Butter Tastes Better Extra Butter contains organic red palm oil. Note it is organic, fair trade and sustainable.)

Pre-made popcorn at events

If you are at the movie theater or sports venue, etc., you will have to ask about the ingredients. We usually avoid it unless we speak to the manager. It might contain palm oil. Additionally, it is likely to contain many artificial ingredients.

Make homemade popcorn palm free

While at home, you can make homemade popcorn. It doesn’t take long, especially if you have an air popper. Then, you can add your own salt, butter, cheese or caramel creations, knowing exactly what it is.

We use a Hamilton Beach Hot Air Popcorn Popper. It’s simple enough for my kids to use, fast, and pops practically all the kernels.

Popcorn oil

Look for sunflower oil, safflower oil, and coconut oil popcorn.

Butter popcorn

When you are looking for palm oil free popcorn, you need to carefully read the labels for butter popcorn.

Many times, you will see ingredients such as tocopherols, and/or medium chain triglycerides. These typically contain palm oil.

Palm oil free popcorn

Popcorn is a healthy snack. Plain, it’s low in calories and fun to eat. Snacks without palm oil.

When you are at the store, just remember to read all labels. Look for simple ingredients such as popcorn, coconut oil, and salt so you know what you are getting.

Many times, the label won’t spell out “palm oil” but it still may contain palm oil derivatives.

We have reached out to these companies to confirm their popcorn is made without palm oil. We continue to update with post as companies return our emails.

Please support these brands and flavors of palm oil free popcorn.

See our other lists, including candy without palm oil and pretzels without palm oil.

Know that while we work very hard to live without palm oil, we aren’t food scientists or medical professionals. We gathered this information by researching popcorn in stores and online; reaching out to manufacturers; and learning all we can about the names for palm oil. Please always read ingredient labels when you are looking for popcorn without palm oil. This list is meant for reference only.

If you know of other brands, please let us know in the Comments. Why do you avoid palm oil? It it getting harder to find palm oil free options?

Updated: September 9th, 2019

The snack market continues to expand. Consumers routinely buy processed and packaged snacks. If you are looking for snacks without palm oil, we update this list regularly.

Here’s a list of easy, palm oil free snacks, especially in categories in which companies use palm oil often. Many are grab and go. Thank you for being an educated consumer!

Palm oil free snacks

Toward the bottom is a list of snacks that usually don’t contain palm oil and are typically safe snacks for people who are avoiding palm products.

Brownies without palm oil

What to look for: You might get lucky with so-called healthier brands, but brownies without palm oil are difficult to find.

• Nature’s Bakery Double Chocolate Brownie

Be sure to choose Nature’s Bakery’s non-organic brownies. Their organic brownies contain palm oil, palm oil derivatives, and more ingredients overall than their regular, non-organic brownies listed above.

For more sweet treats, see desserts without palm oil. Sweet biscuits, packaged pastries, packaged cakes, and bakery snacks usually contain palm oil.

Chocolate and candy

Definitely read ingredients before you purchase. In addition to palm oil and palm kernel oil, manufacturers use tocopherols, mono- and di-glycerides, magnesium stearate, glycerin, and other palm oil derivatives.

We researched a list of Halloween candy without palm oil. You can choose palm free brands all year. Please check it out.

Cereal for a snack

Ready-to-eat cereal makes a great snack but it’s a challenge to find it without palm oil.

What to look for: It’s difficult to find them without palm oil because they are typically fortified with Vitamin A Palmitate.

Even granola often contains glycerin, glycerine, and/or tocopherols, all which are often made from palm oil.

We found one brand, Purely Elizabeth, which makes granola without it. They use pure ingredients in all of their products. You can find their products at Target, Kroger-owned stores, and more.

For a list of specific brands and flavors, see our list of cereal without palm oil. There are some Post and Kashi cereals without it.

Chips without palm oil

This is one category in which you should be able to find palm oil free snacks. Take a few moments to read labels, and choose the palm free option.

What to look out for: Avoid canned chips and snacks. They often contain palm oil, palm kernel oil, and mono- and diglycerides, which are typically made from palm oil.

Some chips without palm oil include:

• Cheetos Crunchy
• Cheetos Puffs
• Mission Tortilla Rounds
• Sensible Portions:
  • Garden Veggie Straws – Sea Salt
  • Garden Veggie Chips – Sea Salt

See below for potato chips.

We are in the process of researching and adding to this list. Please check back often as we will have more options to look choose from.

Cookies

What to look for: Look for crunchy and not chewy cookies. Both non-organic and organic store-bought cookies usually contain palm oil. Manufacturers introduce new flavors often. They typically contain palm oil.

See our list of cookies without palm oil and the ingredients to watch out for.

Crackers without palm oil

What to look for: Read labels. You will see “palm oil” in many crackers now. In addition, watch for mono- and diglycerides and DATEM.

Even saltine-type crackers use these ingredients. Buttery-type crackers do as well.

Here are some palm oil free crackers:

• Nabisco Triscuit:
  • Original
  • Whole Wheat Original
  • Reduced Fat
  • Original Organic
  • Thin Crisps Sweet Potato & Cinnamon

We will be researching more palm oil free crackers.

Fruit and vegetable chips

What to look for: These make for great snacks without palm oil. However, the only ingredients should be the fruit or vegetable. Any other ingredients should be ones you recognize, such as cane sugar, sea salt, etc.

• Bare Fruit Chips: Here’s a sample of their flavors without palm oil.
  • Apple Chips
    • Fuji & Reds Apple Chips
    • Cinnamon Apple Chips
  • Banana Chips
    • Simply Banana Chips
    • Cinnamon Banana Chips
  • Coconut Chips
    • Toasted Coconut Chips
    • Chocolate Coconut Chips
  • Vegetable
    • Sea Salt Carrot Chips
    • Salt & Vinegar Beet Chips

Fruit snacks and fruit strips without palm oil

What to look for: Many chewy foods contain palm in the form of glycerin, glycerine, glyceryl, and glycol. Avoid these ingredients completely because there’s no way of knowing if they are made with palm oil.

• Kirkland Signature Organic Fruity Snacks
• Stretch Island Organic Fruit Strips: Grape, Strawberry, Tropical

Ice cream

What to look for: Read labels; don’t just buy what’s on sale.

• Ben & Jerry’s: all flavors

See our post Ice Cream without Palm Oil for additional brands and flavors.

Nut butter

Peanut and nut butters make a great on-the-go snack when it’s in its own container or pouch. At home, nut butters are easy to pair with apples, celery or toast.

What to look for: Peanut butter is another case when organic is not usually better. Most all of the store-brand, organic peanut butter at our local grocery store contains palm oil.

• Wild Friends Nut Butter + Oats: Almond Cashew; Peanut Cashew; Almond Cranberry; Peanut Blueberry

See our list of peanut butter without palm oil. (There are some grab-and-go nut butters on this list as well.)

Popcorn

What to look for: Buy already-popped or popcorn kernels. Completely avoid microwave popcorn unless you buy the palm oil free flavors from Quinn Snacks. Most of their flavors are palm-free.

It was a nice surprise to see the iconic Cracker Jack is still made without palm oil. Even their Holiday Sugar Cookie Popcorn is palm oil free. (Many holiday versions mean more ingredients which means a greater likelihood the snack will contain palm oil.)

These are brands that offer some palm free snack options:

• Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop
• Cracker Jack
  
• Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Organic Popcorn 
• Skinny Pop
• Quinn Snacks: Most of their microwavable flavors are free from palm oil which makes them a convenient snack.

• Lay’s Potato Chips
  • Classic
  • Salt & Vinegar

What to look for:  Many gluten-free and regular pretzels contain tocopherols and/or DATEM, palm oil derivatives.  Watch out for yogurt-covered and chocolate-covered and other flavors which have more ingredients. Also, be aware of Halloween versions in the small packs. Depending on the company, it may contain palm oil.

You should be able to find these snacks palm oil free so be sure to read labels before purchasing.

This post lists pretzels without palm oil.

Protein Meat Snacks

What to look for: Many shelf-stable meat and jerky products contain palm oil derivatives. Unless you contact the company, you won’t know if the citric acid, flavorings, and spices are derived from palm oil.

Epic Bar makes all of their meat snacks without palm oil.

• Epic Bar
  • Snack Strips:
    • Wagyu Beef Steak Strip
    • Smoked Salmon Maple
    • Turkey Cranberry Sage
    • Venison Sea Salt + Pepper
  • Bites:
    • Sweet Savory Bison & Uncured Bacon
    • Hickory Smoked Bacon
    • Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Beef
    • Sweet Sesame Ginger Chicken
    • Beef Liver
    • Maple Glazed & Smoked Salmon
    • Savory Herb Blend Turkey
    • Sweet Maple Uncured Bacon & Pork
    • Original Hunter’s Recipe: Tender Venison Steak
  • Pork Skins:
    • Sea Salt Pepper Rinds
    • Texas BBQ Pork Rinds
    • Maple Bacon Pork Cracklings
    • Himalayan Sea Salt Rinds
    • Chili Lime Rinds
  • Hunt & Harvest Mix:
    • Berry Blossom
    • Coconut Carnivore
    • Honey Harvest
    • Mountain Medley
    • Bacon Lust
  • Bits:
    • Hickory Bacon
    • Chicken Sesame
    • Maple Bacon

Puffs

• Lesser Evil Grain Free Paleo Puffs
  • “No Cheese” Cheesiness
  • Himalayan Pink Salt
  • Apple Cider Vinegar

Snack bars

What to look for: Avoid protein, nutrition, and snack bars with chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, fillings, and coatings as these typically contain palm oil. Most chewy bars use palm oil. Some crunchy snack bars do not, especially if they are fruit-flavored.

Look for nutritional type bars which use figs or dates to bind their ingredients instead of palm oil ingredients.

Glycerin, glycerine and tocopherols are common in snack bars. They are typically made with palm oil.

A special shout out to Enjoy Life Foods, first in the US to have their snack line of Grain & Seed Bars and four flavors of their Protein Bites to be certified as palm oil free.

• Enjoy Life Foods
  • Grain & Seed Bars (all flavors)
    • Chocolate Marshmallow
    • Banana Caramel
    • Maple Sweet Potato
    • Cranberry Orange
  • Protein Bites Chocolate (in these flavors)
    • Dipped Banana
    • Dark Raspberry
    • Cinnamon Spice
    • Sunseed Butter

Companies which make their bars without palm oil include:

• Honey Bunchies – These peanut and pecan honey bars are palm oil free.
• RXBAR – All of their products are palm oil free.

For specific brands and flavors, see our post with an extensive list of snack bars and granola bars without palm oil.

Snacks without palm oil

Usually these types of kid-friendly snacks do not contain palm oil. Remember, the less processed, the better.

• Applesauce
• Cheese
• Dried fruit: Look for packages that only contain one fruit and not a mix. Read the ingredients and look for fruit only. Watch for oils
• Fresh fruit: Wash citrus fruit thoroughly; they can be coated in palm oil ingredients.
• Fruit-squeeze pouches
• Nuts, especially if it’s just one type of nut. Added salt is okay but there shouldn’t be other ingredients.
• Rice cakes
• Yogurt: Look for natural yogurts with live and active cultures. (Yogurt-covered fruit and nuts typically contain palm oil.)

Support snack products, brands and flavors that don’t use any palm oil. You will make a difference. See our ultimate list palm oil free products for more choices.

Snacking industry

The snack industry is $605 billion globally. Consumers snack regularly.

One trend in snacking is consumers are replacing meals with snacks. Consumers want exciting flavors with “fresh” packaging with clean labels and healthy and natural ingredients.

Snack companies are using alternative ingredients, including many plant-derived and plant-based ingredients. Know that these can contain palm oil.

Read labels to find snacks without palm oil

There are certain categories of foods and snacks in which palm oil ingredients are prevalent so always read labels.

As with everything, less ingredients is better. Foods usually taste better too. Also, companies change ingredients frequently. Sometimes you will see the exact same product on the shelf with different ingredients.

We are updating this list of palm oil free snacks regularly.

Please note, snack manufacturers change ingredients and vendors regularly. This is meant for reference purposes only. Please read ingredient labels at the point of purchase before buying snacks and processed foods. This list is not guaranteed and is meant as a starting point. Let companies know you support foods without palm oil.

What are your favorite palm oil free snacks? Please list them in the Comments.

 

 

Updated: October 12th, 2019

If you are looking for palm oil free peanut butter, you know it can be difficult.

Companies use “No Stir” labels as a marketing strategy. They add palm oil so the peanut butter spreads easily. Many larger companies who label their peanut butter as “organic” and “all natural” use palm oil.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated that palm oil is not a healthy substitute for trans-fats, yet palm oil consumption continues to rise.

Peanut butter without palm oil

We love when industry leaders keep their products free from palm oil. Here is a list of peanut butter without palm oil ingredients.

Wild Friends

Congratulations to Wild Friends Foods, the first nut butter company in the world to become Certified Palm Oil Free. ALL of their nut butter products are made without palm oil or palm oil derivatives.

The International Palm Oil Free Certification guarantees the products have been thoroughly researched, right back to the sources. Learn more.

Look at all of these choices of peanut butter without palm oil:

Wild Friends Peanut Butter

• Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter
• Chocolate Protein Peanut Butter
• Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter
• Classic Creamy Peanut Butter
• Gingerbread Peanut Butter
• Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter
• Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter
• Sugar Cookie Peanut Butter
• Vanilla Protein Peanut Butter

Wild Friends Almond Butter

• Chocolate Almond Butter
• Classic Creamy Almond Butter
• Vanilla Espresso Almond Butter

Wild Friends Sunflower Butter

• Organic Honey Sunflower Butter
• Organic Maple Sunflower Butter

Wild Friends Super Butter

• Almond Cashew Super Butter
• Peanut Cashew Super Butter

Wild Friends Collagen Nut Butters

These are their newest palm oil free peanut butter and almond butter products:

• Vanilla Collagen Peanut Butter
• Chocolate Collagen Peanut Butter
• Vanilla Collagen Almond Butter

For most of the above products, Wild Friends also offers single serve packs.

Move over Nutella! Now there is palm oil free: Wild Friends Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Their Hazelnut Spread without palm oil is one of their newest products.

Wild Friends Oats and Nut Butter

These are also Palm Oil Free certified:

• Peanut Cashew Nut Butter + Oats
• Peanut Blueberry Nut Butter + Oats
• Almond Cashew Nut Butter + Oats
• Almond Cranberry Nut Butter + Oats

We regularly buy the following and love them:

• In jars: Chocolate Almond Butter; Classic Creamy Peanut Butter; Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter
• Single serving packs: Organic Honey Sunflower Butter; Vanilla Almond Butter

Spread the Love Foods

We love that Spread the Love advertises on their website: No palm fruit oil.

They also advertise this on their labeling. It’s so important to tell consumers to look for this feature!

It’s also Non-GMO and made in small batches.

Spread the Love’s Peanut Butter

• Naked Organic Peanut Butter
• Naked Crunch Organic Peanut Butter

Their almond butter is made in a peanut-free facility!

Spread the Love’s Almond Butter

• Unsalted Almond Butter
• Unsalted Crunch Almond Butter

Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter Co.

For over 100 years, Crazy Richard’s has been an additive-free peanut butter. Their peanut butter ingredients are simple and don’t include salt or sugar… just peanuts!

Additionally, they recognize that hydrogenated palm oil isn’t a good thing.

We’ve used Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter in recipes, and it’s very easy to mix.

Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter

• Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
• Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter

Crazy Richard’s Almond Butter

Ingredients: Almonds

Crazy Richard’s Cashew Butter

Ingredients: Dry-Roasted Cashews and Sunflower Oil

Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily tips to avoid palm oil.

Teddie Natural Peanut Butter

Teddie’s products are free from sweeteners, oils as well as anything artificial. The peanuts are grown in the United States and are Non GMO.

In addition, they use simple ingredients: Peanuts. Some contain salt. Others flaxseed. At most, there are three ingredients… that’s it! You can find this peanut butter at Target, Walmart, Safeway,  ShopRite, and more.

Teddie All Natural

• Smooth
• Smooth Unsalted
• Super Chunky
• Super Chunky Unsalted
• Smooth with Flaxseed
• Chunky with Flaxseed

Teddie Organic All Natural

• Smooth
• Creamy

Kroger Natural Peanut Butter

A reader made a suggestion in the Comments about Kroger’s Natural Peanut Butter as being palm oil free and an inexpensive option.

They don’t add oils, stabilizers, preservatives, or sugars. Their Natural Peanut Butter line contains only two ingredients: Roasted Peanuts and Salt.

Easy-to-find at Kroger stores, this is an accessible brand.

In addition, in the past we’ve contacted Kroger about some of their other products. We asked them about the source of some of their ingredients.

While most large companies avoid answering questions about palm oil, Kroger took extra steps to get us the information we asked for and were transparent about it. They asked their product development teams for the answers. They went above and beyond what other large companies have done.

Kroger Natural Peanut Butter

• Crunchy
• Creamy

RX Nut Butter

RXBAR has confirmed with us 100% of their products are made without palm oil or palm oil derivatives.

While they are known for their bars, now they are making peanut butter without palm oil. Their RX Nut Butter is available in 1.13 ounce pouches.

RX Nut Butter — Honey Cinnamon Nut Butter

Ingredients are Peanuts, Egg Whites, Dates, Coconut Oil, Honey, Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors.

Peanut Butter

The ingredients are Peanuts, Egg Whites, Dates, Coconut Oil, Sea Salt.

Almond butter without palm oil

RX Nut Butter — Vanilla Almond Butter

Also, they offer Vanilla Almond Butter without palm oil. The ingredients are Almonds, Egg Whites, Dates, Coconut Oil, Sea Salt, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Vanilla Beans, Natural Flavor.

Maple Almond Butter

The palm oil-free ingredients are Almonds, Egg Whites, Dates, Coconut Oil, Maple Sugar, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors.

Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s Organic Peanut Butter Creamy (Salted or No Salt) Valencia

Ingredients: Organic Valencia Peanuts. The salted version contains Sea Salt.

Trader Joe’s Organic Peanut Butter Crunchy (Salted or No Salt) Valencia

Contains: Organic Valencia Peanuts. Salted version contains Sea Salt.

Watch out for their other lines with “no-stir” labeling which means they most likely contain palm oil.

Whole Foods 365

Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Creamy Peanut Butter

Ingredients are Dry Roasted Peanuts and Salt.

Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Crunchy Peanut Butter

Contains Dry Roasted Peanuts and Salt.

Avoid the organic peanut butter from Whole Foods 365 as it typically contains palm oil.

O Organics

O Organics Chunky Peanut Butter

Ingredients are Peanuts and Salt.

Be aware of their Creamy peanut butter with the “no stir” labeling and palm oil.

Skippy

While there are hydrogenated oils in these products which are controversial, our focus is on palm oil free peanut butter.

Remember, it’s important for the Everyday Consumer to be able to find an easily accessible, industry-leading brand who doesn’t use palm oil in some of their products.

Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter

and Skippy Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter

Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, and Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed, Soybean and Rapeseed Oil) to prevent separation, Salt.

Skippy Honey Roasted Nut Creamy

Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts, Peanut Oil, Honey, Sugar, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed, Soybean and Rapeseed Oil) to prevent separation, Molasses, Salt.

Skippy Singles Creamy

Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Cottonseed, Soybean and Rapeseed Oil) to prevent separation, Salt.

Note: Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy and Reduced Fat Super Chunk do contain Mono- and Diglycerides. We avoid them because they CAN be manufactured using palm ingredients.

Also note: All of Skippy’s Natural Peanut Butter Spreads contain palm oil.

Choosing palm oil free peanut butter

Thank you to these companies for making these lines of peanut butter without palm oil.

We looked at lists of alternate names for palm oil derivatives — there are over 500 names. To the best of our knowledge, the ones listed above are palm oil free.

We are in the process of contacting these peanut butter manufacturers to confirm their peanut butters are palm oil free. We will continue to update when we hear back from them.

How to find peanut butter without palm oil

1.) Avoid “no stir” labeling.

Peanut butter companies who use palm oil may highlight “no stir” on their labels. They are trying to make it seem like it’s a good thing.

This means there aren’t oils to keep it together; the fat from the peanuts naturally separate to the top. This is okay. You just have to mix it.

We await the day when marketing for peanut butter and other products includes “no palm oil” labeling as industry-wide advertising.

See all the work the International Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Programme is doing to highlight palm oil free products with their “No Palm Oil” Certification labeling.

As stated above, Wild Friends earned this certification for making nut butters and peanut butter without palm oil.

In addition, Spread the Love promotes “Palm Oil Free” on their labels, recognizing the significance of this.

2.) Watch out for Mono- and Diglycerides.

These ingredients are typically made from palm oil. They are emulsifiers that manufacturers use to stabilize foods, such as peanut butter, mayonnaise, ice cream, baked goods, margarine, and others.

In nut butters, companies use mono- and diglycerides to prevent the oils from separating.

3.) Read all ingredient labels.

You might think because it’s advertised as “natural” or “organic” that it’s superior to labels without these claims. These natural and organic peanut and nut butters often contain palm oil.

4.) Look for peanut butter that needs to be refrigerated.

When there are hydrogenated oils added to peanut butter, it increases shelf-life and doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

5.) The less ingredients, the better.

When you have peanuts and salt, what more do you need? You won’t miss added sugar when you have your PB&J.

Even better? Eat it with already-sweet fruit or mix in some honey.

Palm oil free peanut butter

In addition to finding peanut butter without palm oil, we enjoy other palm oil free products. Check out:

• Granola bars without palm oil
• Cookies without palm oil
• Cereals without palm oil
• Pretzels without palm oil
• Snacks without palm oil

Enjoy peanut butter as part of a breakfast without palm oil.

Peanut butter no palm oil

We are happy to be able to find peanut butter without palm oil and hope these companies keep these products free from palm.

Remember, always check labels. Companies are adding palm oil to their products all the time. It’s a cheap and versatile oil.

Many of our once-favorite products have started using palm oil; it’s even in beverages.

Reach out to companies to let them know you want them to make their peanut butter and other products without palm oil.

Best peanut butter

Many companies include palm oil in peanut butter. Avoid NO STIR labeling. Read labels.

We believe in choosing products without palm oil and are happy to find palm free peanut butter. We think it’s the best peanut butter for our planet.

Whether you experience allergic reactions from palm oil, believe you have a palm oil intolerance, or avoid it for environmental reasons, it’s a good choice to choose peanut butter without palm oil.

Remember to support these nut butters, protein spreads, and peanut butter brands without palm oil. Also, support Palm Oil Free labeling.

Please share in the Comments why you seek these products. If you know of any other brands of no palm oil peanut butter, please make a Comment as well.

Note, we are not medical professionals. This is not medical advice. Please consult with your physician. The information is based on our own Internet research, reading labels in stores, and reaching out to companies. Use this as a reference point. This list is not guaranteed.

Remember, it’s essential to read the ingredients before you buy anything. 

Updated: October 1st, 2019

You have to really read labels to find protein, nutrition and granola bars without palm oil.

Watch out for glycerin, glycerine, and tocopherols. Avoid ‘filled’ bars. Also, chewy bars typically contain palm oil.

Remember, the less ingredients something has, the less likely it contains palm oil. Don’t be swayed by packaging.

Pay particular attention to companies who come out with new flavors. These bars often contain palm oil ingredients.

After cross-referencing their ingredients against hundreds of names of palm oil derivatives, these nutrition bars and granola bars do not have any palm oil ingredients.

We continue to contact the companies to confirm and update when we hear back from them.

Granola bars without palm oil

Enjoy Life Foods Crispy Grain & Seed Bars:

• Chocolate Marshmallow
• Banana Caramel
• Cranberry Orange
• Maple Sweet Potato

Enjoy Life Foods Protein Bites:

• Dark Raspberry
• Dipped Banana
• Sunseed Butter
• Cinnamon Spice

What’s great about Enjoy Life Foods: They are the first company in the United States in the “Free From” category to earn Palm Oil Free Certification from the International Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Programme (POFCAP) for all four flavors of their Grain & Seed Bars.

Learn about this Accreditation Programme here.

Enjoy Life Foods also earned this important Palm Oil Free certification trademark for four flavors of their Protein Bites.

RXBAR:

• Apple Cinnamon
• Blueberry
• Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Sea Salt
• Coconut Chocolate 
• Coffee Chocolate
• Mango Pineapple
• Maple Sea Salt
• Mint Chocolate
• Mixed Berry
• Peanut Butter
• Peanut Butter Chocolate
• Pumpkin Spice (seasonal)
• Chocolate Hazelnut
• Peanut Butter & Berries

RXBAR KIDS:

• Chocolate Chip
• Berry Blast
• Apple Cinnamon Raisin
• Double Chocolate
• Peanut Butter Chocolate
• PB&J

What’s great about RXBAR:  They use dates to bind their ingredients instead of palm oil like other companies do. They list their ingredients on the front of each package.

RXBAR confirms these bars are made without palm oil.

In this day and age when most companies use palm oil and palm oil derivatives, it is amazing RXBAR does not. All of their products are palm oil-free, including all of their new flavors.

We hope they will promote this on their packaging and on their website.

Honey Bunchies Gourmet Honey Bar

What’s great about Honey Bunchies: Their bar is made with honey, peanuts, pecans and sunflower kernels.

Honey Bunchies confirmed they don’t use palm oil or palm oil derivatives in any way, shape or form! You can find them online or at Natural Grocers and Sprouts Farmer’s Market.

Van’s Foods:

• Gluten Free Cranberry Almond Snack Bars

Larabar Kid:

• Chocolate Brownie

KIND Snacks KIND Bars:

• Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt
• Honey Roasted Nuts & Sea Salt
• Madagascar Vanilla Almond
• Raspberry Cashew & Chia
• Almond & Apricot
• Apple Cinnamon & Pecan  
• Fruit & Nut
• Peanut Butter & Strawberries  

 KIND Sweet & Spicy bars:

• Roasted Jalapeno

Pressed by KIND Fruit Bars:

• Cherry Apple Chia
• Mango Apple Chia
• Pineapple Banana Kale Spinach
• Strawberry Apple Cherry Chia

KIND Fruit Bites:

• Strawberry Cherry Apple
• Cherry Apple
• Mango Pineapple Apple

What’s great about KIND: They have many palm oil free options in a variety of flavors and types/textures.

Their products above do not contain palm oil, palm kernel oil, glycerine, glycerol, tocopherols or any ingredients derived from palm.

Be sure to read the ingredients to confirm you are buying KIND’s palm-free bars. It seems many of their new bars contain palm oil derivatives. Read labels!

(Despite many emails over several months to follow up, we are waiting for confirmation from our KIND contact to confirm the source of some of their ingredients.)

Clif Kid Organic Z Bar:

• Caramel Chocolate
• Chocolate Brownie
• Chocolate Chip
• Iced Oatmeal Cookie
• Iced Lemon Cookie
• S’mores

What’s great about Clif Kid Zbar: Clif Kid Zbar continues to make these bars with other ingredients besides palm oil.

My kids love them and have been eating them for over six years. We buy boxes of them every month.

It was great to see Clif made their new Clif Kid ZBar Caramel Chocolate bar without palm oil.

Anymore, it seems when companies make new products, they are resorting to using palm oil. Instead, this bar include organic fig paste and organic high oleic sunflower oil.

A Consumer Care Representative from Clif Bar & Company confirmed their bars above are free from palm oil.

Please note, their new “filled” bars and their kid’s line of “protein” bars DO contain palm oil as do most of this companies’ other products and bars.

To the best of our knowledge, the bars above are the only ones Clif makes without palm oil. We are awaiting comment from Clif Bar & Company.

Purely Elizabeth:

Also certified gluten-free and vegan, Purely Elizabeth offers Grain-Free SuperBar in these flavors:

• Chocolate Sea Salt
• Coconut Cashew
• Peanut Butter
• Banana Nut Butter (Purely Elizabeth has confirmed the Citric Acid is not from palm oil.)

What’s great about Purely Elizabeth: They have confirmed they make these products and an extensive line of additional products without palm ingredients.

See them highlighted in our list of granola without palm oil.

Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars:

• Oats ‘n Dark Chocolate 
• Oats ‘n Honey 
• Maple Brown Sugar

We are reaching out to Nature Valley to find out if their other Crunchy granola bars are made without palm oil ingredients.

(My son, who gets sick from palm oil, has tried and regularly enjoys the Dark Chocolate and Oats ‘n Honey.)

Simply Balanced Chewy Granola Bars:

• Apple Berry Flavored (Organic)

We have not yet heard back from Simply Balanced (Target brand) to confirm this flavor of granola bar is free from palm oil.

We have checked the ingredients, and it seems these bars are made without palm oil.

(Note, my son has been able to eat these bars. However, read the label at the point of purchase — companies often change ingredients — to be sure the ingredients are palm free.)

Finding granola bars without palm oil

Palm oil ingredients go by hundreds of names which often makes them difficult to avoid and eliminate.

However, there are the easy ingredients to spot, those with the word “palm” in it, including:

• Palm oil
• Palm kernel oil
• Vegetable oil (palm)
• Vitamin A Palmitate 

However, there are derivatives which are often made with palm oil which are more difficult to know to look for.

Unless the company lists the source, you won’t know unless you contact them.

In granola and other bars, these ingredients most often contain palm oil.

• Glycerin
• Glycerine 
• Glycerol: This ingredient is usually made with palm, sometimes soybean
• Tocopherols: This ingredient can be used as a synthetic Vitamin E supplement or to preserve freshness in foods like granola or fruit bars, cereals, ice cream, and baked goods.
• Vegetable oil:  Sometimes it will be listed as “Vegetable oil (palm)” and sometimes it will be just listed as generic “Vegetable oil.”

Homemade granola bars without palm oil

If you want to ensure you are not using palm oil ingredients, you can make bars yourself. There are many recipes online. It’s easy to mix in dried fruit, like raisins and cranberries. If you enjoy nuts, you can add these in along with palm-free chocolate chips, etc.

However, sometimes, we need a fast and easy, grab-and-go snack, which is why it’s great when we can buy bars without palm oil.

Granola bars are an easy go-to snack

Granola bars aren’t perishable so they are the perfect snack to put in a lunch bag or to send as a snack to school. They are great for road trips and for outings, really anywhere you need to send a snack. Many consumers enjoy them for breakfast.

Granola, nutrition, fruit and protein bars without palm oil ingredients

Always read labels. Know there are hundreds of alternate names for palm oil ingredients. Please do your best to support these companies and products so they can remain palm-free.

If you get sick from palm oil or you are avoiding palm oil for environmental reasons, you know how difficult it is to find granola bars without palm oil.

Nutrition and granola bars without palm oil ingredients

It’s difficult to find palm-free foods in the dessert and processed foods categories. That’s why we really consider it a big win when we find packaged foods without palm ingredients that we know we can eat safely.

Here’s how to find products without palm oil.

See our lists of snacks without palm oil; cookies without palm oil; and candy without palm oil. You can learn how to have breakfast without palm oil.

As always, please support companies and brands who don’t use any palm oil ingredients and the hundreds of names they go by.

You know how difficult it is to find protein bars and other bars without palm oil and related palm ingredients.

Please, if you know of other nutrition bars and granola bars without palm oil, help us all by listing them in the Comments. We’ll add them to this list. Thank you!

We are not medical professionals. This is not medical advice. Please consult with your physician. The information is based on our own Internet research and reading labels to compare ingredients against the hundreds of names for palm oil derivatives.

We have also reached out to each of these companies, specifically asking them about each product and asking questions to confirm ingredients. 

Thank you for being proactive and for read labels. By choosing the palm oil-free bars, we will be making a difference. Please list any palm oil free bars or any other helpful information in the Comments below.

Updated: October 1st, 2019

Many people are surprised to learn how prevalent palm oil ingredients are in breakfast cereal.

It continues to be difficult to find ready-to-eat cereals without palm oil ingredients. While many list “palm oil” in the ingredients, a great many others fortify their cereals with Vitamin A Palmitate, a palm oil derivative.

Vitamin A Palmitate in cereal

An easy way to tell if palm oil is in your cereal is to look at how much Vitamin A is in it. If it’s 10% or greater, it most often contains synthetic Vitamin A.

Then you can quickly look for Vitamin A Palmitate in the ingredients.

Cereal boxes used to list Vitamin A first in their nutrition panel. Now, many companies are putting Vitamin A in the middle making it less easy to spot. Be aware of this!

There are other palm oil ingredients in cereal to watch for which we explain below.

We emailed each of these cereal companies to confirm their cereals are palm oil free. We continue to update this list as we hear back from them.

Also, we continue to add to this list as we learn of additional cereal brands and products. Check back regularly.

Cereals without palm oil

After researching cereals in several grocery stores, including industry-leading cereals and many healthier brands, we’ve found these cereals without palm oil.

Kashi:

Thanks to Kashi who reviewed their processing aids and double-checked with all of their suppliers, including the ones who provide their natural flavors. They’ve confirmed these Kashi products are 100% free from palm oil derivatives.

Kashi 7 Whole Grain:

• Flakes Cereal
• Honey Puffs Cereal
• Puffs Cereal
• Pilaf

Whole Wheat Biscuits:

• Autumn Wheat
• Island Vanilla

GOLEAN Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal

Kashi Organic Strawberry Fields Cereal

(Be sure to read Kashi labels. We were disappointed to learn all three of their new Kashi by Kids cereals contain palm oil.)

Kellogg’s Raisin Bran

This is a rare ready-to-eat cereal that is palm oil free. Check the ingredient label before you buy it to be sure it doesn’t contain Vitamin A Palmitate, Vegetable Glycerin, or Palm Oil.

The Raisin Bran Crunch lists “palm oil” in the ingredients.

Some of Kellogg’s other Raisin Bran varieties contain Vegetable Glycerin and Vitamin A Palmitate. So double-check you are buying “regular” Raisin Bran before you buy.

Be sure you are buying Kellogg’s Raisin Bran and not Post’s Raisin Bran. Their boxes are similar! Post Raisin Bran contains Vitamin A Palmitate.”

Quaker Life Cereal

Original:

• Cinnamon
• Pumpkin Spice
• Vanilla

Quaker:

• Puffed Rice
• Puffed Wheat
• Corn Crunch
• Quisp (Some versions contain Tocopherols; check the label. Don’t buy it if it’s listed.)

Post:

Shredded Wheat:

• Original Spoon Size
• Wheat Big Biscuit
• Wheat ‘N Bran

Post Original Chips Ahoy!

It was a wonderful surprise to see this new cereal without palm oil. Post makes this Chips Ahoy cereal with canola oil and soybean oil — no palm oil and no added Vitamin A.

Others:

• Market Pantry:  Honey & Oat Clusters and Toasted Cinnamon Squares
• Simply Balanced Organic Blueberry Granola with flax

Granola without palm oil

It’s hard to find palm oil free versions of granola because companies add Glycerin, Mixed Tocopherols, and Tocopherols.

Erin Baker’s:

According to Erin Baker’s, all of their granola is palm oil free. It’s also Non-GMO Project Certified and gluten free.

• Homestyle Granola
  • Fruit & Nut
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate
  • Double Chocolate
  • Vanilla Almond Quinoa
  • Coconut Chia
  • Maple Pecan
  • Oatmeal Raisin
• Ultra Protein Granola
  • Tri-Berry
  • Endurance Crunch

Purely Elizabeth:

We are happy to have confirmed with the brand Purely Elizabeth that they offer a wide variety of granola without palm oil.

• Ancient Grain Granola:
  • Blueberry Hemp
  • Cranberry Pecan
  • Original
  • Pumpkin Cinnamon

• Grain-Free Granola:
  • Coconut Cashew
  • Banana Nut Butter (The Citric Acid is not derived from palm oil.)

• Nut Butter Granola:
  • Chocolate Sea Salt + Peanut Butter
  • Maple + Almond Butter

On a personal note, my son gets very sick from anything with palm oil. He loves granola for breakfast and for a snack.

However, we weren’t able to find granola without palm oil until we saw Purely Elizabeth at Target.

We were thrilled! They use real ingredients you can recognize and pronounce.

So far, we’ve tried Purely Elizabeth’s Blueberry Hemp Ancient Grain Granola. We bought it several times from Target and other grocers.

It’s non-GMO and gluten-free and also includes all of these organic ingredients: oats, coconut sugar, raw virgin coconut oil, sunflower seeds, puffed amaranth, hemp seeds, millet flakes, quinoa flakes, chia seeds, and cinnamon.

It tastes amazing! It has more clusters and clumps than mainstream brands which makes it even better. We love it and look forward to trying their other flavors.

Oatmeal without palm oil

We are updating this to include oatmeal, though our original intent was to focus on ready-to-eat cereals.

However, we learned about two companies who had their single-serving size oats certified Palm Oil Free by the International Palm Oil Free Certification Programme.

Wild Friends:

Single-serving oat containers include a separate packet with nut butter in these flavors:

• Peanut Cashew Nut Butter + Oats
• Peanut Blueberry Nut Butter + Oats
• Almond Cashew Nut Butter + Oats
• Almond Cranberry Nut Butter + Oats

Red Ape Cinnamon:

• Cinnamon Oatmeal Cup

Purely Elizabeth:

Purely Elizabeth also offers a variety of single-serving sized cups and regular-sized flavored oatmeal without palm oil.

• Vibrant Oat Cups: Blueberry Lemon Vibrant Oats; Coconut Turmeric; Raspberry Pitaya
• SuperFood Oat Cups: Apple Cinnamon Pecan; Cranberry Pumpkin Seed; Original
• SuperFood Oats: Apple Cinnamon Pecan; Cranberry Pumpkin Seed; Original

Be sure to avoid instant oatmeal packets which usually contain Vitamin A Palmitate. Choose oats you have to cook on the stove.

How to find cereals without palm oil ingredients

You may be avoiding everything with the word “palm” in it. And that’s a great start.

However, when it’s disguised as other names, it gets trickier.

You might not realize there are many other names for palm oil in cereal and other foods.

Fortified cereals

Usually, most types of fortified cereals will contain palm oil ingredients.

Most contain Vitamin A Palmitate, which is a synthetic vitamin manufacturers make with palm oil.

Fortified cereals sometimes contain Vitamin E in the form of Tocopherols.

Note that Tocopherols and Mixed Tocopherols are also often added to cereals and other products to preserve freshness.

Alternate names for palm oil derivatives in cereal

Once you know what to look for in cereals, it will be a lot easier to find them without palm oil.

Vitamin A Palmitate contains palm oil

If you see a cereal with DV of 10% or more of Vitamin A, most likely it will have Vitamin A Palmitate. This synthetic vitamin contains palm oil.

You will find this palm oil derivative in most of your Kellogg’s and General Mills cereals.

In Post and Quaker, you will see them less often as many of their cereals aren’t fortified with Vitamin A.

(Also, if you add milk to your cereal, watch for Vitamin A Palmitate. It’s added to 2%, low fat, and fat free milks, but not whole milk.)

Palm oil and palm kernel oil

Many Kellogg’s, General Mills, and Post cereals will state palm oil or palm kernel oil right on the ingredients.

Complex flavors such as chocolate, peanut butter, Oreo, etc. often contain palm oil.

Also, watch out for cereals that are coated, waxy or greasy feeling.

All of these will have these ingredients listed with the actual words “palm,” which makes it easier.

Glycerin is made from palm oil

You have to watch out for glycerin in cereals as well. It’s often made with palm oil. Glycerin is common in granola.

Some healthier brands, including Purely Elizabeth as mentioned above, are using better-quality ingredients.

Tocopherols ingredients often contain palm oil

In my quest to find cereals without palm oil, I made many mistakes. Very unfortunately, my son paid the price in terms of getting sick from the palm oil we didn’t know was in the cereals. I bought several varieties of palm-free-seeming cereals, and each one made him sick.

I didn’t know why until I learned tocopherols are often made from palm oil, especially when used in lower cost products.

Tocopherols can be added as a form of Vitamin E and/or to preserve freshness in cereals and other foods.

The symptoms my son had after eating cereals with tocopherols were different from when he consumed the other palm oil ingredients.

While cereals and foods with palm oil gave him immediate congestion and throat clearing, etc., cereals with tocopherols made him completely exhausted and lethargic and caused him to have a few hives. I’ve contacted many companies asking about their tocopherols.

Many cereal manufacturers use palm oil to make tocopherols. We do not take the chance and avoid them completely.

Alternate names for palm oil

As you may know, palm oil ingredients go by hundreds of names.

Reference this extensive list which contains hundreds of palm oil derivative ingredient names. You can print it here. Keep it with you as a resource if you are trying to avoid palm oil.

Carry it with you, and before buying any new products — foods and self-care products — reference it. It’s a way to ensure you buy palm-free cereal and products.

After doing this a few times, you will know what to look for and the products and brands to buy.

Palm oil free cereals

It’s so important to support these companies. Please especially support these specific products who don’t use palm oil ingredients in their cereals.

See our list of palm free products:

• Breakfast without palm oil
• Cookies without palm oil
• Granola bars without palm oil
• Pretzels without palm oil
• Peanut butter without palm oil
• Snacks without palm oil

Be sure to read the labels as companies change ingredients in their products.

Palm oil free cereal

As palm oil becomes even more prevalent in products, hopefully there will be more information to help people find products without it.

Cereal is a staple in our house. It’s been a challenge to find cereals without palm oil. We are always on the lookout for more cereals.

We will continue to buy palm free cereal and products. If we are not certain they are, we don’t buy them.

Palm oil free cereals

Please support this list of cereals. We compiled it to make it easier to find cereals without palm oil.

We will be brand-loyal to these cereals and applaud them for using palm-free alternatives.

To the best of our knowledge, after cross-referencing their ingredients against hundreds of names of palm oil derivatives and checking with companies, these cereals do not have palm oil ingredients.

Please note, content on this site is for reference purposes only. We do not warrant that the ingredient, sourcing, allergen, and product information is accurate or complete. Our information comes from product manufacturers.

Product formulas, ingredients, and labels change. Please read labels and do your due diligence.

We continue to update this regularly.

Honey Comb cereal now contains palm oil

We also remove products when companies change their ingredients as in the case of Honey Comb cereal.

Honey Comb from Post used to be palm free but in mid-2018 they began to fortify it with Vitamin A Palmitate.

Most likely what’s on the shelves now is Honey Comb’s revised product which advertises “It’s Back! Original Flavor.”

The version on the shelf prior to this change (the left cereal box in yellow) did not include palm oil derivatives and was one of the few “sugar cereals” my son could eat.  We no longer buy this cereal but bought the remaining boxes from three stores.

If you know of or find cereals without palm oil, please include them in the Comments so we can support these brands. Why do you avoid palm oil?