Growing concerns over its impact on wildlife has pushed lawmakers in Iceland to ban palm oil from supermarket shelves.
The oil is used in a huge number of products ranging from bread to soap.
However, the demand has led to the destruction of tropical rainforests across south-east Asia.
Millions of acres of forests across Indonesia have been burned to make way for plantations producing palm oil.
Orangutan populations have been particularly devastated by the resulting habitat destruction.
Iceland has now vowed to remove all palm oil from its own-brand food by the end of 2018.
Some 130 products will have been reformulated by the end of the year.
Back home in SA, Woolworth was the first retailer to become a member and join the global Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2011.
The retailer said: “Woolworths is actively working with suppliers to agree on time-bound plans for conversion to RSPO certified sustainable palm oil. In 2015, our sole supplier of exclusive recipe pies became Woolworths’ first supplier to move to sourcing 100% RSPO certified sustainable palm oil using the’ mass balance’ approach.”