Avoiding palm oil is not hard in some aisles and close to impossible in others. That is the honest summary of what our database says. We checked 35,549 packaged foods for palm oil and its fractions: 26,062 came back clear, 5,772 name palm oil somewhere in the ingredient list, and 3,715 sit in the "not sure" column because the label uses a vague phrase like "vegetable fat" without naming the plant.
This post is the shopping-list version of that result. Below are 50 products that passed, grouped by the aisle you would find them in, with a note on how each aisle behaves overall. Every product links to its own page, where you can read the exact ingredient text we used. If you want the background first, the palm oil free hub explains what the check covers.
How to read the numbers
For each aisle we give three figures: products that passed, products where palm oil was found, and products we could not settle. A high "found" number means the aisle leans on palm oil for texture or shelf life. A high "not sure" number means labels in that aisle are vague, which is its own kind of warning.
The list favours brands you are likely to see in a European or North American supermarket. Where a French, Dutch or Italian label made it into the top of our data, we kept it, because the ingredient text is what matters, not the language on the front.
Crisps and chips: the easy aisle
Of 1,863 crisp and chip products, 1,476 passed, only 114 named palm oil, and 273 were unclear. Most crisps are fried in sunflower, rapeseed or corn oil, and the label usually says so. The unclear ones are the packs that print "vegetable oil" and stop there.
Products that passed:
- Lay's Classic Potato Chips
- Lay's Chips Nature
- Lay's Chips Barbecue
- Lay's Cuites au Four Nature (oven baked)
- Lay's Al Punto de Sal
- Lay's 3D's Bugles Goût Fromage
- Doritos Bits Twisties Honey Barbecue
- Lay's Recette Paysanne Nature
Chocolate: better than its reputation
Chocolate bars are mostly cocoa butter, and cocoa butter is not palm oil. Of 1,789 chocolate products, 1,256 passed and 462 named palm oil. The 462 are almost all filled bars, wafers and coated products, where a cheaper fat replaces cocoa butter in the filling.
Products that passed:
- Milka Alpine Milk
- Milka Alpenmilch
- Milka Au Tendre Goût Chocolat
- Green & Black's Intense Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa
- Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts
- Hu Cashew Butter Filled Dark Chocolate
- Nomo Crispy Mo
- Green & Black's 60% Cacao Hazelnut & Currant
Biscuits and cookies: the hard aisle
This is where palm oil lives. Of 1,514 cookie and cake products, 798 named palm oil and only 552 passed. Among biscuits the split is worse: 396 found, 182 passed. Palm oil gives a biscuit its snap and keeps a filling from going soft, and it is cheaper than butter. The products that pass tend to say "all butter" on the front, or they come from bakeries that use sunflower oil.
Products that passed:
- Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies
- M&S All Butter Sultana Cookies
- M&S All Butter Pistachio and Almond Cookies
- Barilla Abbracci
- Bahlsen Butter Leaves Shortcake
- Riso Scotti Biscotti Senza Lattosio
- Waitrose 4 Chocolate Brownies
- Trader Joe's Brownie Truffle Baking Mix
- Aldi 4 Multigrain Toasting Muffins
- Thinsters Brownie Batter Crunchy Cookies
Cereal bars and snack bars
Bars split down the middle: 532 passed, 312 named palm oil, 58 unclear. The pattern is simple. Bars held together with dates, nut butter or honey pass. Bars with a chocolate coating or a "yogurt" layer usually do not, because that layer is where the palm fat goes.
Products that passed:
- nákd Berry Delight
- RXBAR Blueberry
- Bear Forest Fruit
- Stoats Blueberry & Honey Porridge Oat Bars
- Yoga Bar Breakfast Protein Bar
- KIND Breakfast Bar
Sweets and candy
Sugar-based sweets rarely need fat at all, so 1,278 of 1,782 passed. The 339 that named palm oil are mostly chewy sweets, toffees and anything with a "creamy" centre. Hard boiled sweets, pastilles and traditional aniseed drops are the safe end of the aisle.
Products that passed:
- Les Anis de Flavigny Aniseed Drops
- Les Anis de Flavigny Mint
- Ricola Liquorice Sugar Free
- Trolli Confiserie Gélifiée
- Tamalitoz Chili Pops Chamoy
Breakfast cereal
Cereal is a good aisle: 810 passed, 117 named palm oil, 53 unclear. Plain oats, wheat biscuits and most flakes contain no added fat. The exceptions are granolas and clusters, where a fat is needed to make the clusters stick, and chocolate-filled pillows.
Products that passed:
- Brinta
- Crownfield Organic Oat Flakes
- Dorset Cereals Berry Granola
- Mornflake Creamy Superfast Oats
- Kodiak Cakes Strawberry Dark Chocolate Oatmeal
Nuts, seeds and nut butters
Plain nuts pass by definition, and most nut butters do too: 885 passed against 151 found. The 151 are mostly "no-stir" peanut butters, where a small amount of palm oil stops the oil separating, and honey-roasted mixes with a glaze.
Products that passed:
- Bega Peanut Butter Smooth
- Biona Coconut Almond Butter
- Jumbo Pistachenoten
- Bigs Cracked Pepper Sunflower Seeds
Ice cream and sorbet
A small aisle in our data, and an odd one: 54 passed, 17 named palm oil, but 67 were unclear, more than either. Ice cream labels love the phrase "vegetable fat". Sorbets, which are fruit, sugar and water, pass easily.
Products that passed:
- Righteous Dairy Free Raspberry Lime Sorbetto
- Mövenpick Raspberry & Strawberry Sorbet
- Häagen-Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream
- Sammontana FruttiAmo Pesca
The aisles we left out, and why
Processed meat (1,667 passed, 73 found), sauces (640 passed, 14 found) and pasta (302 passed, 32 found) are so consistently palm free that a list would be padding. Spreads are the opposite: a small category with a high hit rate, and they get their own post about chocolate spreads.
What "passed" means, and what it does not
A product passes when the ingredient list names its fats and none of them is palm oil, a palm fraction or a palm kernel product, and the label makes no palm claim that contradicts the list. It does not mean the product is free of every palm-derived additive; an emulsifier can be made from palm without saying so, and no label check can see that. It also does not mean the recipe is fixed. Manufacturers change fats without warning, so the pack in your hand outranks any list on the internet, including this one.
FAQ
Which aisle has the most palm oil?
Biscuits and cookies. In our data more than half of biscuit products name palm oil, and cookies and cakes are close behind. Chocolate bars and crisps are the easiest aisles to shop palm free.
Why is a product "not sure" instead of yes or no?
Because the label says "vegetable fat" or "vegetable oil" without naming the plant. In the European Union the plant should be named, but older packs and non-EU products still use the vague phrase, and we do not guess.
Does "sustainable palm oil" count as palm oil free?
No. Certified palm oil is still palm oil. The claim is about how it was grown, not whether it is in the product. Our check treats it the same as any other palm oil.
Can a passed product change?
Yes. A reformulation can swap sunflower oil for palm oil in a single print run. Check the pack, and if you see a change, use the report link on the product page so we can update it.