Environmental Issuesįrom an environmental perspective, the fact that carnauba palms are grown in north-eastern Brazil is bound to ring alarm bells for the eco-minded given the mass destruction of the Brazilian Amazon over recent decades. A German documentary made by ARD and entitled Markencheck (which means “Brand Check”) asserts that carnauba wax plantation owners are guilty of exploiting workers to the point where they could be considered to be engaged in modern slavery. Other mass-farmed crops, such as soy, have also been questioned but are there similar issues with carnauba wax? Ethical Issuesįrom an ethical perspective, there are certainly some concerns. This is particularly the case with something like palm oil, which has been in the news a lot in recent years because of the habitat destruction caused by farming it. Possible Ethical & Environmental Issues with Carnauba WaxĪs well as avoiding all products that are made using animal products, many people who are vegan for ethical reasons or environmental reasons will delve deeper into the ethical and environmental consequences that come into play when a particular product is farmed or created. Therefore, any carnauba wax-rich products that also contain beeswax will thus be deemed non-vegan. The problem is, a lot of products that are marketed as carnauba wax often contain other substances that might not be vegan friendly, most notably (and most regularly) beeswax.Īs we explain in our Is Beeswax Vegan? article, because it comes from bees and both exploits them and potentially causes them harm, beeswax is not vegan friendly. If you are buying 100% carnauba wax, then it is going to be vegan – at least based on the most literal sense of the term: it comes from plants and no animals have been exploited or harmed to make it. What Could Stop Carnauba Wax Being Vegan? But… (and there is often a “but” in articles published in the Is It Vegan? section of our site) unfortunately, there are one or two things that might muddy the waters here. Given that veganism is all about plants, and the palm in question ( Copernicia prunifera, if you prefer its Latin name) is, of course, a plant, it stands to reason that the wax acquired from it must also be vegan. Thankfully, on the face of it at least, carnauba wax is indeed vegan as it is obtained from the carnauba palm, which is grown in various north-eastern states of Brazil. But whatever you might be using it for or wherever you have encountered it amongst the ingredients, the question is bound to crop up: is carnauba wax vegan? Carnauba wax is a versatile substance than has many applications including use in car wax and shoe polish, as an ingredient in various cosmetics and foods, as a coating for pharmaceutical pills and as an effective wax for surf boards.
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