Paul Newman's Cookies Get Him in Trouble

It's not easy being green. Paul Newman's food company makes an organic cookie that features an advertisement for the fact that it uses palm fruit oil, which is not a trans fat. This has landed him in trouble with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group:

...Last summer, the Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a report called Cruel Oil. In it, the group said that crucial tracts of tropical rainforest were being destroyed and turned into palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, which account for more than 80 percent of the production of the world's palm oil. Orangutans live only in Sumatra and Borneo, and the campaign said they and other endangered animals, including tigers and rhinoceroses, were in danger of "dying for a cookie."

Here's where Paul Newman comes in. Mr. Jacobson and the report's other authors accuse Mr. Newman of "bragging" on his labels for cookies and microwave popcorn that palm oil is free of trans fat and is less saturated than palm kernel oil.

"These statements are literally true, but mislead people into thinking that palm oil is positively healthy," the report said. "Palm oil is not a health food."

For Ms. Newman, who contributes a large amount of time and money to sustainable farming and other environmental causes, the move against her family company seemed unfair. Her father was even angrier.

"It really upset Pops," said Ms. Newman. He became obsessed with proving that the form of palm oil the company uses is a healthier alternative to trans fats and that Newman's Own Organics isn't misleading its customers.

The company uses palm oil from trees grown organically in Colombia, which has no orangutans, said Neil Blomquist, former chief executive officer and president of Spectrum Organic Products, which sells Newman's Own its palm oil. The company's oil is harvested with practices that exceed principles set forth in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a group whose members include growers, processors and environmentalists, Mr. Blomquist said.

Mr. Jacobson's group recently took out a full-page ad in the New York Times with a picture of a baby orangutan surrounded by orangutan skulls. Palm oil production, the ad said, "is killing orangutans." The Malaysian Palm Oil producers responded with a big ad of their own. Jacobson wants the Newmans to change their advertising to this: "They may be environmentally sound, but don't eat these cookies if you really care about your heart." He's obviously a marketing genius.