Former senator Nick Xenophon has called for Australian food regulators to take urgent steps toward mandatory palm oil labelling in Australia.
Mr Xenophon, who is standing in the South Australian election in March, says palm oil is not only a health risk but is devastating for the planet and fatal for orangutans.
"Australians consume 10 kilos of palm oil every year and just don't know it," he said in a statement provided to AAP through the Orangutan Alliance.
The laws would help consumers make an informed choice, he said.
The issue of mandatory labelling of products containing palm oil could be considered at the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation in Melbourne on Friday.
During his time in the Senate, Mr Xenophon introduced legislation to mandate such labelling after receiving a petition of more than 100,000 signatures.
The bill passed in the Senate but has since stalled in the lower house.
Orangutan Alliance founder Maria Abadilla became dedicated to saving Borneo's orangutans and finding new solutions to the palm oil debate after seeing rainforest burn-offs to allow for oil production.
"We hear the arguments that the cost of adoption for the industry will be massive, but what is the cost of the planet?" she said.
