Dr. Oz, a respected public figure who advocates healthy living to the American public, recently encouraged millions of his followers to give red palm oil a try for its "incomparable, powerful nutritional virtues"without mentioning the egregious environmental and social implications of its production. According to media reports, Dr. Oz's recommendation triggered a buying frenzy.

Join us and Orangutan Outreach in calling on Dr. Oz to reconsider promoting destructive palm oil to millions of consumers who will unwittingly be contributing to the demise of tropical rainforests and all the fragile species that depend on them.Though Dr. Oz has responded to the pressure by posting a blog about the importance of consumers making sustainable choices, he hasn't yet issued a correction on his TV show—which is broadcasted to millions of viewers in 188 countries.

The rapid expansion of palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia is a direct result of our food decisions here in North America. Global demand for manufactured foods with long shelf lives such as cookies, cereals, crackers and chips has increased demand for palm oil. This spike in demand, in turn, has increased the incentive for the rapid expansion of palm plantations into the rainforests of Indonesia, causing widespread destruction of our planet's most culturally and biologically diverse forests.

Today, just under half of Indonesia's original forest cover remains. The world's leading orangutan scientist, Ian Singleton, estimates that orangutans will be extinct in our lifetime if unchecked palm oil expansion isn't halted right now.

Please email Dr. Oz and the producers of The Dr. Oz Show and ask them to issue a correction of Dr. Oz's ill-advised support for palm oil ON THE AIR.