Take Action With Us: Give Out Sustainable Halloween Candy!

This Halloween, as you gather with family and friends to celebrate spooky fun and indulge in your favorite tasty treats, there’s an easy and impactful way to make the season even sweeter—purchasing candy made from certified sustainable palm oil.

But what is palm oil, exactly? Palm oil is a versatile ingredient derived from the fruit of oil palm trees, commonly used in many food products from cakes and instant noodles to packaged bread and the beloved candies given out on Halloween. While it is a practical, inexpensive, vegan option for many products found in grocery stories, its rapidly growing cultivation has led to the destruction of wildlife and their habitat in some of the most fragile and diverse ecosystems in the world.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Here’s the good news: You don’t need to avoid palm oil altogether. Instead, by choosing products made with palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, or RSPO, you have the power to help rainforests, wildlife, and communities thrive without boycotting our favorite treats.

The RSPO certifies palm oil that meets rigorous environmental and social standards for palm oil production, ensuring that the palm oil we consume is responsibly sourced. When you choose products with RSPO certification, you support practices that protect tropical rainforests, safeguarding critical habitats for animals like chimpanzees, gorillas, and golden-headed lion tamarins. These species depend on healthy forests for survival, and by supporting sustainably sourced palm oil, you ensure forests are preserved. It’s a win-win. You can continue to enjoy the holiday tradition of giving and receiving all the holiday candy without worrying about its impact on the environment.

Take Action With Us: Tap the App!

It doesn’t have to be hard to do the right thing. Making sustainable choices is easier than ever, thanks to the PalmOil Scan app. With just the quick scan of a barcode, you can instantly find out if your favorite candy brands use RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil. There’s no need to spend hours researching—just download the app. Then, when you’re at the store, pull out your phone, scan the barcode, choose candy based on the results, and enjoy your treats!

PalmOil Scan tells you exactly which products align with your values, allowing you to make informed choices that support ethical sourcing and wildlife conservation. If you prefer a different route, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo offers an annual candy guide in PDF form that showcases some of the most popular candy brands committed to using certified sustainable palm oil. Simply do a search with keywords like “Cheyenne Mountain Zoo” and “candy guide 2025.”

Spooky Zoo: The Zoo’s Commitment to Protecting Rainforests

Lincoln Park Zoo is on the journey toward sustainable palm oil right along with you. On Saturday, October 18, the Auxiliary Board of Lincoln Park Zoo hosted the 39th Annual Spooky Zoo event, presented this year by Comer Children’s Hospital and Peoples Gas. For the third year in a row, the Auxiliary Board, Development team, and the zoo’s Green Team worked together to move toward ensuring that donated product distributed at treat stations was made with either no palm oil or only sustainably sourced palm oil.

What does that look like? Just like you, zoo staff members ran each and every product through the PalmOil Scan app and prioritized products rated “Good” or better in the app, or that were confirmed to contain no palm oil or palm oil derivatives, or that were in the process of obtaining their RSPO credentials. For every action that the zoo invites you to take with us on behalf of wildlife, we are committed to walking the talk in our own operations, including our Spooky Zoo celebration.

Photo (and featured photo) by Violet of Violetta Photography

Who knew our purchasing decisions during Halloween had so much power? Well, now we all do. Together, we can use our collective voice and purchasing power to support sustainable palm oil and create a future where rainforests, wildlife, and people can all thrive. It’s Lincoln Park Zoo’s way to celebrate not just Halloween, but our commitment to a healthier world for generations to come. Please join us!