Clean Food Group, THG and Croda gain cosmetic approval for palm oil alternative

Clean Food Group (CFG), The Hut Group (THG), and Croda’s Clean Oil 25 ingredient has received approval for use in cosmetic formulations in the UK, US, and Europe. The oil is made from fermented food waste to offer a sustainable alternative to traditional oil and fat ingredients such as palm oil.

The three firms’ partnership combines CFG’s biotechnology, THG’s product innovation experience, and Croda’s personal care manufacturing to prepare the ingredient for commercial application in the beauty industry.

Professor Chris Chuck, technical lead at CFG, describes the approval as an example of how partnerships can bridge biotech innovation with commercial scale.

According to the company, the approval also marks a milestone in the rollout of its Clean OilCell technology platform.

“This is a pivotal step forward in our mission to provide sustainable solutions for global supply chains. In terms of the beauty industry and product development, it gives brands the confidence to adopt Clean Oil 25 in their formulations, supporting efficacy and responsibility without compromise,” says Alex Neves, CEO of CFG.

Regulatory and safety consultancy company Delphic HSE guided the approval process to ensure the ingredient meets cosmetic safety and compliance standards.

With the approval, the companies are preparing to scale up production of the ingredient and expand its use in sustainable beauty applications.

Clean beauty gains ground

Consumer expectations for more sustainable cosmetic ingredients and products are steadily growing. Innova Market Insights data indicates that sustainable claims in beauty product launches increased at an annual average rate of 21% from July 2019 to June 2024.

Moreover, the market researcher’s data suggests that, in the past year, over 31% of global consumers chose products with naturally sourced ingredients, 21% chose fair trade products, and 27% researched and chose brands whose sustainability views align with their own.

The ingredient offers an environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional oils, such as palm.However, Personal Care Insights previously reported on the misconception that “natural” does not always equate to “sustainable.”

“Natural cosmetics can have significant negative environmental impacts, despite their eco-friendly image. A prominent case that has lost its natural, sustainable image is palm oil — widely used in soaps, lotions, and makeup,” Thomas Collier, CEO at Levur, told us.

“An estimated forest area of 300 football fields is cleared every hour for palm plantations,” he added.

As palm oil’s facade of sustainability increasingly lowers, the personal care industry is seeing a wave of innovations that aim to replace it with alternatives.

Collier further told us about Levur’s lab-grown interception: “Our oils are created through precision fermentation of yeast strains, which require ‘feedstock’ to fuel the yeast strains. This feedstock can be from many different sources, like sugarcane, and we are currently working on the potential to use organic waste as feedstock to improve circularity.”

Earlier this month, Mibelle Group, LanzaTech, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB co-developed a CO2-derived ingredient that claims to replace palm oil in cosmetics.