Irish Spring Soaps.Do they contain pork tallow,or beef???

There is a letter I found on google,from a consumer affairs person in
Colgate-Palmolive,that states that they use only beef tallow.The only
problem is that this information is from 2001,about 4 and a half years
ago,is it still so?
This Question Is For Pafalafa-Ga

Hello again, and thanks for steering this question my way.

It sounds like you have a continuing interest in the question of
animal-derived consumer products.  Fortunately, so do many others, and
a good deal of information is available on the web on this topic.

I found a more recent posting in Google Groups that confirms that the
tallow used in Irish Spring has not changed since the information you
found dated 2001.  You can see the full letter from Colgate-Palmolive
here:

  


http://groups-beta.google.com/group/soc.religion.islam/browse_thread/thread/293b0f250ed141a7/88822dbee1a11ff5?tvc=2&q=%22irish+spring%22+tallow&hl=en#88822dbee1a11ff5


and the key excerpt from the letter is this:


-----
Sep 12 2004

All of Colgate-Palmolive Company's bar soaps contain tallow-derived 
ingredients.  The tallowates used in these soaps are obtained only from 
beef tallow. In addition, the glycerin in these soaps is certified as 
pork free. The following bar soaps contain no pork or lard and, 
therefore, are pork-free: 

 Palmolive Gold 
 Palmolive Classic 
 Cashmere Bouquet Beauty Bar 
 Irish Spring Bar, all variants 
 Vel Mild Skin Care Bar
-----


I trust this fully answers your question, but as always, if there's
anything else I can do for you, just let me know.

Cheers,

paf


search strategy -- searched both Google and Google Groups for [ "irish
spring" tallow ]

---

Request for Answer Clarification by justadream-ga on 25 May 2005 18:34 PDT

Wonderfull work Dave,and good to hear from you again.What you sent me
is great,but it is exactly quoted from the 2001 letter.
Here is the link and see for yourself.

http://www.whatisinit.com/letters/Colgate-Palmolive.gif

What they state in the information you sent to me are the same
quotations from the 2001 letter.
You will get rewarded for your work,as always.
Talk to you soon.

---

Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 13 Jun 2005 16:05 PDT

justadream-ga,

I see you posted your last note here on May 25th, but for some reason,
I never received notification of it, and wasn't aware of it...sorry
for being so long in getting back to you.

I agree with the comment below, that a large company like Colgate
Palmolive will develop standard language to respond to a question, and
once they have, pretty much stick to the same language over the years.

You'll notice, however, that the list of products is quite different
between the 2001 and 2004 letters, indicating that someone's paying
attention, and keeping the language up to date.

Let me know if there's anything else you need on this one.

paf

Thank You.I apologize for the long reply span,I was in L.A.

1)It would not suprise me to hear that CP uses a standard form letter
to answer this question, and I would not expect the wording of that
letter to change unless and until the information changed. You could
write or email them yourself, but I'd bet you receive the same form
letter now posted on the web.
2) The listing for Irish Spring on Drugstore.com says: "Soap contains:
 Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Cocoate, and/or Sodium Palm Kernelate"
3) Tallow, since it's a byproduct (meaning: would be garbage if they
didn't use it to make soap), is significantly cheaper than palm oil,
etc. On the scale that the major companies make soap, this price
difference adds up to serious money. I wouldn't expect a change in
their formulation without a massive, ongoing consumer outcry.
4) Again, since tallow is a byproduct of the meat processing industry,
CP is behaving in an environmentally responsible way, by using a
material that would otherwise become a part of the waste-stream. I can
assure you, this stuff would be an unwelcome addition to any municipal
dump. That, plus it's inexpensive nature, will see tallow-based soaps
remain a part of mass-market consumer products for as long as the meat
processing industry exists to supply it.