Palm oil in Nutella Minister calls for a boycott

In recent years, many health experts have warned against consuming too much Nutella, as the spread contains a lot of sugar and fat. Now further criticizes. France's environment minister is currently causing a stir; she said, "You have to stop eating Nutella".

For palm oil production forest areas are cleared
"You have to stop eating Nutella" - France's Minister of the Environment, Ségolène Royal, is currently causing a stir with this appeal. As the news agency AFP reported, criticized the Socialist on Monday evening in the channel Canal Plus, that "in the popular chocolate spread palm oil is - for the extraction of forest land cleared" would. "That causes considerable damage." The former partner of France's President François Hollande now pulls against Nutella and said to the manufacturer Ferrero directed: "You must use other raw materials."

Palm oil in Nuttela: Minister for boycott of chocolate cream. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia)

Company wants to take environmental concerns seriously
According to the company, the company did not want to comment directly on Royal's comments, but emphasized that environmental concerns were serious. Ferrero has made a number of commitments to palm oil. In March 2013, the confectionery manufacturer announced that it would only use palm oil for the spread, which is one hundred percent certified as sustainable. "The cultivation of the oil palm can go hand in hand with the respect of the environment and the population", it was said by the group.

Misleading advertising
The spread is not the first time in the criticism. Consumer advocates have often pointed out that Nutella with a lot of fat and a lot of calories is truly not part of a healthy breakfast, as the advertising should often convey. A few years ago, the food company Ferrero was sentenced by the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court to change the labels on the Nutella glasses for misleading advertising. According to the judge, the information on vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fat content was designed to deceive consumers. (Ad)