French minister says Nutella spread 'damages environment'

France's Ecology Minister Segolene Royal has urged people to stop eating Nutella because it is made with palm oil and damages the environment.

Ms Royal said the chocolate-hazelnut spread contributed to deforestation because oil palms were replacing trees.
Ferrero, the Italian chocolate firm which owns Nutella, said it has made commitments to source palm oil in a responsible way.

French senators tried unsuccessfully to impose a 300% tax on palm oil in 2011.

They argued that the oil was dangerously fattening and that its cultivation harmed the environment.
'Massive deforestation'

On Tuesday, Ms Royal said that Nutella should be made from "other ingredients".

"We have to replant a lot of trees because there is massive deforestation that also leads to global warming. We should stop eating Nutella, for example, because it's made with palm oil," she said, during an interview with French television network Canal+.

Ferrero gets almost 80% of its palm oil from Malaysia, according to AFP news agency. The rest of its supply comes from Brazil, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

The Italian group said that it was aware of the environmental stakes involved.

In February, it announced that all of its products were produced with palm fruit oil that was 100% certified as sustainable according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) supply chain.

BBC News
June 17th, 2015
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33163534

I used to love Nutella. I first tried it in 1994 on French bread when I was on vacation in France. I was instantly addicted. I was 17 years old then. Every morning I'd go to the local bakery in Rouen to buy a loaf of bread and I'd eat the entire loaf with Nutella and a few glasses of milk.