This Is Italy
France's environment minister said the French must stop eating Nutella to save the world. She did admit that it tastes damn good.
Just imagine: that is the same as telling us Dutch that our peanut butter is no longer allowed to be eaten. Or that you tell the English that their marmalade is banned.
Minister Ségolène Royal of the Environment made her offending statement last Monday evening in the popular TV program Le Petit Journal. She explained how we need to do more for the environment ahead of the climate summit in Paris next December.
Palm oil
One of these measures, she says, should be to eliminate Nutella from our diet. Why? Because of the palm oil contained in it and which has long been a controversial ingredient. Not only does palm oil contain much more saturated fat (i.e. bad fat) than other types of oil, many forests are also cut down due to the construction of palm oil plantations.
"We have to plant huge numbers of trees because of the massive deforestation," she told the program's host. "Deforestation leads to climate change. For example, we have to stop eating Nutella because of the palm oil. Trees are cut down for this, which causes a lot of damage.'
'But it tastes so good'
The presenter interrupted the minister: 'But it tastes so good.' Royal agreed, but otherwise she was relentless and told the French to find something else.
It will take Minister Royal quite some effort to convince her compatriots. The Italian company Ferrero produces no less than 365.000 tons of the chocolate spread annually. Many of those pots don't have to travel far to be consumed. The French are – after the Germans – even in second place in the world ranking.
The French have long had a love affair with the chocolate spread and it is the sweet – and some say sickly – breakfast for many French schoolchildren. In France alone, about 100 million pots are consumed every year. In fact, it is so popular that some French parents have tried unsuccessfully to name their child Nutella.
Nutella tax
The chocolate breakfast has been the subject of controversy before, after France wanted to introduce a so-called Nutella tax in 2012, targeting all foods made from palm trees and other vegetable oils. The proposal was soon quashed.
Source: thelocal.it
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