France's Ecology Minister Segolene Royal apologised Wednesday for telling people not to eat Nutella because it contributed to deforestation and climate change.
"A thousand apologies for the row over Nutella," she wrote on her official Twitter account.
The mea culpa related to comments she made on French television on Monday, when she said "we should stop eating Nutella... because it's made with palm oil" -- an ingredient that ensures the soft but not liquid consistency of the popular chocolate-hazelnut spread.
In the interview, she argued that oil palm plantations were supplanting forests, leading to deforestation and causing "considerable damage to the environment".
Those assertions drew fire from Italy, where Ferrero, the company that makes Nutella, is based.
Ferrero stressed all its palm oil -- which comes mainly from Malaysia -- is sourced in a responsible way.
Italian politicians and media broadened the attack on what they saw as an unimpeachable national product.
"Segolene Royal should leave Italian products alone. The menu tonight: bread and Nutella," Italy's environment minister, Gian Luca Galletti, said in a tweet.
The wife of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Agnese Renzi, was even photographed going to a 'Nutella concept bar' at an Expo fair in Milan with her daughter and ordering a Nutella-and-cream crepe.
Several Italian politicians called on Royal to apologise, while the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore said the French minister's "crusade" was wrongheaded and a Nutella boycott would do nothing against deforestation.
Source: AFP
GMT 14:48 2018 Wednesday ,17 January
The Romanian sheep nibbling away at US securityGMT 13:45 2018 Tuesday ,16 January
China races to prevent environmental disasterGMT 13:59 2018 Sunday ,14 January
Sea levels off Dutch coast highest ever recordedGMT 17:34 2018 Saturday ,13 January
Dozens still unaccounted for in California mudslidesGMT 12:35 2018 Friday ,12 January
Campaigners slam UK plans on cutting plastic wasteGMT 14:12 2018 Wednesday ,10 January
Alpine air at work? Delhi eyes novel ways to battle smogGMT 15:37 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
2017 the costliest year in US history for natural disastersGMT 15:30 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
Power stacked against SE Asia's poor as China dams MekongMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor