Nutella has recently made headlines for containing ingredients that could cause cancer. The claims were met with a massive backlash from consumers all over the world.
A report claimed that the famous chocolate-hazel spread could cause cancer due to the use of palm-oil as one of its key ingredients. Not only did this cause the Ferrero company thousands of dollars' worth of losses but it was also quickly removed from supermarket shelves.
The report claims that palm oil contains carcinogen agents that were not found in other vegetable oils. Ferrero defended its use of the ingredient stating that use of any other oil would result in "an inferior spread" that would ruin the standards and quality of the product. Ferrero also added that the spread would also not be as smooth.
According to BBC, the report came from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) all the way back in May '16. It claimed that when heated to high temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius and above, the oil contained a high level of contaminants. The Food Safety Authority did also add that further research was needed in order to confirm these findings.
However, this did not stop the largest super market chain in Italy to completely remove the product from its shelves. Co-op has placed a complete ban on Nutella in its stores due to the supposed health risks involved.
The news came as a shock to Nutella fans all over the world. It is worthy to mention that palm oil is found in plenty of products ranging from noodles to peanut butter and even soaps and detergents. Despite that, Nutella seems to have gotten all the heat because of the brand name.
For now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not stepped up to inform people to not consume palm oil. Additionally, other place of the world do not show any initiation towards banning the product's sales.
