French Ecology Minister Segolène Royal lashes out against Nutella

France's Ecology Minister, Segolène Royal, has lashed out against big brands. In the past few days, she has taken on giant herbicide producer Monsanto and giant Italian chocolate group Ferrero over its chocolate walnut spread Nutella.

Segolène Royal urges people to stop eating Ferrero's Nutella Flickr.com

After Segolène Royal’s calls on garden centres across the country to stop sales of Monsanto’s ‘Roundup’, she decided to take on Ferrero’s Nutella.

Late Monday, she urged the public to stop eating the (mouth-watering) chocolate hazelnut spread, saying it had a huge impact on deforestation, which causes considerable damage to the environment and leads to global warming.

Many products consumed on a daily basis are made with palm oil and Nutella is no exception. Oil palms have replaced trees, and this has not only a massive environmental impact, it also destroys the natural habitat of endangered species.

Royal's comments have rattled Ferrero. Without referring to the French Minister, the Italian group issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was aware of the environmental stakes and had made commitments to source palm oil in a responsible manner.

Ferrero gets its palm oil supply mainly from Malaysia, but also from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Brazil...

Two and a half years ago, French senators tried to impose a 300 percent tax on palm oil, claiming it was dangerously fattening, and its cultivation has a negative impact on the environment. The measure was, however, defeated.