FRANCE-NUTELLA/ITALY Minister's Nutella gaff spreads animosity between France and Italy

Record ID: 153133

  • Title: FRANCE-NUTELLA/ITALY Minister's Nutella gaff spreads animosity between France and Italy
  • Date: 18th June 2015
  • Summary: CHURCH SACRE COEUR VIEWED FROM STREET PASSERS BY IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (French) NUTELLA FAN, EVA BOUSTAOUI, SAYING: "Nutella is an institution. You can't cut out Nutella, cars OK maybe we can make a bit of an effort, but Nutella is more chocolate than something that's going to spoil the environment." PASSERS BY WALKING IN FRONT OF METRO ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) PASSER BY, LAURE, SAYING: "Yes if there are alternatives maybe I'd buy a different equivalent which does less damage to the environment." STREET BACK OF NUTELLA JAR SHOWING PALM OIL IN LIST OF INGREDIENTS JAR OF NUTELLA
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4UQ4PGXBS9INNNHOX0TIQ3LCY
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: An innocent-looking breakfast spread came close to causing a diplomatic incident this week when a French minister advised consumers to stop buying Nutella saying it contributed to widespread deforestation and global warming.
    Now the environmentally conscious are faced with the difficult choice "to spread or not to spread?", if they and their families are going to eat an ethical breakfast.
    French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal sparked the controversy in comments made to satirical news programme "Le Petit Journal" on Monday (June 15) when she advised viewers not to eat Nutella as it contains palm oil which she linked to massive deforestation.
    The advice went down badly in Italy, home of the chocolate hazelnut spread, where her Italian counterpart himself took to Twitter to denounce the comments. Meanwhile the wife of Italy's prime minister, Agnese Renzi, paid an ostentatious trip to the Nutella bar at the Milan Expo world fair to show her support.
    While some at the fair, including Mary Nicoletti, appeared to back Royal, others said Nutella was too hard to resist.
    The uproar caused the Socialist party veteran and former partner of current French President Francois Hollande to apologise on Twitter, emphasising that the context of the programme was humorous and she did not mean to cause offence.
    "A thousand apologies for the Nutella controversy. I agree we should keep the focus on progress," she said.
    Fans of Nutella on the streets of Paris certainly seemed to think that sacrificing the spread was one sacrifice too far.
    "Nutella is an institution. You can't cut out Nutella, cars OK maybe we can make a bit of an effort, but Nutella is more chocolate than something that's going to spoil the environment," Eva Boustaoui said.
    Royal was accused of meddling in some quarters but some in the street, including Laure, said they intended to follow her advice.
    Palm oil, also extensively used in margarine, biscuits and crisps, makes up about 20 percent of the Nutella mix.
    On the back of Nutella pots sold in France, it says that the palm oil used in the recipe is derived from sustainable sources.
    Privately-owned Ferrero says on its web site that since the end of 2013, Nutella has been made exclusively with palm oil from palm trees certified as 100 percent sustainable and guaranteed not linked to deforestation.
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