Nutella uses cancer producing ingredient?

Nutella maker Ferrero has spoken out in support of the palm oil industry after a European agency said the ingredient poses a cancer risk.

Italian confectionery firm Ferrero has taken a public stand in defence of an ingredient that some other food companies in the country are boycotting. It has launched an advertising campaign to assure the public about the safety of Nutella, its flagship product which makes up about a fifth of its sales.

The hazelnut and chocolate spread, one of Italys best-known food brands and a popular breakfast treat for children, relies on palm oil for its smooth texture and shelf life. Other substitutes, such as sunflower oil, would change its character, according to Ferrero. Making Nutella without palm oil would produce an inferior substitute for the real product, it would be a step backward, Ferrero's purchasing manager Vincenzo Tapella told Reuters.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in May that palm oil generated more of a potentially carcinogenic contaminant than other vegetable oils when refined at temperatures above 200 degrees Celsius. It did not, however, recommend consumers stop eating it and said further study was needed to assess the level of risk.

The World Health Organization and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization flagged the same potential risk that EFSA had warned of regarding GE, but did not recommend consumers stop eating palm oil. The US Food and Drug Administration also has not banned the use of palm oil in food. The issue became a hot consumer topic in Italy after the largest supermarket chain, Coop, boycotted palm oil in all its own-brand products following the EFSA study, describing the move as a "precaution".

Italy's biggest baker, Barilla, also eliminated it and put palm oil-free labels on its wares.

The palm oil used by Ferrero is safe because it comes from freshly squeezed fruits and is processed at controlled temperatures, Tapella says in the TV ad, which was filmed at the firm's factory in the northern town of Alba and was accompanied by full-page ads in newspapers carrying the same message.