It seems like every food we consume is inevitably ruined due to some sort of serious health risk. This time, a study showed that the palm oil in Nutella can cause cancer.
Palm oil is used in Nutella in order to keep its texture creamy and have a longer shelf life. But are found to be carcinogenic forming, Nutella, and its parent company, Ferrero has already gone on the defensive claiming that their palm oil is safe due to it being natural. Also, they claim an 80’s US study that focused on harmful health effects in palm oil that was refuted.
I’m not saying Ferrero is wrong in their claims that palm oil isn’t harmful, but Ferrero has an obvious reason to make those claims, whether or not they are accurate. For one thing, palm oil is the cheapest vegetable oil to make and Ferrero uses 185,000 tons of palm oil per year to make Nutella. Needless to say, changing the recipe and including a different oil, a more expensive oil, would cost millions.
This is in no way defending Ferrero because if palm oil does cause cancer, there’s no doubt they should and better change their recipe. But I’m sure Ferrero isn’t thrilled about having to do that and like any corporation, do whatever they can to keep from spending any more money than they have to, to produce their product. Even if that may or may not be harmful toward the public.
On the other hand, it seems like just about any processed food causes cancer these days. Sadly, it’s getting near impossible to eat any food without some sort of health risk. Despite what Ferrero does with their tasty product, be aware of what you are eating and be your own advocate on what you are putting into your own body.
[SF Gate]
