--- title: Nutella: Greenpeace Defends Spread After French Minister Attacks description: Environmentalists approve of the way the choclate spread makers use palm oil canonical: https://time.com/3926118/greenpeace-nutella/ author: Eric Dodds article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-18T12:31:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:19:28.388Z article:section: Science og:title: Nutella: Greenpeace Defends Spread After French Minister Attacks og:description: Environmentalists approve of the way the choclate spread makers use palm oil og:url: https://time.com/3926118/greenpeace-nutella/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd9481ffd4d83411/6988551e3c1639a1f14586f2/nutella-greenpeace.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Nutella og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nutella: Greenpeace Defends Spread After French Minister Attacks twitter:description: Environmentalists approve of the way the choclate spread makers use palm oil twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd9481ffd4d83411/6988551e3c1639a1f14586f2/nutella-greenpeace.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Greenpeace Says It's Ok to Eat Nutella by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Jun 18, 2015 12:31 PM UTC  SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 18: Jars of Nutella are displayed on a shelf at a market on August 18, 2014 in San Francisco, California. The threat of a Nutella shortage is looming after a March frost in Turkey destroyed nearly 70 percent of the hazelnut crops, the main ingredient in the popular chocolate spread. Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts in the world. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 18: Jars of Nutella are displayed on a shelf at a market on August 18, 2014 in San Francisco, California. The threat of a Nutella shortage is looming after a March frost in Turkey destroyed nearly 70 percent of the hazelnut crops, the main ingredient in the popular chocolate spread. Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts in the world. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Eric Dodds](https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Jun 18, 2015 12:31 PM UTC Nutella may prove to be the unlikely source of a rift between Ségolène Royal, France’s ecology minister, and prominent environmental agency Greenpeace. In an interview on French television network Canal+ Monday night, Royal took her stand against the popular chocolate-hazelnut spread. ““We have to replant a lot of trees because there is massive deforestation that also leads to global warming,” she said. “We should stop eating Nutella, for example, because it’s made with palm oil.” Palm oil has contributed to deforestation in recent years and scientists have [linked it to climate change](http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/global%5Fwarming/palm-oil-and-global-warming.pdf). Nutella, however, has [taken steps to minimize](http://time.com/3924488/nutella-palm-oil-science-environment/) the environmental impact of its plantations, which likely explains why Greenpeace was willing to jump to the defense of the Italian company that manufactures it, Ferrero. In a [statement to Quartz](http://qz.com/430450/no-you-dont-have-to-boycott-nutella-for-the-environment-says-greenpeace/), the organization said it does not support a ban because “a blanket boycott of this agricultural crop will not solve problems in its production,” adding that Greenpeace “consider Ferrero to be one of the more progressive consumer-facing companies with regards to palm oil sourcing.” \[[QZ](http://qz.com/430450/no-you-dont-have-to-boycott-nutella-for-the-environment-says-greenpeace/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3926118/greenpeace-nutella/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3926118/greenpeace-nutella/"},"headline":"Greenpeace Says It's Ok to Eat Nutella","datePublished":"2015-06-18T12:31:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:19:28.388Z","description":"Environmentalists approve of the way the choclate spread makers use palm oil","url":"https://time.com/3926118/greenpeace-nutella/","keywords":["Environment","France","Nutella","greenpeace"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd9481ffd4d83411/6988551e3c1639a1f14586f2/nutella-greenpeace.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Dodds","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd9481ffd4d83411/6988551e3c1639a1f14586f2/nutella-greenpeace.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nutella","caption":"Nutella","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3926118/greenpeace-nutella/","name":"Greenpeace Says It's Ok to Eat Nutella"}}]}] ```