Malaysiasian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said on Tuesday that reports saying that the palm oil ingredient of Nutella is cancerous is just a distortion of facts.

Buzz Nigeria reported that a number of supermarkets abroad have removed products containing cancerous ingredients like processed palm oil as precautionary measures. The ban is likely to continue until new research confirms that it is safe to consume such foods. The recent move affected Nutella.

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In connection to this, Mah told reporters at the "Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook" seminar that the government has already allocated RM50 million ($11.25 million) to research about the alleged cancerous palm oil ingredient.

Mah said that GE (glycidyl fatty acid esters) and 3-MCPD (3-monochloropropanediol) are both present in vegetable oils just like olive oil. He pointed out that such chemicals are not cancerous; hence, it will not affect the popular and favorite Nutella choco spread. 

Mah also expressed his dissatisfaction about the news especially the western media for merely focusing on the palm oil present in Nutella. He was disappointed because Nutella is Europe’s iconic brand and Italy’s biggest export.

“On behalf of oil palm planters, I would like to express my appreciation to Ferrero Group, the world's third largest confectioner and maker of Nutella, for keeping to its recipe of using palm oil,” he said.

New Straits Times reported that the Ferrero Group asserted that Nutella products are safe to consume because the ingredients contained in each jar are measured to limit the contaminants to the minimum level.

“Our quality control teams constantly monitor such factors and guarantee the food safety of our products to the consumer," a Ferrero Group spokesperson noted.

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