BELGIAN COURT RULING ON OIL PALM HAILED
Up to €1 million fine for misrepresentation, lies about palm oil nutritional value and planters’ good agricultural practices
MALAYSIA has hailed a European court ruling in penalising those who misrepresent and tell lies about palm oil’s high nutritional value and good agricultural practices by oil palm planters.
“I know the court ruling in Belgium is not easy to enforce, but this is an acknowledgement that the truth about palm oil nutrition and oil palm planting will prevail.
“The Belgian court’s ruling to Delhaize to immediately cease such illegal claims on its food labels is a step in the right direction,” said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.
“Now we’re seeing a court in Europe making a stand to punish those who misrepresent and tell lies about palm oil,” he added.
Mah noted that earlier, Delhaize, a Belgian supermarket which had merged with Ahold last year to create a €40 billion (RM218.25 billion) retail empire, had cited “potential health concerns” with palm oil in an assessment by the European Food Safety Authority.
But a couple of weeks ago, a Belgian court ruled that Nutella rival Choco cannot advertise wrongful claims that its chocolate spread is healthier and more eco-friendly than Nutella through its “No Palm Oil” food labelling.
The court ruled that supermarket chain Delhaize would be penalised up to €1 million for continued and repeated wrongful and illegal claims defaming palm oil.
The dispute began with Delhaize’s 2013 advertising campaign claiming its best-selling Choco spread is “better for you and more eco-friendly because it doesn’t contain any palm oil”, unlike Nutella.
Choco is manufactured with sunflower oil, cocoa butter and coconut oil, while Nutella contains hazelnut, sugar, palm oil and cocoa solids.
Nutella’s manufacturer, Ferrero, took heart and sued Delhaize for hurting its reputation.
For the past five years, confectionery giant Ferrero, which posts more than US$10 billion (RM42.9 billion) in revenue a year, persevered its way through Belgian judiciary system.
Its courageous initiative has set the record straight that Choco’s advertising is deceptive and damaging to its bestseller, Nutella.
Mah reiterated that Ferrero’s victory in Belgium is also a longawaited milestone for oil palm planters across Malaysia and Indonesia in the trade politics of the lucrative global vegetable oils market.