Remove carcinogen-contaminated palm oil from infant formula now. Il Fatto Alimentare and Great Italian Food Trade issue this call to companies that have been using the tropical fat for years for almost exclusively economic reasons. This is unacceptable, especially after the May 2016 Efsa opinion on the presence of carcinogenic contaminants in palm oil generated during refining. Then there is the issue of land robbery and from the unbridled deforestation that is still ongoing to extend palm plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Large companies justify the use of palm with the need to achieve a composition suitable for the nutritional needs of infants and to ensure greater stability. These are weak arguments given that brands such as Coop, Sicura and Dicofarm (and recently Plasmon with only two products) have been using other fats for years without penalizing quality.
The arguments in favor of palm are similar to those of cookie and snack manufacturers who justified its use with implausible theses, only to scramble to change recipes so as not to lose market share (as Barilla is doing).
If until now milk powder manufacturers have ignored environmental issues, it is now difficult to justify the presence of a carcinogen-contaminated ingredient in infant formula. We asked the companies for clarification, but the answers were general and no one made specific commitments. With this petition Il Fatto Alimentare and Great Italian Food Trade ask: Mellin, Nutricia, Ordesa, Hipp, Humana, Milte, Nestlé, Unifarm, Sterilfarma, Nipiol, Menarini, Alter Laboratories, Plasmon, and Holle to immediately change their powdered milk formulas, eliminating any possible contamination of carcinogens.
Convincing companies to change a product is difficult but we are hopeful. Already in the past after a year and a half of pressing, 176,000 signatures and more than 100 articles, we convinced Mulino Bianco, Pavesi, Colussi, Plasmon… and dozens of other companies to remove palm oil. This time we hope to take less time.
Sign the petition: change.org/stoppalmabiberon
Milan September 6, 2016
Gift – Great Italian Food Trade
Lungotevere di Pietra Papa 111, 00146 Rome
+39 328 56 93 345
greatitalianfoodtrade@gmail.com
The Food Fact
Via Soperga 18, 20127 Milan,+39 02.92881022
ilfattoalimentare@ilfattoalimentare.it
