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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Chocolate bar raises rain forest fears

Norway’s classic chocolate wafer bar known as a “Kvikk Lunsj” (“quick lunch,” and similar to a Kit-Kat bar) is closely tied to the great outdoors, since it’s often found in hikers’ backpacks. Now, however, environmental group Greenpeace fears the candy bar is contributing to the destruction of rain forests.

That, reports newspaper Aftenposten, is because its producer Mondelez International buys its palm oil through Indonesian palm oil giant Wilmar. Environmental organization Greenpeace has documented several instances where the oil comes from illegal plantations through suppliers that have been linked to burning rain forests. Wilmar has declared it won’t burn rain forests to make room for plantations, reported Aftenposten, but its suppliers aren’t held to the same demand.

“The report shows a direct connection between the rain forests disappearing and known products that many Norwegians have a connection to,” Truls Gulowsen of Greenpeace Norway told Aftenposten. Greenpeace is demanding that the “dirty palm oil” be replaced with “green alternatives, so we can keep buying products (like Kvikk Lunsj) with a good conscience,” Gulowsen said.

Celin Huseby of Mondelez International told Aftenposten that the company shares Greenpeace’s concerns for the environmental aspects of palm oil production. “We’re aware of the challenges,” Huseby told Aftenposten, adding that its membership in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil is the best way to develop and manage standards for sustainable production of palm oil.

newsinenglish.no staff

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