Say it ain’t so… Nutella, our favorite snack of childhood (uhm, adulthood) contains cancer-causing chemicals, according to a warning by the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) back in May. Palm oil, which according to Nutella-maker Ferrero gives the chocolate- and hazelnut-flavored spread its smooth texture, is the primary culprit, The Independent reports. Particularly, a compound known as glycidyl fatty acid esters (GE), which are produced in palm oil when it is heated above 200°C. Dr Helle Knutsen, chair of Contam, the EFSA panel that investigated palm oil, said in May: “There is sufficient evidence that glycidol is genotoxic and carcinogenic, therefore the Contam panel did not set a safe level for GE.” The resulting consumer backlash has hit Nutella sales hard, despite the fact that palm oil is found in hundreds of household-name food brands including Cadbury’s chocolate, Clover and Ben & Jerry’s. Consumer boycott has caused a 3% dip in sales and Italy’s supermarket chain Coop removed the Nutella products that contain palm oil.

Ferrero has responded (as all concerned corporations do) with a marketing campaign designed to reassure consumers. It has also insisted on continuing the use of palm oil, saying that it does not want to degrade the quality of the product. “Making Nutella without palm oil would produce an inferior substitute for the real product, it would be a step backward,” said Ferrero’s purchasing manager Vincenzo Tapella. Substitute oils, derived for example from sunflowers or rapeseed, could be used but would increase the cost of making the product substantially, according to Reuters. All of these revelations are leaving us to wonder: Is nothing sacred?