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Sweet victory over Nestles....and saving the orang-utan

Ah, Nestles (already the subject of much criticism in relation to the products it sells in Africa) was taken on by Greenpeace, using social media, with respect to the company's use of palm oil in making one of its chocolate products - with a by-product of orang-utans dying in Indonesia.

The Age reports:

"Environment group Greenpeace has claimed social media led to its success in a campaign that linked global food giant Nestle's chocolate bar Kit Kat to deforestation in Indonesian rainforests and the destruction of orang-utan habitats.

Today in Malaysia, Nestle announced a partnership with not-for-profit organisation The Forest Trust (TFT), promising to adhere to responsible sourcing guidelines for palm oil.

In a Greenpeace report titled Caught Red-handed, launched on March 17, Greenpeace exposed Nestle's use of Indonesian logging company Sinar Mas and subsidiaries including Asia Pulp and Paper to obtain palm oil.

Palm oil is used as an ingredient in Nestle chocolate products, including its well known Kit Kat chocolate bars.

Greenpeace said Sinar Mas was implicated in rainforest destruction and the destruction of orang-utan habitats as it planted plantations for palm oil and pulp."

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