AS thousands of people dig into chocolate Easter eggs this weekend, one Swindon baker is calling on the town to think twice about some of the ingredients – with one posing a deadly threat to wildlife across the globe.

Palm oil is often used by companies in the manufacture of confectionary fats, especially cocoa substitutes, in hope of increasing the product's shelf life.

But Samantha Whittingham, 28, of Corporate Cakery, based at Cheney Manor, wants more people to be aware at how a simple festive treat could contain the ingredient which is causing devastation to forests and wildlife in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

“Being Easter, a lot of people buy chocolate as a fast buy and I thought this would be a good opportunity to focus on the ethical side of the product to show people the added ingredients that people aren’t aware of but also show how sourcing them is causing devastation to wildlife across the world," she said.

“From a personal level, I am becoming more self-conscious of doing good and being aware of things I have control over and buying products without palm oil is just one way.

“There are alternatives that companies can use to give their products a longer shelf life such as coconut oil so for me it is about the bigger picture in the world."

Inspired to educate others of more ethical choices, Samantha, who started her baking business three years ago, decided to write a blog post about her mission to find chocolate Easter eggs with no palm oil.

She now hopes her customers but also members of the public will be more aware of their buying choices particularly this weekend at Easter.

“One of my core values, which comes from a personal level but also one for my business, is ethics," Samantha said.

“I decided I wanted to find out more about palm oil in chocolate, which is why I wrote the blog post about it to see how many of the big brands still use it and which one is most ethical and in the end I was surprised that Aldi came out on top.

“I understand that people are creatures of habit and they trust these big brands but I hope people look up palm oil because it isn’t just about the impact on wildlife. It is about the people who are not earning what they should working on these plantations and so I hope people tap into the consequences using palm oil has on them.

“The biggest issue for me is that the use of palm oil in chocolate but also other products is contributing so much to global warming and it is bad for the planet as a whole.

“If people started checking the labels, particularly with chocolate, I think they would be surprised about what is in them and so with Easter there’s obviously going to be a lot of people buying it and hopefully the blog encourages at least one person to buy a different brand with no palm oil."

For more information about Samantha's blog, visit www.corporatecakery.com