What is Nutella made of?

NUTELLA is a popular dessert-like spread known for its creamy texture and sweet flavors. Popularized in recent years due to commercials and advertisements, Nutella’s hazelnut flavor is well-known across the world. What is Nutella? Italian company Ferrero created the sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread, Nutella, on accident during World War II. Founder Pietro Ferrero began to […]

NUTELLA is a popular dessert-like spread known for its creamy texture and sweet flavors.

Popularized in recent years due to commercials and advertisements, Nutella’s hazelnut flavor is well-known across the world.

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What is Nutella?

Italian company Ferrero created the sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread, Nutella, on accident during World War II. Founder Pietro Ferrero began to add ground hazelnuts to chocolate in an attempt to help with the shortage of cocoa available in the country. 

Currently classified as a dessert, Ferrero is working to have Nutella rebranded as a breakfast topping. If this happens, the nutritional values on the back of the jar will have to change.

If reclassified as a breakfast topping, the nutritional size would be cut in half, from two tablespoons to one tablespoon. Nutella would then appear to seem healthier because the label would have lower nutritional values, but the small serving size is the cause. 

What is Nutella made of?

Nutella is made up of a few, simple ingredients. 

Sugar is the main ingredient, taking up over 50% of the recipe, which is why it’s not necessarily a healthy choice for breakfast options. 

Cocoa beans are pressed into powder form and hazelnuts are turned into a 100% pure paste.

Nutella also contains palm oil, which comes from the fruit of a palm tree. This provides Nutella with its creamy, spreadable texture. 

Skimmed powdered milk is added to the mixture to help with shelf-life. 

Soy lecithin acts as the emulsifier of this mixture, keeping Nutella’s ingredients from separating before being spread. Soy lecithin is an additive made of soy. 

Finally, vanillin, a naturally found component from vanilla bean extract, rounds out the sweet spread.

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What is the nutritional value of Nutella?

In the current serving size of two tablespoons, 200 calories are made up of 12 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, and 21 grams of sugar. Sugar is the main ingredient in Nutella. Calcium and iron both take up 4% of the RDI, or referenced daily intake.