# Nutella - most deceptive product on the shelf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285 "2013-02-24T21:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/1 "2013-02-24T21:19:08Z")
From another thread: > [@85% Cocoa solids? Not bad.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/85-cocoa-solids-not-bad/651229/5): > > What’s the composition of Nutella? It tastes OK, but I doubt its much but sugar. From the Nutella site: > [@](#): > > **Over 50 Hazelnuts per 13 oz. Jar > Contains No Artificial Colors > Contains No Artificial Preservatives** > ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (milk), lecithin as emulsifier (soy), vanillin: an artificial flavor. Christ on a pogo stick. I assumed you were joking (never tasted the stuff) and I _know_ how prevalent sugar is in grocery foods, but… the sugar outweighs the nuts? And then - St. Cecil preserve us - so does the palm oil? And despite boldface lines 1 and 2, it ends with an artificial flavor? I’m \*so \*glad it has no artificial colors or preservatives, then. Let’s give all the kids a spoon and pass it around. Since this is promoted alongside peanut butter, which is at least mostly nuts in the better brands, this is another case of sheer, bald-faced marketing of garbage as kid food. It now officially tops “Vitamin Water” on my decepticon list. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/2 "2013-02-24T21:29:29Z")
Ok, so which part is deceptive? ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/3 "2013-02-24T21:32:14Z")
This is why I can’t stand the commercial where the mother explains she adds Nutella to toast to make sure her kids eat something healthy for breakfast. Bread slathered in frosting is not healthy. ETA: responding to the first post, not Snarky\_Kong. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/4 "2013-02-24T21:35:25Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Ok, so which part is deceptive? The general tenor of the advertising, [according to the class action lawsuit that the Nutella makers agreed to settle out of court](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/26/151454929/nutella-maker-may-settle-deceptive-ad-lawsuit-for-3-million): > [@](#): > > […] the trouble began when Athena Hohenberg realized that the Nutella she’d been feeding her 4-year-old daughter was “the next best thing to a candy bar,” according to court documents. Hohenberg says she was taken in by ads and product labels that claimed Nutella was “healthy” and “part of a balanced meal.” […] > > Naturally, Ferrero’s ads don’t mention the fat or sugar. Instead they talk up the “simple, quality ingredients like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa.” Apparently, that gave Hohenberg’s claim enough weight to convince Ferrero to settle. The company now says it will change its nutrition labels and its advertising, in addition to the $3 million payout. > > Under the terms of the proposed settlement, anyone who purchased Nutella in the last few years may join the class action. Each claim will pay out up to $20 – that’s $4 per jar, on up to five jars – or less, depending on the number of claimants. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/5 "2013-02-24T21:37:31Z")
For years Nutella walked a kind of careful line by talking about their quality healthy ingredients without alluding to the fact that it is a giant wad of choco-fat. Last year, however, someone sued and they ended up settling a class-action suit. > **[Nutella Case Proves Stupid People Can Have Smart Lawyers](https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/04/27/nutella-case-proves-stupid-people-can-have-smart-lawyers/)** > > Nutella: not a health food. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/6 "2013-02-24T21:38:36Z")
Dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/7 "2013-02-24T21:39:02Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Ok, so which part is deceptive? I ass/u/med the context was understood, my bad. Besides the above responses, just go look at the Nutella site. It’s pictured and presented as a “hazelnut, skim milk and cocoa” spread. It’s shown as a breakfast food, and the entire presentation would be better suited to orange juice, granola or something off a health food store’s shelf. And it’s the next thing to absolute garbage it could be. There are candy bars that are healthier combinations of foodlike substances. And it’s suddenly EVERYWHERE. It’s gone from a niche product to a case-lots staple, or presented that way. I have no doubt at all that 90% of its buyers are buying the “healthy” presentation at face value and have no idea it’s toxic sludge. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/8 "2013-02-24T21:41:46Z")
Nutella? Really? It’s chocolate spread! Hazelnut flavored, sure, but no one would confuse it with peanut butter. It’s extremely sweet and has the consistency of lard. The advertising may be deceptive, but I’ve never seen any ads. I don’t see anyone actually tasting the stuff, or even seeing it, and thinking it’s healthy. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/9 "2013-02-24T21:42:05Z")
Very tasty though on toast with peanut butter and banana. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/10 "2013-02-24T21:44:54Z")
> [@catnoe](#): > > Very tasty though on toast… I have no doubt. The human taste for the nutritively worst things is well-documented, and the reason you can hardly find a single processed food that doesn’t contain sugar and all its variants, sometimes in groups. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/11 "2013-02-24T21:50:27Z")
According to a couple of dietary information sites, hazelnut seeds weigh about 1.4 grams each. 21 reportedly weight 28.35g. So the “50 hazelnuts in the 13 oz. jar” weigh no more than about 2.4 ounces, or represent only 18 percent of the content. I would be surprised if that’s actually the amount in there - given the level of misrepresentation here, it could be half that with readily available jiggering of the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/12 "2013-02-24T21:55:05Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > I ass/u/med the context was understood, my bad. Besides the above responses, just go look at the Nutella site. It’s pictured and presented as a “hazelnut, skim milk and cocoa” spread. It’s shown as a breakfast food, and the entire presentation would be better suited to orange juice, granola or something off a health food store’s shelf. FWIW, a lot of foods people equate with “healthy” _aren’t_, particularly. To take the examples you listed, there isn’t very much daylight between soda and orange juice, and granola can be kind of hit-or-miss depending on how much sugar is added. Nutella is hardly the first sugary, processed food to market itself as natural and healthful. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/13 "2013-02-24T21:59:26Z")
So it’s just like every cereal marketed to children? I don’t pay attention to ads really. I just know it’s what yuppie twnty something eat on crepes. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/14 "2013-02-24T21:59:59Z")
My parents are from Italy, so growing up I and my relatives and school friends were exposed to Nutella since the mid-1907’s. Its not logical, but my parents thought that, being Italian, it was superior to other snack foods. Like I said, there’s nothing logical about this – I gradually became aware that it was heavy in sugar, but there are worse snacks – such as, I suppose, a drum of frosting. Only recently did I notice how rich it was in palm oil and other saturated fats. I suppose its OK for rapidly growing kids, but I don;t go looking to eat it. To add another layer of illogic – my mother will only purchase and eat it in a glass jar. That is produced in Italy. The plastic jarred Nutella is produced in Canada. I try to tell her – if you really want chocolate with a hint of hazelnut … the recipe is likely the same, and it hasn’t endured an Atlantic voyage. But my explanation never works. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/15 "2013-02-24T22:02:54Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Nutella? Really? It’s chocolate spread! Hazelnut flavored, sure, but no one would confuse it with peanut butter. It’s extremely sweet and has the consistency of lard. The advertising may be deceptive, but I’ve never seen any ads. I don’t see anyone actually tasting the stuff, or even seeing it, and thinking it’s healthy. Really? You don’t think buying shelf space and stocking it between the peanut butter and the cashew butter might (intentionally) confuse people into thinking it’s nut butter? Not to mention, y’know, the word “NUT” in the name? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to explain to my husband that it’s basically cake frosting. He’s still in denial, even after a side-by-side label comparison where cake frosting even came out a bit ahead in some areas. On the other hand, I made delicious and super easy [Nutella Crescent Cookies](http://saucymommy.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/nutella-crescent-cookies/) yesterday. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/16 "2013-02-24T22:03:32Z")
Nutella’s okay (but you’d have to be insane to think it’s healthy), but I think [Nusco](http://www.dutchsweets.com/nusco-nusco-hazelnut-chocolate-spread-p-584.html) is better. I’d love to make it at home, and skip the palm oil and such, but apparently it’s hard to grind the hazelnuts finely enough with at-home-use food processors. You can make some quite delicious Nutella hot chocolate with it, as well. Just heat up milk on stove, and glop in some Nutella, as much you like, stir, and it melts in and… yum. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/17 "2013-02-24T22:08:58Z")
> [@BorgHunter](#): > > FWIW, a lot of foods people equate with “healthy” _aren’t_, particularly. To take the examples you listed, there isn’t very much daylight between soda and orange juice, and granola can be kind of hit-or-miss depending on how much sugar is added. Nutella is hardly the first sugary, processed food to market itself as natural and healthful. I didn’t want to waste too much space with the obvious, but you’re right. I’d argue about orange juice being more healthy than you allow - excluding the orangy blended drinks that do include added sugar and other crap - and I meant real granola, not the sugary pretend crap from the commercial mills, and I am far too aware of how much food is mis-represented in both marketing and on the shelf. I am simply flabbergasted that such utter shit-in-a-jar is so bald-facedly presented as a healthy product. The size of the gap is boggling. It’s up there with ZikZak Burger Paks - where some of the plastic rubs off on the meat and doubles the nutrition. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/18 "2013-02-24T22:10:08Z")
If it wasn’t sweet nobody would eat it, and it has to have fat in it or it wouldn’t spread or have any sort of shelf life. It differs little from peanut butter in composition, so what’s the big deal? I’m always amazed at the number of people that claim to be surprised by something that is patently obvious, and even more surprised by the courts that believe them. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/19 "2013-02-24T22:11:30Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Really? You don’t think buying shelf space and stocking it between the peanut butter and the cashew butter might (intentionally) confuse people into thinking it’s nut butter? Not to mention, y’know, the word “NUT” in the name? Bingo. If it were over on the jelly or candy aisle and marketed as a yummy cocoa-flavored spread, it would be completely un-noteworthy. But it’s shouldered its way in between Skippy and Jif, in substantial volume, and quietly accepts being accepted as a “healthy nut spread.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285/20 "2013-02-24T22:17:35Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > If it wasn’t sweet nobody would eat it, and it has to have fat in it or it wouldn’t spread or have any sort of shelf life. It differs little from peanut butter in composition, so what’s the big deal? > > I’m always amazed at the number of people that claim to be surprised by something that is patently obvious, and even more surprised by the courts that believe them. Notice any differences between [Jif Peanut Butter](http://www.foodfacts.com/NutritionFacts/Condiments-Dressings/Jif-Natural-Peanut-Butter-Crunchy--oz/57831) and [Nutella](http://www.foodfacts.com/NutritionFacts/Chocolate/Nutella-Hazelnut-Spread-26-oz/58022)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nutella-most-deceptive-product-on-the-shelf/651285.md?page=2)