Nutella is widely advertised as a component of a nutritious breakfast, providing much-needed energy to “fuel the day”, as Ferrero puts it. The company has created an image of health and nutrition towards their product. TV commercials for Nutella emphasize that each 400g jar contains “56 hazelnuts, a cup of skim milk and a hint of cocoa”.
Ingredients: sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk powder, whey powder, soy lecithin, vanillin.
Looking at the nutrition facts, it is evident that Nutella might not be a very healthy choice for breakfast every day: each serving provides 18% of the daily value of saturated fat and 17% of the daily value of total fat. The ingredient list provided on Nutella’s website has sugar at the top, implying that there is likely more sugar in the product (by weight) than anything else. Those percentages are high considering that the spread would likely make up a small portion of a person’s total food intake in a day.
After hearing about a class-action lawsuit in the United States against the product, I wondered whether these people actually took the time to read the nutrition labels, or if they simply accepted what they heard on TV. The information in the TV commercials gives us part of the story when it comes to the ingredients; however, as consumers trying to make healthy choices, it would be in our best interests to do our own research in order to gain a better understanding of the facts. When it comes to a healthy diet, it is crucial to understand the pros and cons of all the food products we consume. It is not adequate to simply accept what we see on TV. Some products may provide huge benefits to certain groups of people, while having negative effects on others. In the case of Nutella, the nutritional value of hazelnuts is there, but the flavor is only enhanced through higher sugar content – there is a tradeoff between nutrition and taste. In the end, it is up to consumers to decide what is more important to them.
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Nutella Nutrition Information
http://www.nutellausa.com/nutrition-facts.htm
Nutella