If you're a fan of Nutella, the beloved chocolate hazelnut spread that has taken the world by storm in the last few years, then you might want to sit down to hear this news. In what's being called Nutellagate, Ferrero, the Italian company that owns Nutella, is making a recipe change for the internationally-adored spread.
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Fans on social media are not taking kindly to the news that broke when Nutella posted on its German Facebook page that stated it would add more powdered milk, increasing the spread's sugar content. Per CNN Money, the Hamburg Consumer Protection Center stated that the recipe tweak made the chocolate spread lighter in color than the typical deep, rich brown it normally is.
Additionally, powdered skimmed milk increased from 7.5 percent to 8.7 percent in the Nutella ingredients list. The brand posted a tweet stating it was fine-tuning its recipe once the Hamburg report was released.
our recipe underwent a fine-tuning and continues to deliver the Nutella fans know and love with high quality ingredients
— Nutella (@NutellaUSA) November 7, 2017
The Hamburg Consumer Protection Centre, a German consumer group, stated that cocoa lost its rank in the ingredient listing, falling behind a few other ingredients. This signaled to the company that milk powder was added to replace a bit of cocoa. The new Nutella, however, is not going over well with American consumers.
Many Nutella fans are upset by the recipe change because they believe that the new recipe change would indeed make the spread even sweeter, something that many find unnecessary.
Been faithful to Nutella for years. Why did you change a perfectly good recipe? Add more sugar? Still have some of the old recipe. If I don't like the new one, I'll find another spread. Lots of choices.
— Barbara Hall (@barjhall) November 9, 2017
Why in the heck would you add more sugar? Completely unnecessary. Stop tweaking perfectly good recipes. Why make it even more unhealthy than it already was? Off brands have less sugar, are cheaper, and taste just as good.
— Matt Beals (@matt_beals) November 9, 2017
And it's true. If you've had the rich spread, you know that just one spoonful can satisfy a chocolate craving and lead to another spoonful, after another, and another until the whole jar is almost empty.
For now, we will just have to see how the new Nutella compares to the tried-and-true Nutella recipe with the increase in skimmed milk powder. While the brand often came under fire in the United States for how decadent and sweet the spread was, many Nutella lovers felt it was like indulging in a chocolate bar.
