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| Nutella | |
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| A 400 g jar of Nutella for the German market. | |
| Serving size | 37 g |
| Calories | 200kcal |
| Calories from fat | 99kcal |
| Total fat | 11g |
| Ingredients | Sugar, vegetable oil, 13% hazelnuts, cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder, lecithin, vanilla |
Nutella is the brand name of a hazelnut-based sweet spread created by the Italian company Ferrero in the 1940s. At the time, chocolate was very limited due to the Second World War. Nutella is now marketed in over 75 countries across the globe.
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History
Gianduja is a type of chocolate containing about 50% almond and hazelnut paste that was developed in Piedmont after excessive taxes on cocoa beans hindered the diffusion of conventional chocolate. Pietro Ferrero owned a patisserie in Alba, in the Langhe district of Piedmont, an area known for the production of hazelnuts. In 1946 he sold an initial batch of 300 kilograms (660 lb) of "Pasta Gianduja". This was a solid block, but in 1949 Pietro developed his first spread, which he first sold in 1951 as "Supercrema".
In 1963, Pietro's son Michele Ferrero decided to revamp Supercrema, with the intention of marketing it Europe-wide; its composition was modified, as well as the label image and brand name: the name "Nutella" (based on the word "nut") and its logo were registered towards the end of the same year, and remain unchanged to this day. The first jar of Nutella left the Ferrero factory in Alba on April 20, 1964. The product was an instant success, and remains widely popular. The estimated Italian production of Nutella averages 179,000 tons per year.citation needed !
Pronunciation
The Italian pronunciation is IPA: [nuˈtɛlːa], and an approximation of this is made in most other languages, including American English. In the UK, however, Nutella is normally pronounced /nʌˈtɛlə/, reflecting its derivation from the English word "nut" /nʌt/.
Composition
Nutella is a modified form of gianduja. The exact recipe is a secret closely guarded by Ferrero. According to the product label, the main ingredients of Nutella are sugar and modified vegetable oils, followed far behind by hazelnut, cocoa and skimmed milk, comprising together at most 28% of the ingredients. The recipe for Nutella varies in different countries. In the case of Italy the formulation uses less sugar than the product sold in France. Nutella is marketed as "hazelnut cream" in many countries; it cannot be labeled as a chocolate cream under Italian law, as it does not meet minimum cocoa concentration criteria.
About half of the calories in Nutella come from fat (11g in a 37g serving, or 99 kcal out of 200 kcal) and about 40% of the calories come from sugar (20g, 80 kcal). [1]
Listed ingredients
Nutrition Facts
Per 13 OZ Jar (371g) (USA & Canada Product)
Calories 1950
Fat 110g - Saturated 35g - Trans 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 150mg
Carbohydrate 220g - Fiber 10g - Sugars 210g
Protein 30g
Allergy information
Nutella is generally not recommended for people with an allergy to nuts.
For many years (according to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, from at least October 2000 to at least August 2007) the Nutella USA FAQ used to state that the peanut oil used in Nutella production goes through a hot-solvent extraction process, which removes its protein content and is thus supposed to make it non-allergenic. This FAQ statement has been removed. The fact that Nutella contains traces of peanuts has caused it to be banned (in common with other foods that may contain nuts) from school lunches in some schools in Australia, UK, and Canada where pupils bring their own lunch to school. These schools call themselves "Nut-free zones"[1]. As of late 2007, Nutella sold in the USA and Canada no longer uses peanut oil.
Nutella is also not recommended for people with milk allergy or lactose intolerance because of its skimmed milk and whey content.
Containers
Although Nutella is marketed in a variety of packages, its typical containers have always been those made of glass (plastic containers are more common in the USA and Greececitation needed). Initially, the most popular glass containers were quite small, in fact just the size of a standard table glass for drinking, with the result that they can be used as normal table glasses once the product inside has been consumed. Different forms of these glasses are produced, turning them into collectible items.
Nowadays, Nutella is more frequently marketed in jars of a characteristic, trademarked oval shape (pictured above). These are often 200 g, 350 g, 400 g or 750 g jars, although in some countries (such as Italy and France), 3 kg and 5 kg jars are available (most often in special occasions, such as Christmas). In the United States it is typically sold in 13 oz jars (371 grams). Beside these, there are also 'limited editions' jars, like in the German market in 2002 to celebrate the introduction of the €uro currency. The jar contained 1.95583 kg which is the exact exchange rate Deutsche Mark - €uro.
In Australia Nutella is sold in the standard shape plastic jars with translucent plastic screw top lids. Single serve catering packs aimed at the school lunch market are also available in retail stores.
Success
In Italy
In its home country of Italy, Nutella has become a cultural and social phenomenon. Many books have been written about it, and it is the core of a celebrated scene in the movie Bianca, by the Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti, in which a character relieves his post-coital anxieties by eating from a gigantic Nutella jar.
In France
Most notably in Paris, crêpes with Nutella spread and sliced banana are popular with Parisians as well as tourists. They are sold everywhere in the streets, and the crêperies are often "decorated" with lots of full Nutella jars.
Internationally
Nutella is also very popular in the rest of Europe, India, Malaysia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico and South Africa, mostly with children and teenagers. This is less true in the United States, where the product was only available as an expensive import until the 2000s. In the United States, basketball star Kobe Bryant was a former spokesman for Nutella, having grown up in Italy. Nutella is briefly mentioned in Chloé Doutre-Roussel's "The Chocolate Connoisseur", which includes an anecdote of her mother flying into Mexico with several jars and smearing it on her face to convince a Customs Officer that it was a facial mask, and not a banned food product. In 1999 Nutella was one of the official sponsors of the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions league season. They were advertised at every game on a bill board.
Competitors
While Nutella has generally become synonymous with hazelnut and chocolate spread worldwide, similar products with other brand names enjoy wide success in some countries. This includes "Merenda" in Greece ("merenda" is Italian for a mid-afternoon snack), Nocilla in Spain, Nucita in South America, and Çokella (or Çokomel) in Turkey.
- Nocilla in Spain (Nocilla is an originally Spanish product. Nutella only entered the Spanish market recently).
- Tulicreme in Portugal
- Nudossi, Nutoka, Nulacta, Nusspli, Winsenia and Choco Duo in Germany
- Mars has a brown-and-white swirled hazelnut-chocolate spread, Milky Way, named for its Milky Way bar.
- "Alpella" in Turkey, product by Ülker.
- Choconutta, Hazella spread and a wide variety of Store Brand hazelnut spreads are available in Canada.
- Plasmon's Ergo Spalma and Star's Ciao Crem have been the most important alternative products to Nutella in Italy though nowadays they are no longer on sale. Ergo Spalma had quite a lot more chocolate than Nutella in it. There was another competitor, less famous, called Nutty Bicolore (Bicolore means "two colours") which was a jar of a Nutella-like cream combined with a beige vanilla cream. During the late '80s, the Nutella brand copied this particular recipe creating Nutella Bicolore, which however did not encounter great success.
- Nugatti in Norway
- Nuttino - made in Italy. Sold in Australia.
- Viki krema in Slovenia
- Eurocrem in Serbia
- EvroKremm in Czech Republic
- Nucita in Venezuela
- Nucy in the Dominican Republic
See also
- Gnutella, a file sharing protocol, is named as a pun on 'Nutella' and the GNU licensing scheme. Its pronunciation is similar to how an American English speaker would pronounce "Nutella" (see the section on pronunciation, above).
Notes and references
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/3682659.stm Schools become 'nut-free zones'
- http://www.nutella.it/ Official Nutella website (in Italian; there is a section on product history).
- Rosenblum, Mort. Chocolate: A Bittersweet Sage of Dark and Light (2006), "Where's the Nutella", pp. 241-247. ISBN 0865477302
External links
- Official websites: Italian, English (USA), French (France), English/French (Canada), Scotland (UK),
- World Nutella Day, February 5, 2008
- Flickr group showing photos of Nutella and Nutella alternatives
