A San Diego mother is suing Ferrero, the maker of chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella, for claiming the product is a "nutritious" part of a healthy breakfast. Athena Hohenberg claims she was "shocked" to learn that Nutella was actually "the next best thing to a candy bar." The plaintiff hopes the claim will become a class action lawsuit, so that other mothers can share in any monetary judgement. Is her anger justified?
Yes. Nutella is junk food: Nutella's main ingredients are sugar and palm oil, says Travis Saunders at Obesity Panacea. "Roughly half the calories in Nutella are from sugar, and the other half are from fat." A single serving contains precisely no Vitamin A or C, and "just 10 percent of [your] recommended intake of Vitamin E." So in what way, exactly, is this "nutritious"?
"Nutella — delicious? Yes! Nutritious? Probably not"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
No way. This lawsuit is ridiculous: Here's some advice for Hohenberg, says Amy Scattergood at L.A. Weekly. "If you normally feed [your kids] good food, a jar of Nutella now and then isn't going to kill anyone." Sure, it isn't any better than the "Froot Loops and Egg McMuffin and supersized Coke" you might buy your kid from time to time. But you don't need a lawsuit to keep your children safe. "A little responsible parenting" will do just fine.
"California mother sues Nutella: OMG it's not health food"
If Nutella was healthy, it would be awful: Whole Foods made its own chocolate hazelnut spread a few years ago, says Richard Gorelick in The Baltimore Sun, and it was a "much better-made product." It had none of the "hydrogenated oils" prevalent in European foods, and "nothing artificial." But the result was "completely without appeal." Put simply, "Nutella is so good because it's bad."
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
