An ode to Nutella - yummy, chocolatey and 'good' for you (Ferrero Nutella)

Member Name: KLockwood75

Product:	Ferrero Nutella
Date:	09/11/09 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious and low GI so reasonably good for you

Disadvantages: Far too easy to become addicted!

Nutella has always been one of those treats that I try not to have in the house. I could quite happily eat it straight from the jar with a spoon, trying to convince myself that calories don't count if you eat it standing up, so I attempt to resist temptation by simply not buying it. I've tried to keep it an occasional treat, as something I only eat when I find a mini tub on the breakfast buffet on holiday, but pregnancy cravings have meant that my resistance has crumbled and Nutella is now a permanent resident in my kitchen cupboards.

For anyone who hasn't yet succumbed to the temptation of Nutella, it is a chocolate and hazelnut spread which was founded in Italy in 1946. The product was launched in the UK in 1964 and 2009 represents its 45th year on the UK market. It is available in all major supermarkets and comes in various sizes of jar - 200g, 400g and 750g. We tend to buy the smaller 200g jar as the bigger jars would just be too much temptation for me to cope with!

The flavour of Nutella is a combination of hazelnuts and chocolate, with a thick creamy taste. It is sweet without being sickly, and the texture is a smooth paste. The hazelnuts just give a hint of nuttiness without the nutty flavour being overwhelming - my three year old says he doesn't like nuts (but then he says he doesn't like lots of things) and he has never noticed anything but the chocolate taste that he wants to experience from the product. It tastes like the inside of a Ferrero Rocher chocolate - perhaps unsurprisingly when you consider they are made by the same company.

The classic way to eat Nutella is to spread it on toast. I like it best spread thickly on hot thick white toast but have been trying to make it a slightly healthier addiction by eating it on wholemeal toast recently which still tastes pretty good (it's just slightly less likely that I will eat four slices instead of the usual two). It is also delicious spread on toasted waffles - particularly if topped with strawberries and cream for an indulgent weekend breakfast. Or spread on to thin pancakes and rolled up (with chopped banana if you want to add a fruit portion). Oh, and it tastes great spooned straight into your mouth from the jar, as any true Nutella addict will tell you!

Recently, Nutella has been promoting itself as a healthy option. This is mainly because the two hazelnuts contained in every portion make it a low GI food and release their energy slowly, making it a great way to start the day. Every 15g portion (the suggested serving size) contains 2 whole hazelnuts, some skimmed milk and a dash of cocoa and has 80 calories and 4.7g of fat (1.5g of saturated fat). And if all this means that it is actually good for me to eat chocolate for breakfast, then who am I to argue?

The product costs about £1.25 for the 200g jar and £1.90 for the 400g jar.

So, overall, Nutella is a good food to have in the cupboard as a breakfast food. It's probably not something that you should eat everyday but as an occasional treat it's delicious and good for the whole family. Anyway, typing all of this has made me hungry and I'm off in search of the Nutella jar again.... Now, can I be bothered to actually make toast or should I just eat it straight from the jar (again)?

Summary: My favourite thing to eat on toast