Nutella fans enraged over recipe change [Updated 11/10/2017]

UPDATE 11/10/2017 12:59pm PT: a spokesperson from Nutella asked us to include their statement on this issue. It reads as follows:

We produce Nutella with the same care all over the world. And we make sure our consumers are fully satisfied with the unique Nutella experience through frequent and robust taste tests.

The recent fine-tuning we performed is only a minor change. Concretely in the US, the content of hazelnuts, cocoa, sugar and palm oil remains unchanged. The fine-tuning consists of substituting whey powder with an equivalent quantity (2.1g/100g total product) of milk powder (from 6.6% to 8.7% of total product). This enables us to improve the overall quality of the milk content and to ensure a better consistency of our unique taste over time.

That’s all. Our recipe contains 7 simple ingredients, with no colors or preservatives. The nutritional values remain practically unchanged.

The manufacturer of Nutella is in damage-control mode after the Hamburg Consumer Protection Center revealed the recipe had been changed. The new Nutella has more skimmed milk powder, more sugar, less cocoa, and less fat. It’s also lighter in color. Fans of the hazelnut chocolate spread are shocked and confused by the change.

From WaPo:

Ferrero, the Italian company that makes Nutella, Tic Tacs and Ferrero Rocher chocolates, insisted that “the quality . . . and all other aspects of Nutella remain the same,” in a statement obtained by the BBC.

The changes are to its milk and sugar content. The new recipe has 8.7 percent powdered skim milk, instead of 7.5 percent. It also contains 56.3 percent sugar, instead of the previous 55.9 percent, the Hamburg Consumer Protection Center said, according to Deutsche Welle.

“As the color of the new Nutella is lighter, we are working on the assumption that skimmed milk powder was added at the expense of cacao,” the center said, although Ferrero did not confirm this.

Image: Janine/Flickr