Everyone’s talking about . . .

NUTELLA Why is it in the news?

FANS of the chocolate spread were upset last week when they heard the recipe had been altered to include more sugar and powdered milk. Then yesterday manufacturer Ferrero was attacked for raising prices.

But people still buy it?

NUTELLA shifts one jar every 2.5 seconds in 160 countries. The amount of Nutella produced at its 12 factories in one year weighs as much as the Empire State Building — and if you smeared it out on toast it would be long enough to circle the world 1.4 times.

So WHAT is in it?

THE main ingredients are sugar (up from 55.9 to 56.3 per cent), palm oil and hazelnuts, plus it contains 30 per cent fat. Two slices of Nutella on toast contain 24g of sugar, nearly the whole daily allowance for a woman.

Are the raw materials really more expensive?

NO — hazelnut prices are £4.90 per kilo, down from £7.50 last November (Nutella use a quarter of all the hazelnuts grown in the world). Ferrero blames ‘other costs’. A 1kg jar now costs between £5.20 and £5.30 in supermarkets.

Who invented it?

COCOA was in short supply in the Napoleonic Wars, so Italian chocolatiers started to eke out supplies to their rich customers by adding cheap, readily available chopped hazelnuts. It remained popular as

gianduja. In 1946, Italian pastry maker Pietro Ferrero made it available to the masses by launching Pasta Gianduja — a solid version of Nutella. It was relaunched in its creamier format and iconic glass jar in 1964 by Pietro’s son, Michele.

A great success then?

YES, Michele was believed to be worth £20 billion when he died in 2015. The company has an annual turnover of £6.5 billion.

Any glitches on the way?

A 2008 advert suggesting Nutella counted towards a balanced breakfast was banned for being misleading. In 2015, a French court declared it was illegal for a couple to call their daughter Nutella, as it would cause her ‘mockery’.

And finally... what’s the best way to eat it?

IF NO one is looking, straight from the jar with a spoon.