Does Nutella Have Chocolate In It?

Last updated on August 5th, 2022 at 06:52 am

Nutella is a sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread made in 1963 by Ferrero, an Italian company that is the third-largest chocolate producer in the world. It was an instant success.

This delicious spread is consumed in many ways and commonly used as a topping for breakfast toast, pancakes and waffles as well as used in or on desserts. 

Nutella is made mostly of palm oil and sugar however, Nutella does contain quite a bit of cocoa solids which means it does have chocolate in it. 

The other ingredients listed for Nutella are hazelnuts, cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, soy lecithin, and vanilla.

This melting pot of ingredients translates into a yummy chocolate and hazelnut treat that is sold around the world.

Do Different Countries Have Different Ingredients In Their Nutella?

Many countries have a different ingredient list for the Nutella formula. I have listed a few of them below. 

Nutella Ingredients In Australia

Sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts (13%), skim milk powder (8.7%) cocoa powder (7.4%), non-fat milk solids, emulsifiers (soy lecithin), flavour (vanillin).

Nutella Ingredients In Canada

Sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk powder, whey powder, lecithin, vanillin.

Nutella Ingredients In Germany

Ferrero has confirmed that it has changed the recipe of its chocolate and hazelnut spread – sparking a huge backlash among fans of the brand. There has not been an official release of the ingredients in Germany yet. 

Nutella Ingredients In India

Sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts (13%), skim cow milk powder (8.7%), low fat cocoa powder (7.4%), emulsifier (Lecithin – INS 322), contains added flavour (natural identical flavouring substance – vanillin).

Nutella Ingredients In Italy

Sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts (13%), fat-reduced cocoa powder (7.4%), skimmed milk powder (5%), whey powder, emulsifier (lecithins) (soy), flavourant (vanillin).

Nutella Ingredients In United Kingdom

Sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts (13%), skimmed milk powder (8.7%), fat-reduced cocoa (7.4%), emulsifier: lecithins (soya), vanilla.

The traditional Piedmont Italy recipe, gianduja, was a mixture containing approximately 71.5% hazelnut paste and 19.5% chocolate. It was developed in Piedmont, Italy, due to a lack of cocoa beans after post-war rationing reduced availability of the raw material.

Nutella contains 10.4 percent of saturated fat and 58% of processed sugar by weight. A two-tablespoon (37-gram) serving of Nutella contains 200 calories, including 99 calories from 11 grams of fat (3.5 g of which are saturated) and 80 calories from 21 grams of sugar. 

The spread also contains 15 mg of sodium and 2g of protein per serving (for reference a Canadian serving size is 1 tablespoon or 19 grams).

Where Is Nutella Produced?

Nutella is produced in various facilities. In the North American market, it is produced at a plant in Brantford, Ontario, Canada and more recently in San José Iturbide, Guanajuato, Mexico.

For Australia and New Zealand, Nutella has been manufactured in Lithgow, New South Wales, since the late 1970s.

Two of the four Ferrero plants in Italy produce Nutella, in Alba, Piedmont, and in Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi in Campania. 

In France, a production facility is located in Villers-Écalles. 

For Eastern Europe (including Southeast Europe, Poland, Turkey, Czech Republic and Slovakia) and South Africa, it is produced in Warsaw and Manisa. 

For Germany and northern Europe, Nutella is produced at the Ferrero plant in Stadtallendorf, which has been in existence since 1956. 

Nutella entered the Russian market and also has a production plant in Vladimir.

Ferrero also has a plant in Poços de Caldas, Brazil, which supplies the Brazilian market, with part of the production being exported overseas. 

It is also manufactured in Turkey and exported to countries like India.

Global production in 2013 was about 350,000 tons. So, no matter where you are in the world, you will most likely be able to go into the local market or grocery store and purchase some of that wonderful chocolate, nutty goodness!!

How Is Nutella Made? 

The process of making this spread begins with the extraction of cocoa powder from the cocoa bean. These cocoa beans are harvested from cocoa trees and are left to dry for about ten days before being shipped for processing. 

Typically, cocoa beans contain approximately 50 percent of cocoa butter; therefore, they must be roasted to reduce the cocoa bean into a liquid form. This step is not sufficient for turning cocoa beans into a chocolate paste because it solidifies at room temperature and would not be spreadable. 

After the initial roast, the liquid paste is sent to presses, which are used to squeeze the butter out of the cocoa bean. The final products are round discs of chocolate made of pure compressed cocoa. 

The cocoa butter is transferred elsewhere so it can be used in other products.

The second process involves the hazelnuts. Once the hazelnuts have arrived at the processing plant, a quality control process is performed to inspect the nuts so they are suitable for processing. 

A chopper is used to chop the nuts to inspect the interior. After this process, the hazelnuts are cleaned and roasted. 

A second quality control is done by a computer-controlled blast of air, which removes the bad nuts from the batch. This ensures that each jar of Nutella is uniform in its look and taste. 

Approximately 50 hazelnuts can be found in each jar of Nutella, as claimed by the company.

The cocoa powder is then mixed with the hazelnuts along with sugar, vanillin and skim milk in a large tank, until it becomes a paste-like spread. Modified palm oil is then added to help retain the solid phase of the Nutella at room temperature, which substitutes for the butter found in the cocoa bean. 

Whey powder is then added to the mix to act as a binder for the paste. Whey powder is an additive commonly used in spreads to prevent the coagulation of the product, because it stabilizes the fat emulsions. 

Similarly, lecithin, a form of a fatty substance found in animal and plant tissues, is added to help emulsify the paste, as it promotes homogenized mixing of the different ingredients, allowing the paste to become spreadable. It also aids the lipophilic properties of the cocoa powder, which, again, keeps the product from separating. 

Vanillin is added to enhance the sweetness of the chocolate. The finished product is then packaged.

In November 2017, the company modified the recipe slightly, increasing the sugar and skimmed milk powder content. Since then the color of the product is lighter in tone. 

The Hamburg Consumer Protection Center in Germany estimated that the cocoa content was also reduced. Some news outlets reported that the modification of the recipe led to consumers being “outraged” or “going nuts”.