Does Nutella Have Nuts?

Last updated on July 10th, 2022 at 06:11 pm

Nutella is known for being a chocolate and hazelnut spread. However, its main ingredients are sugar and palm oil. 

Along with these ingredients, the delicious spread also consists of skimmed milk powder, soy lecithin and vanillin. It is such a yummy treat that can be spread on bread, eaten with fruit, or used to make desserts. 

You can put Nutella on almost anything to give it that creamy chocolate and hazelnut taste.

Nutella does contain nuts. The nuts in Nutella are hazelnuts and they give the spread its hazelnut flavor.

When making Nutella, they first extract cocoa powder from ciao beans that have been harvested from cocoa trees and left to dry for about ten days before they arrive ready to be processed. Cocoa beans contain about half of ciao butter and so they have to be roasted to make the coco into a liquid form. 

The beans are then put into presses and the butter is squeezed out. The result is chocolate made out of compressed cocoa. Then the hazelnuts for the Nutella are inspected. 

They are chopped in half so that the inside can be examined then they are cleaned and roasted. To further check the quality of the hazelnuts, they are blasted with air to remove bad nuts from the batch. 

This makes sure that every Nutella jar looks and tastes the same. The company says that Nutella has about 50 hazelnuts in each jar.

The cocoa powder is then mixed with the hazelnuts as well as sugar, vanillin, and skim milk until it becomes a paste. Palm oil is added to help the spread retain the solid phase at room temperature. The palm oil is a substitute for the butter found in the bean. 

Whey powder is added in as a binder as well as lecithin to help emulsify the paste, helping it become spreadable and keep it from separating. 

Finally vanilla is added to enhance the sweetness of the chocolate and then it is packaged and brought to your stores ready for purchase. The sweet and delicious spread is now ready to be enjoyed by you and your family.

Can You Eat Nutella With A Nut Allergy? 

If you have a nut allergy, it can be challenging at times to know what you can or cannot eat. Nutella does have nuts in it. If you are allergic to hazelnuts then you will need to stay away from the spread.

The only nut that Nutella contains is hazelnuts. Nutella does not have any peanuts in it and so those with a peanut allergy can actually eat the spread.

It is said that Nutella only contains about 13 percent hazelnuts. If you are highly allergic to hazelnuts, then it is best not to eat it. 

Some people that have an allergy to hazelnuts have said they eat it with no reaction but this would be pretty rare. This could be because of the low amount of hazelnuts the spread contains. 

The spread doesn’t have any peanuts in it so if you are allergic to peanuts then it is safe to eat Nutella.

Sometimes it is best not to risk it. You don’t want to end up with an allergic reaction. You can opt for the nut-free version of nutella called Suntella that uses sunflowers instead of hazelnuts. 

The recipe for this tasty substitute fro Nutella can be found here. 

Does Nutella Expire?

Do you have a jar of Nutella sitting in your cabinet? Maybe it’s been quite a while since you bought it and now you are wondering if you can still eat the hazelnut and chocolate goodness. 

Does Nutella ever expire?

Nutella does have an expiration date on it. It is best to eat the Nutella by the date printed on the jar. 

The reason they put that expiration date on the jar is because of how long the ingredient will last. The date is based on the shelf-life research and knowledge of its ingredients.

As with a lot of other processed foods, Nutella could last a bit longer than the best by date printed on the jar. If the spread smells or tastes bad then throw it away.  

It’s shelf life is not super short so the hazelnut spread can be enjoyed for a long time. 

An unopened jar of Nutella will last longer than an opened jar. Unopened, Nutella can be eaten 6 months after its expiration date. An opened jar will last for 1-2 months. It will lose some of its freshness and quality over time but is still edible. 

If the spread smells or tastes bad then throw it away. If the texture is dry and hard, you should toss it as well. 

Is Nutella Junk Food? 

You can use Nutella on anything you want to add a little chocolate and hazelnut taste. It is widely advertised as a breakfast food. 

But is Nutella good for you to eat for breakfast? Is it really a “healthy” snack or is it junk food?

Classified as a dessert topping, Nutella contains high levels of fat and sugar so it is more junk food than health food. 

Nutella Is more natural than similar products but as for being a “healthy” snack or even a breakfast food, it’s not all that healthy. Its sweet taste is somewhat addictive and eating more than the serving size daily can be harmful to your health over time. 

Eating Nutella constantly thinking that the hazelnut spread is “healthy” for you could also result in weight gain over time.

Even though Nutella is advertised as a healthy kids breakfast food, It contains a lot of sugar and fat. It tastes really good and goes great on toast but  it should not be eaten often as a breakfast but thought of as more of a dessert. 

Compared to similar spreads, Nutella is a healthier option. I wouldn’t go as far as to say you should never eat Nutella but it should be consumed moderately.

Final Thoughts 

Nutella does contain nuts in it. It is well-known for the hazelnuts used in making the spread. If you are allergic to hazelnuts it is best to avoid Nutella nuts. 

Those with just peanut allergies should be fine to eat it since it doesn’t contain any peanuts. 

Nutalla has an expiration date but can last unopened for about a year. The delicious and creamy food is not entirely healthy to eat all the time and should be thought of as a dessert topping instead of a daily breakfast food. 

If you have a jar of Nutella sitting in your cabinet, you are probably craving it by now. So whip out some of the spread and enjoy it on a slice of bread or with some fruit.