Nutella Misinformation
It seems I am not the only person to be sitting on their fingers whilst reading a lot of the reviews about Nutella and how it is a wonderful nutritious breakfast for your children. Dara at Readily A Parent has written a very informative post this morning that I think everyone that gives or is thinking of giving Nutella to their children, ought to read.
Not because Nutella is the devils food or you should never give it your kids, but because there has been a lot of misinformation about Nutella given to parenting bloggers who have then, understandably, passed it on in their blog posts and I think as adult and parents we ought to be able to see the facts and make the decision based on them and not propaganda.
3. She also told us that one portion of Nutella is 2 teaspoons (which seems a lot to me!) but has less fat and sugar than jam like for like.
First of all, there’s no comparing like for like between the two. The sugars in jam are mostly natural fruit sugars. And there is no fat in jam. But, just for comparisons sake let’s take the scenario of a slice of toast with margarine and jam on it. I don’t know about you, but when we buy jam instead of make it, I always get the “twice the fruit” kind as it has less sugar and is tastier. It also (depending on brand) has no added colouring or preservatives. One of our favourites is a store brand here in Canada. A 1 TBSP serving contains 5 grams of sugar. A lot less than the 11 grams in a serving of Nutella. If you bought the worst jam on the shelves you would probably find it contains about 10-12 grams of sugar. So, even the worst jam is only equivalent to Nutella, not worse. And, lets remember, the sugars in the jam are mostly natural fruit sugars not processed and added white sugar. There is a difference.
Go on over to Readily A Parent and have a read of the whole post. It is very interesting stuff.
I'm Heather, an ex expat, now back in blighty and living in Lancashire. Which is just like Lapland only less snowy...and stuff.
Fructose (fruit sugar) is just as bad for your teeth as sucrose though. One of the reasons fruit juice for the very young isn’t a great idea.
For decades food manufacturers have been using parents and children and feeding them misinformation- first there’s Nestle and the powdered milk scandal, then there’s breakfast cereals making claims on nutrition, then there’s MacDonalds..the list is endless. Why the blazes are so called parenting bloggers falling for the same ruse- can everyone be bought by freebies to spout utter crap?
I’ll repeat my comment over at Dara’s.:
Comprehensive, well researched, informative and UNSPONSORED. Everything those other Nutella punting posts were not. We have a serious child obesity problem on our hands, not just in the West but creeping into the East too. Nutella’s parent company and other (breakfast cereals, anyone?) who claim their products are part of a healthy eating regime should be taken to task. By bloggers, by the media and finally by the legislators.
We used to buy this but stopped a couple of years ago. We try to be careful about any kind of processed food – our motto is akin to everything in moderation. I guess it’s all about the balance.
I’ve added my tuppence worth over at Dara’s, but just wanted to add here that no-one is suggesting that you should never feed your kids nutella. Just don’t believe the hype.
Thankfully my girls don’t actually like Nutella (on the one occasion they tried it) so we’ve never bought it, but I wouldn’t be encouraging children to eat chocolate spread for breakfast anyway.
I buy fruit spread rather then Jam as its made with unsweetened pure apple juice.BG has both fruit spread and Nutella as a treat and she only had a thin covering of it, everything in moderation.
This kind of thing makes me angry. I have seen the adverts for this and always get slightly pissed off. Yes, children need a good breakfast inside them ahead of a school, day…we all agree on that, but it should be something better than Nutella. I was always given cereal, and not the ridiculous coated in sugar or chocolate varieties. I can’t see why you would hype your child up on sugar first thing in the morning then send them off at school. It’s then the teachers that need to deal with the behaviour of a load of kids running on a sugar high. I’m sure most parents would agree that managing just a handful of kids that are sugared up is difficult enough…nevermind 30. The same goes for teenagers too. You should see what some of them are like after their lunches filled with sugars and artificial colourings…is always lovely to see an 11 year old spew pink sick all over the carpet after over-indulging at sweets at lunch, then handle the rest of the kids as they freak out over the sick all over the floor…..joy! I think a simple breakfast with lots of good slow release energy is best….followed by a lunch not filled with rubbish. Man I sound moany, but I honestly believe that a lot of so-called bad behaviour at school is often caused by their poor diet. It’s the child that will suffer in the end (along with their classmates) when they don’t fulfill their full potential.
I’ve been leaving all sorts of stuffy comments on the blogs suggesting Nutella is even moderately good for you. My word their marketing people deserve every penny they are paid!!! There is nothing wrong with eating chocolate covered raisins or a bar of fruit and nut and there is nothing wrong with eating Nutella but it is a treat, like a packet of crisps, or a chocolate biscuit. I would not give my daughter cocopops for breakfst and I would not give her Nutella , unless it was a treat – just like going to McDonalds – it’s a very occassional thing – life is about a little bit of what you fancy does you good with the emphasis on ‘little’!
Nutella isn’t a big thing around here. But we’ve always considered it a dessert, if we eat it at all. Certainly not part of a nutritious breakfast. But then around here people consider sugar puff cereals with rainbow colored dyes and and marshmallows a healthy breakfast. Convenience food has just gotten out of control. People don’t even understand what it means to eat healthy anymore.
I was confused by the “less fat than jam” as well.
I have a real problem with campaigns like the nutella one and the chocolate weetabix one. When pushed, the people involved say “we like to encourage healthy debate” and “it’s all about moderation”, but I’m sure the truth of it is that want a few soundbites to be repeated in the blogosphere, soundbites that will persuade us that it’s not too bad, really, to give our kids these foods. The nuances of “once in a while” or “only thinly spread on wholemeal toast on a Sunday as a treat” gets dropped out of the message.
It’s hard enough, the whole getting-kids-to-eat-healthily thing. We don’t need to be telling them that “it’s not really chocolate, so it’s ok for breakfast”. How on earth can they distinguish between nutella kind of not-really-chocolate, and, say, a twix?
You should really see that film I was talking about, The Joneses. It gives a lot of food for thought. One of the things that interested me was that for one character, the pinnacle of achievement in her marketing role would be when a company asked for her input before marketing a product. It struck me that that’s how a lot of bloggers are approached. They’re asked for their opinions on products. It IS flattering, for sure. But as far as I can see, it does make it hard to maintain an independent stance, critical where necessary.
In the case of nutella, for example, even if the bloggers involved in the event only give their kids nutella as part of a healthy diet (and the dietician and the chef and the other professionals), somehow the message that blankets the blogosphere is “less sugar than jam!” “isn’t really chocolate!” “contains a surprising number of hazlenuts per serving!” and ultimately “it’s a healthy choice for your child’s breakfast!!”
I think it’s getting increasingly difficult for bloggers to be involved in PR and marketing campaigns without being compromised.
All good things in moderation, chew something good for your teeth after sugar is the motto in our house(toothbrush, carrot, chewing gum etc) – I know these facts and figures are important but being honest I don’t worry – nutella is far too yummy to be stingy with – I like it by the spoonful and my 50 yr old teeth have survived far worse things (delrosa syrup for toddlers being one such thing popular in the 60s). It can’t be much worse than sugar laden cereals and ‘breakfast bars’ methinks.
You’re the only person I’ve encountered bar me and my Mum who remembers Delrosa Rosehip syrup! I only got it when I was ill – or had a cold sore – man I loved that stuff. I can still taste it.
My teeth were fine as a kid until my mum let me eat chocolate spread on toast every morning for about two years. I now have 4 fillings…
To Eclipse and all the rest.
I’m very concerned about nutrition to my boy’s body.
And since he was in my belly I was taking good care of it, giving him fresh food, veggie and fruits.
Then I’ve picked up my father-in-law advice on giving him nutella and peanut butter in his toast for breakfast.
Doing that for almost 1 year. My son had a deep decay which required 4 fillings. And Nutella has just ruined his teeth. I don’t want to be too radical on this.But after feeding him with good food, the only reason of getting tooth decay was from Nutella. Even with the oral hygiene. His dentist said it’s really bad to give Nutella. So it’s up to you.
1. I am not a parent 2. nutella is a gift from the chocolate gods 3. who would seriously forget that it was chocolate and a great desert! 4. well….. it is great on toast and pancakes.
In all seriousness you should see the ads here in the states that mislead parents and kids. It is terrible. No wonder parents get frustrated and give up trying to serve healthy and affordable food.
Reading through the comments, I also remember Delrosa syrup. All four of my kids had it for the vitamin c, but greatly diluted as it was very sweet. They’d get a teaspoonful in a bottle of water.
I also agree that Nutella, while good for you, is definitely in the “treat” range, not a breakfast food.
It’s common sense to me! Sure it’s got hazelnuts in but it’s CHOCOLATE!
That was a nice read. Phew… Don’t get too flattered but I actually learnt something from Nutella Misinformation | Note From Lapland. Ha!
If you don’t mind, since you talked about gardening bits there, I wrote a gardening article myself at my gardening blog here: http://www.growinggardening.com/. Do give me your thoughts on that and leave your input there. Appreciate it!
Tina Gail