Do You Allow Your Kids to Eat Nutella? Do You Eat It Yourself?

My kids love it and we buy it sometimes. It's not as sweet as frosting but yes, it's sweet, I mean it IS chocolate basically. It's meant to be a condiment, like jelly or pancake syrup, something you eat sparingly.

We have Nutella on hand. We eat it but it's not an every day thing like peanut butter. Do we consider it healthy? Nope. It's called moderation...just like everything else in life...too much is not a good thing...

Nutella is hazelnut instead of peanut butter. It's got chocolate in it to help with the bitterness of the hazelnut.

Here's a link to "health facts about Nutella"
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-nutella-h...

Here's the nutrition facts.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5434/2

My daughters love it. I hate it. I rarely buy a whole jar. Sometimes I will buy the little snack pack that comes with the crackers to dip into the Nutella. I find if I buy the whole jar, it will be gone in no time, and it's not supposed to be a "sit down and eat the entire contents in one night" food! :)

We love Nutella but it's a bit on the pricey side so I usually only buy it when I find it on sale or I have a coupon for it. I know it's not "health food" and I don't care. Neither are Cheetos but we like those too and I buy them. We eat mostly healthy food, and junk food is an occasional treat. Junk food in moderation never hurt anyone.

Its is not a healthy item. If eaten by itself and only by itself.
It does not sell itself as a healthy food. It is a spread. Not a food item. Meaning, you use in ON things or with things... and if you put it on something like whole wheat bread, that may help one to eat healthier. Just like how many eat peanut butter or any other "butter" type spread or even cookie butter.

It is made from Hazelnuts.
It tastes like a dessert.
It is rich
It is yummy.
We have a jar on our shelf now.
It has been there for at least 3 months.
It is not all gone.
It is not gorged on. By me or anyone else in my family.
Its like peanut butter. Just a different nut.
And, Jiffy or something like that, is going to make their own copy cat version of "Nutella."

In Europe, they grow up on Nutella, like how we grow up on peanut butter.
It is not American in origin.
It has been around for years and years.
My Husband is from Europe. And for generations before him, they grew up on it. It is a normal regular pantry item there.

This is their ingredient list:
• Over 50 Hazelnuts per 13 oz. Jar
• Contains No Artificial Colors
• Contains No Artificial Preservatives
ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (milk), lecithin as emulsifier (soy), vanillin: an artificial flavor.

You can make your own healthy Nutella by mixing avocado, raw honey, and Dutch Cocoa powder. It is so good, my kids couldn't tell. I made up the recipe, so I just mix it to taste, but it doubt I'm the only one to try it - there are probably recipes for it out there.

On a regular basis? No way, the same way I don't serve them pancakes or waffles with syrup on a daily basis.

As a special treat? Sure. We're not under any false impressions about it being a healthy treat.

One time I let my son make a cinnamon raisin bread, nutella, whip cream, strawberry and banana sandwich. He loved it, but that was over a year ago and it hasn't been made since.

I have never tried it...I don't need to like something else that is bad for me ;) I have enough of those foods. I have bought it for my son, but he never eats it.

It is NOT healthy in the least. The first two ingredients are sugar and palm oil. Then it gets to the hazelnuts. So, yes, it is basically frosting. Sugar and oil.

I agree with everyone else that it of course is OK in moderation, but they really really advertise it to be a health food when its not. Very deceiving.

And whether or not it is like peanut butter depends on which kind you buy. There are peanut butters made from peanuts and salt..some add oils...some add sugar.

Oh, and sources on the internet say that the spread is only 10% hazelnuts.....which really is nothing at all.

I am from the Netherlands where we eat chocolate paste or hazelnut/chocolate paste and chocolate sprinkles (but pure real chocolate, not the sugar sprinkles that are brown here in America) and chocolate shavings on sandwiches every day. Nutella is an expensive brand of hazelnut & chocolate paste, but the only one that is marketed in America. I love it on sandwiches. Like everything, eat in moderation. My youngest is a very picky eater and often needs another snack before bed and she likes a nutella and peanut butter sandwich.

My kids love it, me.not much. I think it is sweet. But we also mix it with peanut butter--one slice of bread with Nutella, one slice with PB.

Compared to others snacks they could have, it is better. I only buy it every now and then.

I buy it all the time as it is a favourite of my kids. I know it is not particularly healthy, so I make my kids eat it with peanut butter. They like peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches and peanut butter and Nutella on toast. I personally do not like it.

It's a treat. It's definitely a chocolate candy! Once in a blue moon we get it as a treat for our kids, but not very often. Not even once a year. I can't remember the last time we got it. The other treat is marshmallow fluff. Both of these things put on peanut butter sandwiches make our kids very, very excited. My husband grew up eating marshmallow fluff, peanut butter sandwiches, so he thinks they are just so great. To me, it is basically eating a sugar sandwich. I definitely do not put nutella on par with peanut butter! It's not a jar of ground hazelnuts with a little bit of sugar/cocoa. It's a jar of sugar/cocoa with just a little bit of hazelnuts! An article I read says 2 tablespoons of nutella is the same amount of sugar as 5 oreo cookies. Two Tbsp. of Simple Jif (what we buy) peanut butter is 2g of sugar and 2 Tbsp of Nutella is 21g of sugar!

i'm always so amused when i see commercials slanting it heavily to come across as healthy. skim milk! hazelnuts! it'll get your picky eaters to the breakfast table! shovel it into them by gigantic spoonfuls!
it really is much closer to frosting. so much sugar it could single-handedly cause diabetes. but i do have a jar in the cupboard, and do dip in now and then. a jar lasts me about 2 years.
you can make your own, and it's better and cheaper and not as full of gross stuff.
but have you tried speculoos cookie butter?
:::::::::::::::swoon::::::::::::::::
:X
khairete
S.

LOVE IT!

I do not buy it. :) Because I would eat the whole thing in a sitting. :) I would also be the only one in my home eating it.
I would put it in the "sometimes food" category, but then again I would put peanut butter there too.

My husband loves it, eats it on toast about 3 times a week.
One of my kids likes it, but he only eats it once every couple of weeks. My other two are not all that excited about it.
I think it's a treat, so I put it on a graham cracker. Yum! But, even I only do that once or twice a month.
I don't think of it is a 'good' food, but I don't think it's horrible either.
L.

I love it but it's really really sweet.
It's a sometimes food - a treat for once in awhile.
I've lately discovered almond butter and cashew butter and like them as much if not more than peanut butter.
I might have a go at making my own one of these days.
A tablespoon of nut butter on a serving of oat bran in the morning will keep me from getting hungry again for a very long time.

Nutella is basically chocolate frosting. It's mostly shortening with some hazelnuts and cocoa.

That said I grew up with it, I love it and I buy it on occasion and yes, I let me DD eat it too - in moderation.

I think just like a lot of other foods, a smear of Nutella on some whole grain bread every now and then is not going to do any harm. I just wouldn't recommend eating it by the spoonful a jar at a time.

I'm not sure it's a question of "letting" Kiddo have it. Just not something I would ever buy. If we want chocolate, we'll make chocolate croissants, or have a bit of a Ritter sport hazelnut bar (ever chunk one up to make chocolate chip cookies? Yum!) -- like, really yummy chocolate. I make my own cocoa from Droste chocolate as well. Chocolate falls into the 'treat' category for us.

I did have to laugh, though, at the person who sued Nutella because they believed it was 'healthy'. Really? (shakes head in woeful concern for future of human race....)

My SD really likes it. The rest of us eat it occasionally as a treat. We consider it more of a frosting/sweet treat than the same as peanut butter. SD likes it on banana slices.

I do not eat it. My kids love it. We do not buy it regularly because it's not healthy. It's just full of sugar and yes I would agree with it being close to chocolate frosting, but maybe not quite THAT bad.

To me it's a treat. Is has a little nutrition with the hazlenuts. It has sugar and cocoa but no artificial preservatives or colors. It's not worse than lots of regular sugary "peanut butters" with hydrogenated oils and sugar.
Yes my kids eat it and so do I, but rarely. YUM!

Um, yeah we eat it! I love that stuff. My husband thought the same thing you did, that it was like peanut butter (health-wise). Nope, it's pretty much chocolate frosting. Take a look the ingredients, I think sugar is either #1 or #2.

We eat it with crepes, apples, or graham crackers. I pretty much always have a jar on hand.

as a treat its ok. i put it on the kids toast sometimes or sometimes give them a blob of it to dip apple slices in. not bad for you but not on the same healthy level as peanut butter it has more sugar

Don't really care for it. Neither does my son.
It is marketed to be this "healthy spread" but it's anything but!

It is a dessert item being marketed as breakfast item.

I won't buy it because I would gobble it up, and my daughter would fall in love with it. We both love chocolate.

Dirty little secret: We visit my brother about twice a year. I discovered that they keep a jar in their kitchen cabinet. Me, spoon, Nutella, dangerous. Just a spoonful before the guilt kicks in, fortunately. '

I always wash the spoon and put it away and sneak back to bed.

We keep a jar on hand. Your question prompted me to go to the kitchen and make myself some toast to have some.

Best,
F. B.

Nutella is yummy, but sugar is the #1 ingredient. One of my kids likes it, the other does not. I don't eat it as a spread, but I do like Rocher candy which is filled with the same thing.

I bought it once because of all the hype. Yuck. Everyone in my house hated it. Way too sweet, so I guess we are on the frosting wagon too.

I think they serve nutella in heaven! I LOVE IT! That being said, I treat it as dessert, not as a healthy food or similar to peanut butter. If you want a similar taste, but healthier, try Justin's Nut Butter- they have a hazelnut chocolate butter. It's not as sweet and has a different texture (not smooth, but not crunchy), but I actually really like it. Their honey almond butter is awesome too. I eat both by the spoonful!

One of my sons loved it until I told him how much sugar and fat it had. He eats lower fat peanut butter now instead. The rest of us don't like it...

It's very high in sugar. My daughter won't eat peanut butter so I have a jar on hand for a quick lunch if I need to make one.

It reminds me of chocolate and I don't eat it. I never looked into any of its values.

Love it and so do my boys. Haven't given it to my daughter yet. I only let them try it in the last year or so, when my son said he has it as a snack at his friend's house. My oldest son doesn't like cereal or yogurt for breakfast, so I spread it on 2 slices of whole grain bread...which also gets him to drink an entire glass of milk. I think the nutrition quality of that is better than giving him a Pop Tart.

Don't buy it or eat it. I also think peanut butter is not great for you. However, I see from comments that many people in the US believe peanut butter to be a healthy option. I have a feeling that the salt, sugar and fat content of the peanut butter we have in my country must be higher than in the States.

I'm not a huge fan. One kid loves it, but has self-control so a tiny jar lasts forever. The other tends to forget we even have it until she sees her sister with it. If I am very rushed in the mornings, I do allow the younger one to smear a scant teaspoon on a slice of Udi's whole grain gluten-free toasted bread and comfort myself that at least it's not Sugar Smacks.

I would not call id a bad food but I would NOT call it health food. It is compared to peanut butter but is a lot less healthy than PB (PB is just fatty if you buy lower added sugar varities). It is a treat. Like hot fudge. I am not sure of added ingredients but it seems like you should use it as a treat and its definitely not a breakfast item. I dont buy it as I thought it was too sweet. I liked it ok to have it everyonce in a while but I won't eat enough to justify buying it.

Yes and yes. Everything in moderation. I can't go nuts about my food.

I grew up in Europe and ate it on bread for breakfast all the time. It was yummy then and it is still yummy now.
I purchase it, but try not to eat it all the time. :)

My daughter loves it, and she has it on a sandwich with peanut butter several times a week. I agree it probably isn't very healthy, however it isn't terrible. As for peanut butter, we buy the 'natural' types which are just peanuts, a little oil, and maybe some salt. So it's mostly nuts. I figure that if the Nutella gets her to eat the peanuts, it's a wash.

I don't like it, so I don't buy it.