Is Nutella As Good As It Says?

I am a little disturbed by a bit of news I read on the Reuters site about the high protein chocolate spread called Nutella.

For years Nutella, which is a chocolate hazelnut spread has been sold as a source of high energy and protein. I have always trusted the product because I have been eating on toast and in sandwiches ever since I was a child. I also give it to my own kids on crackers as a high energy spread. It also goes well in hot or cold chocolate drinks. If you grew up in Europe and particularly if you were Dutch, you probably ate butter and Nutella sandwiches that were put in your lunchbox by your mother. Many mothers also mixed the Nutella with sprinkles to make the food even more attractive. Of course this is a rarer sight but Nutella with pink and blue sprinkles sandwiches were quite a common site in U.K. and European countries. It was okay for kids to eat this much sugar as the hazelnuts used to make the spread were so high in protein.

I have also put Nutella on pancakes because it melts so nicely and it goes really nicely with a bit of whipping cream and maple syrup and maybe even a bit of chestnut puree. I have often thought of making a cake with it and using the nutritious spread as icing. The cookies made with Nutella in the middle are quite famous and there are recipes for it all over the web. You can just buy a commercial pack of cookies and spread Nutella in the center to make a kind of Nutella Oreo if you want. Keep in mind that this is a special treat as Nutella is quite high in sugar!

As I have always been a fan of the stuff it was a bit disappointing to read that it was trying to oversell itself as a healthy food when everybody already knows it is not. A stories on 'Reuters Life!' reported that it's television commercial was pulled off the air for exaggerating its health benefits. This was done after over 50 parents complained about the way it was marketed as a healthy breakfast explaining that each jar of Nutella contains 52 hazelnuts, cocoa and the equivalent of a glass of skim milk. The commercial also claimed that Nutella releases energy slowy to the body.

It is the way that the energy is purportedly released by the food that raised the ire of so many viewers. This is because Nutella is equally high in fat and sugar and eating too much at once would not be very good for anyone. Although it is high in protein that it is a bit cancelled out by how high the food is in sugar.

The upshot was that the commercial got pulled off the televisions screens of the United Kingdom. The people who make Nutella, Ferrero UK also put out a statement that they did not mean to mislead anyone.

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Should We Ban Junk Foods?

According to the Ottawa Citizen which is a newspaper published in Canada there is a movement afoot to ban the advertising of junk foods in order to reduce obesity in the 'under thirteen' group of children.
This was motivated by a study done by a progressive kid's doctor named Dr. McKeown who is the chief medical officer of health in Toronto, Ontario. This doctor is saying that kid's eating patterns influence how and what they eat as an adult and this has a life long consequence in terms of their health. No kidding! The kid that eats pizza in front of the television now is probably still going to be in the habit of doing that when they are thirty-five.
So the idea is that you have to get your children eating healthy now, which is something that I wholeheartedly agree with. It is why I cook so much with my children now. I am trying to teach them healthy eating habits they can take with them for the rest of their life. By teaching them how to cut carrots, make muffins and create other healthy foods I am also teaching them how to stay healthy and live a long life (as well as how to not spend a mint on food.)
Dr. McKeown is like the Michael Moore of kid's food and his banning of junk food is an idea that is way ahead of its time. It is probably not going to happen but this doctor is going to try to get rid of unhealthy foods that are marketed to kids in Canada.
The doctor's attempts to lobby the Canadian government seem to be scaring the junk food companies as quite recently sixteen of Canada’s largest candy, fast-food and soft-drink companies promised not to advertise directly to children under 12, or to market only healthy snacks (like milk) to them. This is at least a start. I would think that banning junk foods and instant foods in cafeterias would also be the next logical step.
I for one thing think that this is a great idea as I am sick of seeing kids falling for the idea that certain foods are healthy when really they are not. There are lots of foods out there being marketed as being nutritious when really they are quite unhealthy. For instance many of the drinks out there that are called a good source of Vitamin C are actually full of sugar. The same goes for many different types of cereals. I am half expecting to see a commercial soon that goes – 'Ice cream- A good source of calcium!' Or how about 'Coca-Cola – a natural source of real cane sugar!'
Banning the advertising of junk food certainly would be a start. This measure would also make my kids less demanding every time we go to the grocery store. Currently they are always asking for foods that are just not that good for them.

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