A healthy breakfast?

I have recently heard about commercials that suggest eating Nutella on toast with a glass of milk for breakfast.  Really?  At 21 grams of sugar (in just 2 tablespoons), that seems a bit odd to me.  Now I’ll be the first to admit that Nutella has a particularly yummy, and quite possibly, addicting flavor.  I actually toted 2 bottles of it around Europe after having a chocolate crepe while I was there, and thinking I might never see it again.  Of course, I noticed it on the grocery store shelves when I got back — grrrrr!  (In my defense, that was more than 13 years ago and I didn’t spend much time grocery shopping back then).

If you are a huge Nutella fan, you might want to just close your eyes and plug your ears for this one.  OR, you could try something that I think actually tastes BETTER!  Different, yes.  But it tastes more like, well, HAZELNUTS!  Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, Mmmmmmmm.

And let’s look at the FAB labels on these two products:

I’m not saying this stuff is GOOD for you, or that you should eat it for breakfast (but nobody has to know, right?)  But Justin’s product has twice the protein of Nutella and 1/3 the total sugar.  Plus, the sugar is organic (non-GMO), and the cocoa is organic (limiting pesticide exposure), so it’s a better choice in my book.

The first ingredient in Nutella is sugar, the second ingredient is Palm Oil (so it has more sugar and oil than hazelnuts).  It has soy lecithin (likely GMO), and the artificial flavor, Vanillin.  Due to high demand many years ago, synthetic versions of the vanilla flavor were created.  These versions are often much cheaper than natural vanillin, and are mostly derived from trees and wood.  This is something to be aware of for parents of children with a tree nut allergy.  Synthetic Vanillin is not only made from wood, but often aged in oak barrels, which can have a significant affect on someone with severe tree nut allergies.  While I’m sure people with tree nut allergies are nut eating loads of Nutella, they are eating other processed foods with synthetic Vanillin listed in the ingredients.  It is good to know that Artificia Vanillin can also be lumped under the category of “artificial flavors.”

Another example of misleading labels and attempts to confuse the consumer, this is the verbiage straight from the Nutella Website:

The unique taste of Nutella® hazelnut spread continues to come from the combination of roasted hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. In addition, Nutella® has no artificial colors or preservatives.

I think I’ll stick with Justin’s for now.  By the way, it’s great with pretzel sticks.  Not that I’ve ever stood in the pantry dipping pretzels into my jar of chocolate hazelnut butter…….