Nutella has been circling the social media with great hype but not in a positive manner but instead, it is being accused of containing highly poisonous ingredients.
“Say no to Nutella, it is poisoning you and your children”
The posts claim that Nutella contains vanillin, a neurotoxin that kills brain cells. However, according to the United Nations’ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, vanillin is safe and edible with no evidence that it kills brain cells.
“The use of vanillin as a food additive is approved by authorities worldwide,” according to an OECD report. “During the present reviewing of the available toxicity data for vanillin, no particular risk has been identified which should give reason to concern or additional toxicity testing in animals.”
The articles also attack Nutella’s use of skim milk powder, soy lecithin (an emulsifier or lubricant), and palm oil.
A post on Facebook was seen as, “Nutella is actually probably one of the most poisonous products that you could buy for yourself.”
“I will not be eating Nutella ever again!” another shows.
Reaching out to Ferrero, the parent company, for comment, Nutella lists seven ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, milk (skim milk powder and whey powder), cocoa, soy lecithin, and vanillin.
On its website, Nutella states that it contains synthetic vanillin, “which produces an aroma identical to the one naturally present in the vanilla pod” because “the production of vanilla pods is not enough to meet the escalating global demand.”
Nutella has been on its rough edges in the past with the use of palm oil in its production. A French minister said last year that consumers should not purchase Nutella if they want to help save the environment, saying the production of palm oil is a leading cause of deforestation.
However, Nutella says it obtains its palm oil from ecological farms — a claim that is supported by the environmental group ‘Greenpeace,’ according to Time.
