Pietro Ferrero History. Pietro Ferrero owned a bakery in Alba, an Italian town known for the production of hazelnuts. In 1946, he sold the initial 300-kilogram (660 lb) batch of Pasta Gianduja, derived from Gianduja. Originally sold as a solid block, Ferrero started to sell a creamy version in 1951 as Supercrema gianduja.

"Nutella & GO! has become a special part of so many family routines since launching in 2012, and we are thrilled to introduce a new twist on this favorite." Nutella & GO!

INGREDIENTS. Sugar, palm oil, HAZELNUTS (13%), skimmed MILK powder (8.7%), fat-reduced cocoa (7.4%), emulsifier: lecithin (SOYA), vanillin. Ingredients: WHEAT flour, palm oil, salt, BARLEY malt extract, baker's yeast.

After World War II, cocoa was extremely scarce. Ferrero, originally from Piedmont in Italy, turned this tricky problem into a smart solution, creating a sweet paste made from hazelnuts, sugar and just a little of the rare cocoa. The ancestor of Nutella® was born.

False Advertising Last year Athena Hohenberg, a San Diego mother of a four-year-old girl, filed a class-action lawsuit against Ferrero USA, the makers of Nutella for false advertising. Nutella is a sweet chocolate spread that is full of sugar and palm oil.

The product began life as a solid block called pasta gianduja which could be sliced and served on bread, but later evolved into a spreadable version called Supercrema. The Nutella name came about as a result of combining the English word 'nut' and the Latin suffix for sweet – 'ella'.

Discover the Original Hazelnut Spread

Ingredients. Sugar, Vegetable oil (Palm), Hazelnuts, Skim milk powder, Fat-reduced cocoa powder, Emulsifier (Lecithins)(Soy), Flavouring (Vanillin). Bread sticks: Wheat flour, Vegetable oil (Palm), Salt, Barley malt extract, Baker's yeast. Contains Gluten.

Vegans are strict vegetarians who don't eat meat but also don't eat any animal by-products such as dairy or eggs. Nutella is not vegan because it does contain skim milk powder, which is made from cow's milk.

A riff on pasta gianduja, a chocolate paste invented in Turin during Napoleon's rule (1796-1814, in case you don't have a history book handy) Ferrero's initial creation was something of a chocolate block that could be cut and sandwiched between slices of bread - economical, certainly, but not so appealing.

Last year Athena Hohenberg, a San Diego mother of a four-year-old girl, filed a class-action lawsuit against Ferrero USA, the makers of Nutella for false advertising. Nutella is a sweet chocolate spread that is full of sugar and palm oil.

Why the controversy? One of the key ingredients in Nutella is palm oil, a controversial commodity mainly produced in Malaysia and Indonesia that is celebrated for its crop efficiency and low cost of production but also criticized for its contribution to deforestation and pollution.

In December, Nutella was dragged into the political arena after Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy's anti-immigrant League party and erstwhile fan, declared that he would no longer eat the spread after discovering that many of the hazelnuts used to produce it were grown not in Italy, but in Turkey.

The only glaring differences lie with the suggested portion size - 15 grams in Europe and 37 grams in the U.S. - and a couple distinct details listed on the European Nutella labels. European Nutella specifies percentages of each that 13 percent of the finished product is hazelnut, and 7.4 percent of the recipe is cocoa.

Without hesitation, Peanut Butter is the 'healthier' alternative to Nutella. Peanut Butter is lower in sugar, higher in protein and often lower in your unhealthy fats. The Centre of Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) describes Nutella as “more sugar and modified palm oil than hazlenut“.

Ingredients for hazelnut cream: sugar, vegetable fat, hazelnuts (13%), low fat cocoa, skimmed milk powder (7.5%), emulsifier soy lecithin, vanillin. Ingredients of the bread sticks: wheat flour, vegetable fat, whole egg, salt, malt extract powder, baking yeast.