World Nutella Day: how the chocolate hazelnut spread has made headlines over the years

The world may be divided on several issues, but as a collective there is one thing for which our love knows no bounds. And even a recent cancer scare couldn’t tear chocolate lovers away from their Nutella jars. There’s a Nutella jar sold every 2.5 seconds and a quarter of all hazelnuts grown around the world are used to make it. From lathering spoonfuls on toast for breakfast to using it as a hair nourisher, UAE residents have applied this smooth chocolate hazelnut spread in all ways conceivable. On the 10th World Nutella Day on February 5, we round up times this 53-year-old thick chocolate hazelnut spread has made the headlines. 2017 A study by European Food Safety Authority in 2016 claimed that palm oil, a main ingredient in Nutella releases carcinogenic chemicals when refined at high temperatures. Nutella’s parent company Ferrero said that removing the ingredient would produce a product of inferior quality. Last month, Dubai Municipality assured consumers in the UAE that it wasn’t proven that Nutella contains carcinogens and that the product was safe. 2016 A hair salon in Beirut took social media by storm last year with their outrageous dyeing technique using Nutella. Hairstylist Abed of the Abed and Samer Colour Studio is known to use dessert items to colour his clients hair and experimented with a Nutella concoction, last year. The video where he uses a jar of Nutella and condensed milk on a client with blond hair to make it a caramel shade went viral when famous Dubai-based beauty blogger Huda Kattan shared the video on her Instagram page. Chocolate is known for its moisturising benefits, the other ingredients added in Nutella seem to be doing wonders for a temporary colour pop, as well. 2015 What better way to celebrate fan of the spread than by customising jars for them? In 2015, the world’s favourite chocolate-hazelnut spread makers gave people the opportunity to get their names on the jars. Major supermarkets were printing personalised stickers to label the jars. More than 10,696 such jars flew off UAE stores shelves during that promotional period. Nutella meets cinnamon this year with Cinnabon giving customers what they want. Their Nutella range includes the Nutella Minibon roll and the Nutella Chillatta. 2014 It was music to the ears of Nutella cravers when the Eataly restaurant at Dubai Mall opened a Nutella Bar. They can whip up all sorts of desserts with this versatile spreads like crepes, crostatina and cookies. The Nutella sandwich , a Gulf special, has been around for years but became a regular order for many after our feature on how the spread is making it into savoury snacks, as well. This drive-through favourite is served in several small cafeterias around town. The unique roll has cheese melted in a hot paratha on top of which two spoonfuls of Nutella are added. Residents also experiment with the original recipe by adding crushed Chips Oman for crunch and tanginess. 2012 Sometimes Nutella passions can go a bit far, as was the case with a university student who decided to sell the chocolate spread filled syringes online a few years back. A concerned resident reported an image of syringes with hypodermic needles, filled with the chocolate pasted and labelled Nutella that was being circulated on social networking websites to authorities, which promoted Dubai Municipality to issue warnings. Ferrero also issued a statement noting that the products were not approved and did not originate from the company. aahmed@thenational.ae