100 Pounds of Nutella a Day: Columbia University Students Love it, but how Healthy is it?

College students love Nutella. It's simply a fact, and according to statistics from students at Columbia University, they just can't get enough of it. But how healthy is it?  

Apparently the school's dining services began offering Nutella just last month, and the undergraduates are taking full advantage of this tasty treat.

"The demand has been greater than originally expected," said Vicki Dunn, Dining Services director, in an email to students. "Students have been filling cups of Nutella to-go in Ferris Booth Commons and taking full jars out of John Jay, which means we're going through product faster than expected."

And reports show that students are consuming a little bit more of the hazelnut goodness than originally thought--$5,000 of it per week, and approximately 100 pounds a day.

With twenty something's gorging on Nutella, a hazelnut and almond paste with chocolate and manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, we have to wonder what's in the ingredients. Sadly, things that taste good are usually not good for us.

The ingredients list sugar, modified vegetable oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk powder and other flavoring.

As Nutella uses modified vegetable oil or palm oil, researchers note that this makes the food not the healthiest product, as this is often used as a substitute for vegetable oil in many processed foods.

Regardless, Peter Bailinson, a student representative from the university said it looked like the kids would spend $250,000 on hazelnut chocolate spread in a year.

According to the Columbia Spectator, the two dining halls, Ferris Booth Commons and John Jay Dining Hall, serve between 4,600 and 5,600 students a day.

Students pay up to $2,363 for a dining plan per semester, so they may feel they are entitled to filch a little extra from the buffet.

"But what they don't realize is that dining uses any extra money to get awesome new items like Nutella, almond butter, and to make structural changes like the JJ's renovation," Bailinson said.