Nutella/Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
Sweeteners · Spreads
Two tablespoons of chocolate hazelnut spread are rated green, which is not what people expect from a jar with hazelnuts in the name. The reason is proportion: the spread is mostly sugar and oil, so a spoonful carries far less nut than the label suggests. The rating belongs to those two tablespoons, and nothing larger has been tested.
Last updated 4 September 2026Serving sizes for nutella/chocolate hazelnut spread
The tested serve is two tablespoons, rated green. No larger amount appears in the data.
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tablespoons | 2 tbsp | Lactose 0.3 g |
Breakdown for 2 tablespoons
Is nutella/chocolate hazelnut spread low FODMAP?
Three groups register in the tested two tablespoons, and none of them is the chocolate. Lactose reads 0.3 g and comes from the skim milk powder that gives the spread its mellow, milky flavour. GOS reads 0.15 g, which is the nut’s contribution: ten whole hazelnuts carry 0.05 g of the same group. Excess fructose reads 0.2 g on top of that. Bringing a little of three groups at once is unusual for a sweet spread, and it is why the green rating is pinned to a measured two tablespoons rather than to the jar.
Nutella/Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and IBS: what to know
Nobody spoons this out level. Two tablespoons is a thin, complete covering of one slice of toast, which is more than the picture in your head and a great deal less than the rate at which most jars empty. Because the spread contributes lactose, GOS and excess fructose together, it draws on three parts of your daily load at a single sitting, so what goes underneath it matters: one slice of wholemeal toast is rated amber before anything is spread on it. If a chocolate-spread breakfast has gone badly, the bread is as fair a suspect as the jar.
Gut-friendly ways to eat nutella/chocolate hazelnut spread
Measure it out once, properly, and your eye will recognise the amount afterwards; a jar emptied by knife rarely stops where a spoon would. It behaves well spread thin on sourdough or a rice cake, warmed slightly as a dip for strawberries, whose own green serve runs to a generous ten berries, or stirred through lactose-free yoghurt to make a sauce. What does not work is stacking it: spread on the crêpe, folded through the filling and drizzled over the top is three serves pretending to be one.
Frequently asked questions
How much Nutella can I have with IBS?
Two tablespoons, which is the only amount tested and is rated green. That is a level covering of a single slice, so it pays to measure it with a spoon once and then trust your eye. Nothing above that appears in our data, and since the spread already registers lactose, GOS and excess fructose, a doubled portion is not a safe assumption to make.
Why is Nutella low FODMAP when hazelnuts have a portion limit?
Because there is not much hazelnut in it. The jar is built on sugar and vegetable oil, with nuts, cocoa and milk powder making up the remainder, so two tablespoons deliver a fraction of what a handful of nuts would. Hazelnuts eaten whole have their own entry and their own counted serve, and the two pages are not interchangeable.
Does Nutella contain lactose?
Yes. Skim milk powder is one of the main ingredients, and the tested two tablespoons carry 0.3 g of lactose, comfortably under the 0.5 g point where lactose starts to count as moderate. It is not zero, though, so a chocolate-spread breakfast is not a dairy-free one. If you already buy lactose-free milk, count the spread in the same column.
Is peanut butter a better spread than chocolate hazelnut spread?
They are different foods rather than better and worse. Peanut butter is rated green at two tablespoons and records 0.1 g of GOS and nothing else, so it brings one group where the chocolate spread brings three. When you are stacking several items into one meal that difference is worth knowing. When the spread is the only thing on the toast, both have a tested green serve.
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