Last Friday, 5 February 2016 was the 10th World Nutella™ Day (find out more here).

Now you may be thinking “What on earth has this got to do with language and/or law?”. Well, read on…

In France “La loi Nutella” – actually to limit the use of palm oil rather than to oblige people to eat the spread – went as far as the Senate (see here). A few years ago, the Huffington Post reported “Italian Uproar” and “Hands Off Nutella” when EU measures aimed at food labelling transparency were felt to be a threat.

On a cultural note – in 2004 the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published “Nutella, metafora del desiderio fra libri, canzoni, opera teatrali“, listing how Nutella crops up in so many areas of life.

In England last week The Telegraph gave us “10 things you didn’t know about…“. Don’t miss the “Nutella Lock” invented by a German. He warns that “it shouldn’t be used as a serious security measure” though.