Nutellagate was a controversy at Columbia University surrounding allegations of widespread student theft of dining hall Nutella.
Within a month, future Pulitzer Prize winner Cecilia Reyes reported in the Columbia Daily Spectator that high demand for the spread was costing the university $5,000 per week, a figure reportedly calculated by Executive Director of Dining Services Vicki Dunn, as students were consuming up to 100 pounds of Nutella per day.
[1] In a school-wide email, Dunn accused students of filling cups with Nutella and stealing full jars from John Jay Dining Hall.
[3] The high volume of Nutella consumption raised questions around food waste, dining hall meal plan costs, exorbitant tuition rates, and consumerism.
[6] The student blog Bwog calculated based on the original figure from the Spectator—$5,000 per week for 100 pounds per day—that unless the Spectator had misreported the numbers, the university was being charged 70% more for its Nutella than prices offered by local distributors.