I recently discovered an ancient, sealed jar of Nutella at the back of a cupboard. Like, really ancient! Like, it claimed it expired in 2012!
When I open it, there are all these white 'bits' on the surface.
They don't at ALL look like mold or fungus – they're definitely not spores, to my eyes. My first thought is that they're "granules" of fat that have "condensed" together in some manner? Perhaps kinda like bloom on chocolate?
Does anyone have a better or more certain answer?
Obvious follow up… do the white bits indicate that it's unsafe to eat?
The expiry date doesn't concern me at all – if it looked fine and tasted fine then I'd eat it; if it were clearly moldy, then I might scrape the moldy layer off, microwave it and eat it.
Best Answer
Great pictures: those are so clearly areas of oil/fat which have separated from the main nutella emulsion. Carefully gouge one out and smear it around or put it onto a heated surface & see if it doesn't melt immediately. See if they go right back into the mixture if you stir a little portion together. I wager you can convince yourself this nutella is right edible.