At Columbia University, Nutella Thefts Make Headlines

By Eyder Peralta

Published March 7, 2013 at 5:43 PM CST

The bartender spreads Nutella on a crepe in a creperie in Rome.

It has some people saying: This is why we can't have nice things.

According to the student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, ever since the dining halls at Columbia University were stocked with Nutella, students have been consuming "up to 100 pounds per day."

And by consuming, they mean eating but also "filling cups of Nutella to-go in Ferris Booth Commons and taking the full jars out of John Jay."

That's according to an email obtained the paper and sent by Vicki Dunn, executive director of Dining Services.

We get it: The Italian chocolate and hazelnut spread is delicious. But the Spectator reports that treat could be costing the school $5,000 a week or $250,000 a year.

The New York Times decided to get their hands dirty with this story. They talked to student council member Peter Bailinson, who told them that at this rate Nutella would cost the school more than replacing stolen or lost silverware and cups. (The school spends $50,000 a year on that.)

The Times reports, however, that officially the school told them the Nutella expenditures were "speculative and inaccurate," that the cost was exaggerated.

Bailinson, by the way, says all this brouhaha now has students worried that the Nutella could disappear from the dining halls for good.

We say: That's what you you get for having sticky fingers.