Claim:

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the removal of the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella from supermarket shelves.

Rating:

In April 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the removal of the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella from supermarket shelves in the U.S.

One Instagram post on April 1 read: 

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that Nutella will be removed from shelves nationwide following new food safety and ingredient regulations.

Officials say the decision is part of a broader push toward stricter standards on processed foods.

Ferrero has not yet released a full statement, but sources say distribution will begin shutting down immediately.

Stock up while you can…

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWmqxQ5Epfq/

Social media users also discussed the claim on Facebook (archived) and Threads (archived).

At the time of this writing, we found no credible reports that Kennedy actually announced he would pull Nutella from store shelves in the U.S (archived, archived, archived). If that really happened, journalists with reputable news outlets, such as The Associated Press or Reuters, would have widely reported on it, and those search inquiries would have uncovered such evidence. 

A spokesperson for Ferrero, which makes Nutella, said via email that Nutella "will remain on US shelves."

Given Ferrero's statement and the lack of credible evidence for the claim, we rate it false.

The claim appeared to originate from the Instagram account @thewoodenspoonmedia, which posted it on April 1. The brand's website described it as "Italian-American inspired comedy, cooking, podcasting, and much more." Snopes contacted the account and its owner to ask whether the post was satire or perhaps an April Fool's Day joke and will update this report if we receive a reply.

We also contacted HHS to ask if the department could confirm Kennedy's alleged announcement and await a reply.

Though there was no proof Kennedy had pulled Nutella from U.S. shelves, a statement the secretary previously made suggested he probably was not a fan of the sugary spread himself. During a news conference announcing HHS would phase out some petroleum-based synthetic food dyes, Kennedy also lashed out at sugar, saying "There's things that will never be able to eliminate, like sugar. And sugar is poison."

Snopes has reported extensively on claims relating to Kennedy and his role as health secretary.

Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=603be8ec33a5b75e&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB1138GB1138&sxsrf=ANbL-n63zwl20KZWTfYgocGg1LjkaC3ufA:1775236665578&q=rfk+remove+nutella+us+shelves&tbm=nws&source=lnms&fbs=ADc_l-aN0CWEZBOHjofHoaMMDiKp9lEhFAN_4ain3HSNQWw-mMGVXS0bCMe2eDZOQ2MOTwnRdx8cTjotWVyC2QMTVww_YBFX02fOeR-h4YTkfXLtUj87_APaKKci4zM8Kw_c71rHxZsT-v1UW7II6F6kahhu-OuZh1DyYmwAbrMCucadQx6PC6o4mb7rAHtUgwnPCinihLtA-9zdyWa7Jep0YSiskAlKgQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiR_d_2l9KTAxXiQUEAHeyTFCIQ0pQJegQIFhAB&biw=1470&bih=708&dpr=2. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

'Is Nutella Healthy? Ingredients, Nutrition and More'. Healthline, 20 Mar. 2018, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nutella.

LiveNOW from FOX. 'RFK Jr. Unveils New Food Dye Bans'. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exemyQukqHA&t=316s.

Nutella | Ferrero Group. https://www.ferrero.com/int/en/our-brands/nutella. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

Rfk Remove Nutella Us Shelves - Yahoo Search Results. https://uk.news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrkEK1P9s9p7QIAl5BLBQx.;_ylu=Y29sbwNpcjIEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=rfk+remove+nutella+us+shelves&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

Rfk Remove Nutella Us Shelves at DuckDuckGo. https://duckduckgo.com/?ia=news&origin=funnel_home_website&t=h_&q=rfk+remove+nutella+us+shelves&chip-select=search&iar=news. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

'The Wooden Spoon Store!' The Wooden Spoon Store, https://thewoodenspoonstore.com/. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.