Image By: Gary Cycles

At Columbia University, a simple update to its dining halls has not gone as planned.

The school decided to start offering Nutella last month, not realizing just how popular it would be. According to the student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, students are consuming up to 100 pounds of the chocolate-hazelnut spread per day.

Nutella doesn’t come cheap—a single jar at some grocery stores can cost anywhere from $4 to $7. The bill for Columbia is around $5,000 per week, which could quickly become $250,000 per year.

The Spectator reports that part of the problem is students stealing the Nutella from the dining halls. According to Vicki Dunn, the executive director of Columbia’s Dining Services:

“Students have been filling cups of Nutella to-go in Ferris Booth Commons and taking the full jars out of John Jay, which means we’re going through product faster than anticipated.”

Columbia has since denied the projected Nutella costs, releasing a statement titled “NUTELLA-GATE EXPOSED:  It’s a Smear!” But while the school is attempting to approach the situation lightheartedly, students believe that the issue exposes more than just an obsessive love for chocolate. According to one junior:

“The ramifications and the reasons behind it are bigger than Ferris Booth or the dining hall in general, it’s coming from a culture of consumption where ideas like waste don’t mean anything.”

How should Columbia address theft in its dining halls? Let us know in the comments below.