You never really outgrow the taste of peanut butter, and we bet there are still days when
you eat a spoonful right out of the jar. But how much do you really know about the stuff? Well,
start spreading the news… because this is the untold truth of peanut butter.
You can't do much better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, right? It's the perfect
combination of salty and sweet, but who came up with this simple and simply sensational recipe?
According to the National Peanut Board,
several elements had to click into place to establish this timeless lunchtime classic.
First came the invention of sliced bread. Then came Paul Welch's patented process for
making grape jelly. By that time, upscale New York City restaurants had peanut butter
on the menu, but it was typically paired with ingredients like watercress and pimento. Fancy!
"What is that?"
"You mean this, sir?"
"Yes."
"It's Laura Scudder's peanut butter, sir."
In 1901, the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics
published the very first recipe for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Yes, really: a whole recipe. The author of the article suggested crabapple or currant
jelly. The idea puttered along for a while, and then… World War II happened.
The U.S. military jumped on the peanut-butter bandwagon:
After all, the food had shelf stability, portability, and a high protein content,
perfect for when you're on the go. When American soldiers came back from overseas,
their love of the humble PB&J endeared it to a whole nation.
Few foods evoke the sense of childhood wonder quite the way peanut butter does.
But in 2015, the story of peanut butter took a rather terrifying turn:
There was a food poisoning outbreak tied to peanut butter that culminated in a
peanut butter exec being sentenced to prison. Reportedly, this exec had knowingly shipped
cases of peanut butter that were ultimately responsible for a huge salmonella outbreak.
According to The Washington Post, the outbreak occurred in 2008 and 2009. By the time it was
over, 714 people had gotten sick, and nine people died. As NPR reports, it wasn't long
before the outbreak was traced back to a Georgia factory and the Peanut Corporation of America.
"Their idea of lab and quality control on that was making sure the peanuts were the right color."
While there have been bigger, more widespread,
and deadlier outbreaks in the past, this one could easily have been prevented.
At the trial of former CEO Stewart Parnell, prosecutors offered evidence including documents
and emails in which Parnell had given the go-ahead to ship the peanut butter, despite the fact that,
"[Containers] were covered in dust and rat crap."
He also allegedly knew that salmonella test results were unavailable.
Nevertheless, he reportedly responded,
"Just ship it. I can't afford to lose another customer."
Parnell was ultimately given a 28-year prison sentence.
When you open a jar of peanut butter, it makes you pretty happy, right?
"All the fine people like the peanut-ey treat / Peter Pan peanut butter!"
You also expect the contents to be mostly made of peanuts,
right? Well, that's true today: A jar of peanut butter must contain at least 90 percent peanuts,
or else it has to be sold as "peanut spread." But that wasn't always the case.
As Mental Floss reports, the FDA discovered in 1959 that some products labeled as "peanut butter"
were only about 75 percent peanuts. The other ingredients were things like oils and glycerin,
which were basically cheap fillers used to increase profits. The same year,
the FDA proposed an across-the-board standard that said peanut butter had
to be 95 percent peanuts. Manufacturers hated the idea and claimed people didn't want that
many peanuts in their peanut butter, since it would make the product more difficult to spread.
According to Atlas Obscura, this kicked off a court case that lasted 12 years.
Five years after it started, manufacturers and the FDA still couldn't come to an agreement,
and they turned to the public. Thanks in large part to the determination of activist
Ruth Desmond, the head of the Federation of Homemakers, manufacturers eventually
gave in. And that's why there are now so many peanuts in your peanut butter. Thanks Ruth!
At a glance, it doesn't seem like peanut butter would be very good for you at all.
Healthline reports that a 100-gram portion contains a whopping 50 grams of fat.
But make sure you choose your peanut butter wisely.
“Now that we're parents we better learn to cook."
"First lesson, make sure your peanut butter's Jif."
"The difference is Jif's pea-nuttier taste…"
As long as you get a high-quality peanut butter that doesn't contain
too much sugar or vegetable oil, it's not that bad for you.
For starters, it's a great source of protein and low in carbohydrates.
But it happens to be high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. And since it
doesn't have much of an impact on blood sugar levels, it's a great snack for diabetics.
Now, about that fat content. According to Harvard Health,
it's high in unsaturated fats, and those are the good fats. In addition, regularly including
nuts or nut butters into your diet could prevent heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Saturated fat in moderation is okay. And since peanut butter comes with so much other good stuff,
you should absolutely feel free to reach for that jar, at least in moderation.
Has a peanut butter jar been sitting in your kitchen for a while? If so,
it probably looks a little funky. The peanut butter is probably starting to separate…
but does that mean you should throw it away? Not necessarily.
According to LiveScience, peanut butter can spend months sitting at room temperature and
still be perfectly fine to eat,. so feel free to hoard the stuff to your heart's content.
"I'm a Peter Pan nut. I admit it. Why else would I be standing here in the middle of the night?
I dream of peanut butter sandwiches."
Since it has low moisture levels but high oil content, peanut butter doesn't turn rancid as
fast as some other foods. Most bacteria, fungi, and mold need water to survive, and we've all
heard that oil and water don't mix, right? Well, peanut butter is heavy on the oil and light on the
water. That means it's not a very good breeding ground for bacteria, which is good news for you.
If your peanut butter has a layer of oil on it, you can just stir it back in,
and it'll probably taste fine. But does peanut butter ever go bad? Yes, but it has to sit out
for about a year before it undergoes a process called rancidification. That's when oxygen starts
to break down the fats present, which changes the way peanut butter tastes and smells.The high
vitamin E content helps delay this process, so you're good for about 12 months after purchase.
A PB&J sandwich might make your day just a little bit brighter,
but can it change the world? It certainly seems like it.
According to the Independent, Plumpy'Nut was first used on a trial basis in Niger in 2005.
The country was facing famine, and this high-calorie peanut butter filled with
all kinds of nutritional goodness became a huge success. By 2013,
it was helping around two million children who would otherwise be facing severe malnutrition.
Just take the results of that first trial. 60,000 children diagnosed
with severe malnutrition were given Plumpy'Nut,
and around 90 percent of those children made a full recovery. That's nothing short of amazing.
According to NPR, experts say the product should be considered a medicine rather than food.
A single packet has the same number of calories as two McDonald's hamburger patties, the same fat as
a third of a stick of butter, the calcium of three cups of milk, and the vitamin C of an orange.
That's some seriously life-saving peanut butter… and a six-week supply reportedly only costs $68.
"A daily dose costs about a dollar. Small factories
mix it here and in three other African countries."
It's easy and convenient to pick up a jar of peanut butter at the store, but you can also make
your own at home. That way, you can skip the added salt, oil, and sugar. Peanut butter is actually
super easy to make at home. One surefire technique is simply throwing peanuts into a food processor
with a blade attachment. A blender should work too. Run it until you like the texture, stopping
every minute or so to push the peanuts back to the bottom. That's really all there is to it!
There are a few other techniques you can try, too. For added flavor, buy some pre-roasted peanuts or
roast your own in the oven. Feel free to add some other ingredients into the mix. too. Throw in
some chocolate chips, a bit of honey, cinnamon, or sea salt, or what about vanilla or coconut?
Seriously, you may never buy peanut butter at your grocery store again, unlike this guy:
"Look at this. Budget values. Club sizes and prices but no membership fee.
One more thing I love about Shop N' Save."
We've all heard that peanut butter was invented by George Washington Carver, and it makes sense.
According to the National Peanut Board, he's pretty much known as the father of the
modern peanut industry, and he's credited with discovering more than 300 uses for peanuts… but
making peanut butter wasn't among them. Nor did he discover the magic of peanut butter and chocolate.
"Hey you got your chocolate in my peanut butter."
"You got your peanut butter in my chocolate. What?"
The general idea of peanut butter goes a long way back - all the way back to the Aztecs,
who used to grind roasted peanuts into a paste.
It wasn't quite the same idea as today's peanut butter, which we need to thank three people for.
First, there's Canada's Marcellus Gilmore Edson, who patented the process for making "peanut paste"
in 1884. Then, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patented another process for making peanut butter from
raw nuts. Finally, in 1903, a certain Dr. Ambrose Straub patented his own invention:
a machine for making peanut butter. It was truly a group effort.
It doesn't matter how much you love peanut butter, you probably have a preference. So,
what'll it be? Smooth or crunchy? Well, there are some serious pros and cons to both sides.
Crunchy peanut butter is harder to spread… and if you're a crunchy lover,
you've probably ruined more than a few slices of Wonder Bread. On the flip side,
crunchy PB tastes more satisfying, more filling, and just somehow tastier. Take that, creamy!
But if you consider yourself a card-carrying member of Camp Crunchy, you're decidedly in the
minority. Surveys from the National Peanut Board suggest that roughly 60 percent of peanut butter
fans go for the smooth stuff. And it turns out that men are more likely to opt for crunchy PB,
while more women flock to the smooth stuff. So which side are you on?
Today, we don't exactly think of peanut butter as a health food… but maybe we should?
"Recent studies show that there may be some health benefits to PB and J."
Back in the day, peanut butter was considered a wondrous health
remedy thanks to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's relentless promotion.
According to PBS, Kellogg's promotion of peanut butter started at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
Thousands of people flocked there to this place in the hopes of curing any number of ailments,
and Kellogg firmly believed that cleanliness and diet were a huge part of their continued health.
That diet included a version of peanut butter that used steamed peanuts instead
of roasted peanuts…and it was definitely very different from the peanut butter we eat today
Of course, not everyone could afford to head off to the sanitarium for some R&R. In 1904,
the idea of peanut butter reached a mass audience, thanks to a concession stand
operator named C.H. Sumner. He had a stand at the St. Louis World's Fair. Shortly after he sold
$705.11 in peanut butter, it started being mass-marketed.
By the way, adjusted for inflation, $705.11 would be over $20,000 today.
Here's a fun fact you can feel free to use at parties. We've all heard that diamonds
are made from carbon, right? Well, it turns out that they can be made from peanut butter, too.
According to BBC, a German researcher named Dan Frost conducts experiments
that are designed to mimic some of the conditions we might find
deep within the Earth's core, a subject that scientists still know very little about.
The goal is to try to find out more about how the planet was formed,
and to do this, Frost subjects rocks and other substances to extremely high pressures.
Next comes a process that exposes the substance in question to 1.3 million
times atmospheric pressure. By doing that and then comparing seismic data,
he can estimate whether or not a sample is close to the composition of the Earth's mantle.
Along the way, Frost believes he discovered an effect where carbon
dioxide is pulled into the deepest layer of the earth, the oxygen is extracted,
and the remaining carbon turns into diamonds. To recreate that, he tried the high-pressure
experiment with peanut butter - and successfully made diamonds. Meanwhile,
the most we've ever made with peanut butter is a PB and J sandwich, but hey, we'll take it!
"Presenting new Peter Pan…"
"I went to the theatre and who did I see? Peter Pan Peanut Butter…"
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