Peanut Butter (PB)

Everything has a story.

Even peanut butter.

Our family considers peanut butter a staple, so I decided to learn more about it. After all, I’ve probably eaten PB in some form at least 5 times a week since I was two years old. Nearly 21,000 happy, sticky, oinky experiences with peanut butter. Already this research is a bit sobering.

It gets worse. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), peanut butter can have 30 or more insect fragments plus 1 or more rodent (rat or mouse) hairs per 100 grams. One 18 oz. jar of PB = 510 grams. THUS, our big jar is allowed to have 150+ insect bits and 5 or more rodent hairs.

Our brand of PB is made from peanuts, sugar, palm oil, a bit of salt, and molasses. Plus those insect bits and rodent hairs. It’s considered a high-fat food and is highly addictive, according to comments on the internet.

Even so… after all these years as a peanut butter addict, I’m still here, and I still love peanut butter. Like so many people, I am good at overlooking inconvenient facts.