
Joan Carris
Peanut Butter (PB)
Updated: Sep 16, 2021
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.