Peanut butter

Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The United States^[1] and China are leading exporters of peanut butter.

Other nuts are used as the basis for similar nut butters.

Contents 1 History 2 Health 2.1 Health benefits 2.2 Health concerns 3 Peanut butter in food products 4 Other uses 5 References 6 External links

History

Peanuts are native to the tropics of the Americas, and were mashed to become a pasty substance by the Aztec Native Americans hundreds of years ago.^[2]

Evidence of peanut butter as it is known today comes from US patent #306727,^[3] issued in 1884 to Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for the finished product of the process of milling roasted peanuts between heated surfaces until the peanuts became into "a fluid or semi-fluid state." As the peanut product cooled, it set into what Edson explained as being "a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment." Edson's patent is based on the preparation of a peanut paste as an intermediate to the production of peanut candies. While Edson's patent does not describe the modern confection we know as peanut butter, it does show the initial steps necessary for the production of peanut butter.^[2] George Washington Carver.

J.H. Kellogg, of breakfast cereal fame, secured US patent #580787^[4] in 1897 for his "Process of Preparing Nutmeal," which produced a "pasty adhesive substance" that Kellogg called "nut-butter."^[2]

Dr. Ambrose Straub, a physician in St. Louis, Missouri pursued a method for providing toothless elderly with protein in the 1890s. His peanut-butter-making machine was patented in 1903.^[5]

Some peanut butter marketed as "natural" contains only peanuts and salt (to prevent spoilage), but most consumer-brand peanut butter today, even if labeled "natural", contains other ingredients including hydrogenated vegetable oil to stabilize it and prevent oil separation, and dextrose or other sweeteners to enhance flavor. Sometimes palm oil is used instead of hydrogenated oils to prevent oil separation. Peanut butter is also sold mixed with other pastes such as chocolate, jelly (jam) and the like.

Peanut butter may be added to desserts such as cakes and biscuits. Peanut-butter-flavored chocolate bars are sold.

January 24 is National Peanut Butter Day in the United States.^[6]

Health

Peanut butter,
smooth style, without salt

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	2,462 kJ (588 kcal)
Carbohydrates	20 g
Starch	4.8 g
Sugars	9.2 g
Dietary fiber	6 g
Fat	50 g
Protein	25 g
Water	1.8 g
Alcohol	0 g
Caffeine	0 mg
Sodium	0 mg (0%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

Health benefits

Peanut butter may protect against a high risk of cardiovascular disease due to high levels of monounsaturated fats and resveratrol; butter prepared with the skin of the peanuts has a greater level of resveratrol and other health-aiding agents.^[7] Peanut butter (and peanuts) provide protein, vitamins B₃ and E, magnesium, folate, dietary fiber, arginine,^[8] and high levels of the antioxidant p-coumaric acid.

Health concerns

For people with a peanut allergy, peanut butter can cause reactions including anaphylactic shock which has led to its banning in some schools.^[9]

The peanut plant is susceptible to the mold Aspergillus flavus which produces a carcinogenic substance called aflatoxin.^[10] Since it is impossible to completely remove every instance of aflatoxins, contamination of peanuts and peanut butter is monitored in many countries to ensure safe levels of this carcinogen. In 1990, a study showed that average American peanut butter contained an average of 5.7 parts per billion of aflatoxins, per the US Food and Drug Administration guidelines of 20 parts per billion. ^{[11] [12]}

Some brands of peanut butter may contain a small amount of added partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are high in trans fatty acids, thought to be a cause of atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and stroke; these oils are added to prevent the peanut oil from separating. Natural peanut butter, and peanuts, do not contain partially hydrogenated oils. A US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) survey of commercial peanut butters in the US showed the presence of trans fat, but at very low levels.^[13] This survey was conducted in 2001, and it unclear what the current state of trans fats is in peanut butter products that contain partially hydrogenated oils. By law, if a serving size on the nutrition label contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fats, then the manufacturer is legally allowed to claim that that the product contains "0g Trans Fats per serving." Some manufacturers have decreased the serving size of their products in order to be able to claim that the product contains "No Trans Fat per serving."

At least one study has found that peanut oil caused relatively heavy clogging of arteries. Robert Wissler of the University of Chicago reported that diets high in peanut oil, when combined with cholesterol intake, clogged the arteries of Rhesus monkeys more than butterfat. [Atherosclerosis 20: 303, 1974]

Peanut butter can harbor salmonella and cause salmonellosis, as in the salmonella outbreak in the United States in 2007.^[14] In 2009, due to mishandling and apparent criminal negligence at a single Peanut Corporation of America factory in Blakely, Georgia, salmonella was found in 46 states^[15] in peanut-butter-based products such as crackers, peanut-butter cookies, and dog treats. It has claimed at least nine human lives as of 17 March 2009 (2009 -03-17)^[update], and made at least 691 people sick in the United States.^[16][17]

Peanut butter in food products

Peanut Butter has been used in other food products for many years, the widespread use beginning in 1980 with the launch of Reese's Pieces. Since then there has been large development into peanut butter's use in other foodstuffs, some of which include: cake, jam, jelly, confectionary, ice cream, brownies, pretzels, peanut brittle, cookies, porridge and sandwiches amongst others.

Other uses

Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter-based food used to fight malnutrition in famine stricken countries. A single pack contains 500 calories, can be stored unrefrigerated for 2 years, and requires no cooking or preparation.^[18]

A common, simple outdoor bird feeder can be made by coating a pine cone once with peanut butter, then again with birdseed.^[19]

Peanut butter is an effective bait for mouse traps.^[20]

The oils found in peanut butter are known to allow chewing gum to be removed from hair.

References

External links

• The National Peanut Board
• The federal "Peanut Butter Law" in the U.S.
• The USDA's Commercial Item Description for peanut butter and peanut spread (PDF) (Last accessed 3 September 2008)
• How Products are Made: Volume 1: Peanut Butter (Last accessed 16 October 2009)