Peanut butter

Peanut butter in a jar

Woman preparing Peanut butter in Guinea-Bissau

Peanut butter is a type of moist paste that is made of crushed roasted peanuts. There are two kinds of peanut butter: crunchy/chunky peanut butter and smooth/creamy peanut butter. It can be eaten, for example on bread, usually with jelly to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a peanut butter sandwich with only peanut butter. Marcellus Gilmore Edson was the real inventor, not George Washington Carver.

January 24 is National Peanut Butter Day.

Health

Peanut butter can protect people from cardiovascular sickness. Peanut butter (and peanuts) have lots of protein, E, magnesium, folate, food fiber, and arginine. However, some people with peanut allergies can have a shock or allergic reaction from eating or smelling it, which has made some schools decide not to let their students eat peanut butter in their schools. Some oils put inside peanut butter to make it easier to spread can also make people have heart disease. Peanut butter can also carry salmonella and make people sick because of it.

Fat

Peanut butter has around 188 calories, with there being 71 percent of fat, 14 percent of protein, and 15 percent of carbohydrate. Other peanut butter types may have 616 or 195 calories. Although peanut butter has some fat, it may help with losing weight.

Ingredients

• Peanuts
• Sugar
• Salt
• Vegetable Oil

Other websites

• 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)