Many of us grew up with it in our lunch boxes, sustained ourselves through college on it and still consider it a comfort food, peanut butter. So just how much do you know about peanut butter after the years of "PB&J" consumption?
With
the help of some of the peanut industry's research we have assembled some
interesting facts and nutritional insights on peanut butter.
Peanuts are
not actually nuts at all! They are legumes, like beans, peas and lentils.
People in the
U.S. eat, on average, 7 pounds of peanuts and peanut products per person, per
year. About 50% of this is consumed as peanut butter.
Peanut butter
was first introduced to the general public at the 1904 World's Fair but it was
patented by the Kellogg family of Battle Creek, Michigan in 1895. The original
process used steamed peanuts which lacked the flavor of roasted peanuts.
Found in
about 75% of American homes, peanut butter is considered by many to be a staple
like bread and milk.
One ounce of
roasted peanuts provides 10% (41 micrograms) of the daily value of folate, the
naturally occurring form of the B vitamin folic acid, recommended for the
reduction of birth defects and lowered heart disease risk. A peanut butter and
jelly sandwich provides 18% (73 micrograms).
Arachibutyrophobia
(I-RA-KEE-BU-TI-RO-PHO-BI-A) is the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the
roof of your mouth. Some people suggest adding lettuce to your sandwich to
prevent this!
Two peanut
farmers have been elected President of the United States: Thomas Jefferson and
Jimmy Carter.
You can make
30,000 peanut butter sandwiches from just one acre of peanuts. An average of 2,861
pounds peanuts are harvested from one acre of peanut plants.
It takes 810
peanuts to make an 18-ounce jar of peanut butter.
We even found a reliable recipe for making Homemade Peanut Butter with your kids.
For more
information:
