Peanut butter is one of America's favorite foods. Found in about 75% of American homes, peanut butter is considered by many to be a staple like bread and milk. While the traditional kid and comfort food favorites - pb&j's and criss-cross cookies - remain favorites today, peanut butter is all grown up when used in savory sauces for pasta, meat and vegetables.
HISTORY
There are many claims about the origin of peanut butter. Africans ground peanuts into stews as early as the 15th century. The Chinese have crushed peanuts into creamy sauces for centuries. Civil War soldiers dined on 'peanut porridge.' These uses, however, bore little resemblance to peanut butter as it is known today.
In 1890, an unknown St. Louis physician supposedly encouraged the owner of a food products company, George A. Bayle Jr., to process and package ground peanut paste as a nutritious protein substitute for people with poor teeth who couldn't chew meat. The physician apparently had experimented by grinding peanuts in his hand-cranked meat grinder. Bayle mechanized the process and began selling peanut butter out of barrels for about 6¢ per pound.
Around the same time, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in Battle Creek, Michigan, began experimenting with peanut butter as a vegetarian source of protein for his patients. His brother, W.K. Kellogg, was business manager of their sanitarium, the Western Health Reform Institute, but soon opened Sanitas Nut Company which supplied foods like peanut butter to local grocery stores.
The Kelloggs' patent for the "Process of Preparing Nut Meal" in 1895 described "a pasty adhesive substance that is for convenience of distinction termed nut butter." However, their peanut butter was not as tasty as peanut butter today because the peanuts were steamed, instead of roasted, prior to grinding. The Kellogg brothers turned their attention to cereals which eventually gained them worldwide recognition.
Joseph Lambert, a Kellogg employee who had worked on developing food processing equipment, began selling his own hand-operated peanut butter grinders in 1896. Three years later, his wife Almeeta published the first nut cookbook, "The Complete Guide to Nut Cookery" and two years later the Lambert Food Company was organized.
In 1903, Dr. George Washington Carver began his peanut research at Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama. While peanut butter had already been developed by then, Dr. Carver developed more than 300 other uses for peanuts and so improved peanut horticulture that he is considered by many to be the father of the peanut industry.
In 1922, Joseph L. Rosefield began selling a number of brands of peanut butter in California. These peanut butters were churned like butter so they were smoother than the gritty peanut butters of the day. He soon received the first patent for a shelf-stable peanut butter which would stay fresh for up to a year because the oil didn't separate from the peanut butter.
One of the first companies to adopt this new process was Swift & Company for its E.K. Pond peanut butter ~ renamed Peter Pan in 1928. In 1932, Rosefield had a dispute with Peter Pan and began producing peanut butter under the Skippy label the following year. Rosefield created the first crunchy style peanut butter two years later by adding chopped peanuts into creamy peanut butter at the end of the manufacturing process.
In 1955, Procter & Gamble entered the peanut butter business by acquiring W.T. Young Foods in Lexington, Kentucky, makers of Big Top Peanut Butter. They introduced Jif in 1958 and now operate the world's largest peanut butter plant ~ churning out 250,000 jars every day!
HOW IS MADE
Nearly half of the US peanut crop was used to make peanut butter in 2001. Runner peanuts are preferred for peanut butter because they are very uniform in size, which is important to achieve evenly roasted peanuts for the best tasting peanut butter. Runner peanuts are grown primarily in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. These three states accounted for 60% of the U.S. crop in 2001.
Peanuts are planted after the last frost in April, when soil temperatures reach 65° to 70° Fahrenheit. The shelled peanut itself also is the seed. Specially grown and treated peanut kernels from the previous year's crop are planted two inches deep, approximately one to two inches apart in rows.
Peanut seeds crack the soil about 10 days after planting and grow into a green oval-leafed plant about 18 inches tall. The peanut plant is unusual because it flowers above the ground, but fruits below the ground. Delicate yellow flowers form on the plant about 40 days after planting. The flowers pollinate themselves, then the petals fall off as the peanut ovary begins to form. This budding ovary, called a 'peg,' grows away from the plant on a vine and penetrates the soil. The peanuts mature below the ground.
Peanuts are harvested 120 to 160 days after planting, usually in September and October. Harvesting is a rapid process. When the soil is not too wet or too dry (both conditions leave the peanuts stuck in the ground as the plant is pulled free), the farmer drives a tractor with a digger-shaker attachment along the rows of peanuts. The digger has long blades that run four to six inches under the ground loosening the plant and cutting the tap root. Just behind the blade, a shaker lifts the plant from the ground, gently shakes the soil from the peanuts and lays the plant upside-down in windrows to dry in the sun for two to three days.
The farmer then drives a combine over the windrows to pick the peanuts from the vines. The peanuts are collected in a hopper and the plants are laid back on the ground. The plants can be baled for cattle feed or mulched into the field. The peanuts are dumped into peanut wagons which can be attached to forced air dryers to further dry the peanuts to 10% moisture for storage.
The peanut wagons are taken to buying stations where they are weighed, graded and inspected by the Federal-State Inspection Service to determine the quality and value of the load.
There are 16,000 peanut farmers in nine primary states in the US. Peanut farms are mostly operated by family farmers who grow an average of 98 acres of peanuts each year on a 3-year rotation, usually with cotton, corn, soybeans and grass crops. Farmers sold their peanuts in the domestic market for about 30.5¢ a pound in 2001.
From the buying station, the peanuts travel to shelling plants. The peanuts are passed over a series of screens which separate any farm materials such as sticks and rocks from the peanuts and then separate the peanuts by size.
The peanuts are shelled and then inspected by a laser beam and by people to eliminate any immature kernels. The sheller then packs the peanuts into bags, boxes or rail cars for delivery to product manufacturers.
The peanut butter manufacturers inspect the peanuts to ensure high quality then roast them in special ovens which provide an even roast. After roasting, the peanuts are fast-cooled by suction fans that circulate air quickly. Rapid cooling is necessary to halt the cooking process, retain an even color and prevent the loss of too much oil.
Another machine rubs the peanuts gently between rubber belts to remove the outer skin ~ this is called blanching. The kernels are split, the hearts removed and the peanuts are cleaned and sorted a final time.
Finally, the peanuts are ground in two stages (one long grinding would produce too much heat, damaging the flavor of the peanut butter). In the first stage, the peanuts are ground alone. In the second stage, salt, sweetener and stabilizer (to keep the oil from separating) are added.
Peanut butter today is remarkably like that made 100 years ago. It contains, by law, a minimum of 90% peanuts, with no artificial sweeteners, colors or preservatives. Some brands add about 7% natural sweeteners and 1% salt for taste, plus a stabilizer to keep the peanut butter fresh and the oil from separating. "Old-fashioned" or "natural" peanut butter does not have the stabilizer so the oil will separate and should be stirred back in before using. Peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated.
"Peanut butter spreads," a relatively new category now allowed by FDA, contain only 60% peanuts, but are nutritionally equivalent to peanut butter (although they may contain more sugar or salt). Many companies introduced peanut butter spreads as a reduced-fat alternative to peanut butter. But today there also are real peanut butters on the market (look for Laura Scudder and Smuckers) which are 25% reduced-fat and still contain at least 90% peanuts.
RECENT NUTRITION STUDIES SHOW PEANUTS AND PEANUT BUTTER ARE GOOD FOR YOU! SPOTLIGHT ON FOLIC ACID
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). Other good sources of folate are orange juice, green leafy vegetables, beans, broccoli, fortified breakfast cereals, and enriched grain products.
Birth Defects
Research shows that folic acid/folate, a B vitamin, can prevent up to 70% of neural tube defects, which affect the brain and spinal cord, when women get sufficient amounts during the earliest weeks of pregnancy.
All women of child-bearing age should consume 400 micrograms of folic acid/folate every day because the neural tube is forming during the first month of pregnancy -- before many women even realize they are pregnant.
Heart Disease
There is growing evidence that suggests eating at least 400 micrograms of folic acid/folate per day will lower the risk of heart disease. Studies published in the February 4, 1998 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association and the April 9, 1998 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine support this link.
Folic acid/folate works with Vitamins B6 and B12 to remove homo cysteine -- an amino acid -- from the body. Accumulation of homo cysteine can cause a variety of heart-damaging effects such as damaged arteries and plaque build-up in the arteries. Eat Nuts and Legumes 4-5 Times Per Week To Help Lower Blood Pressure
The first study to show a link between diet and high blood pressure, published in the April issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, recommends eating nuts and legumes 4 to 5 times per week as part of a low fat diet high in fruits and vegetables.
The diet, know as DASH for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, has less than 30% calories from fat, 8 to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables per day, 7 to 8 servings of grain per day, 2 to 3 servings of low or non-fat dairy products per day, 2 or fewer servings of meat per day, and 4 to 5 servings of nuts and legumes per week.
In just two weeks the study participants' blood pressure dropped an average of 11.4 points systolic (the high number) and 5.5 points diastolic (the low number) and they maintained the drop throughout the study.
In the study, financed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 459 men and women with mild hypertension followed the DASH diet for 8 weeks. The researchers did not lower salt or alcohol consumption and did not change the participants' physical activity level. In addition, the participants' caloric intake was adjusted to keep their weight stable, even if they were overweight, so any lowered blood pressure could not be attributed to weight loss. Participants took no pressure-lowering drugs or vitamin/mineral supplements.
The diet does not call for any drugs or vitamins and should be relatively easy to follow. In fact, the biggest complaint among study participants was they were full before they had eaten their whole meal since researchers were trying to maintain the participants' weight and this diet provides more bulk in the way of fresh fruits, vegetables and grains. An average person following this diet might be inclined to eat less and lose weight.
Conveniently, the DASH diet is similar to diets shown to reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease. So, drink your milk, eat your fruits and vegetables and snack on peanuts and peanut butter 4 to 5 times per week for your health!
FOOD GROUP SERVINGS EXAMPLES
Grains
7 to 8 per day
whole wheat bread, English muffins, pita bread, cereals, grits
Vegetables
4 to 5 per day
tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, squash, broccoli, turnip greens, collards, beans, artichokes, spinach
Fruits
4 to 5 per day
apricots, bananas, grapes, oranges, orange juice, grapefruit, melons, peaches, pineapples, raisins
Low-fat or non-fat dairy 2 to 3 per day
skim or 1% milk, low- or non-fat yogurt, part-skim mozzarella, non-fat cheese
Meats, poultry and fish
2 or fewer per day
only lean meats, with visible fat trimmed; broiled, roasted or boiled, not fried; poultry with skin removed
Nuts, seeds and legumes
4 to 5 per week
peanuts, peanut butter, almonds mixed nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, lentils
Monounsaturated Fat May Protect Against Breast Cancer
Monounsaturated fat can cut in half a woman's risk for breast cancer, according to an article in the January 12, 1998 issue of the American Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine.
Alicja Wolk, Ph.D., from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, studied 61,471 women between the ages of 40 and 76 from 1987 to 1990. Data were collected on the participants' eating habits and their other risk factors for breast cancer. The Swedish Cancer Registry reported who among the group developed breast cancer during the study period.
The researchers found that monounsaturated fat reduced the risk of breast cancer by 45%, polyunsaturated fat increased the risk by 69% and saturated fat had no association.
There is growing evidence that monounsaturated fat might be protective against breast cancer. Many of the studies have focused on olive oil and the Mediterranean diet and found a decreased risk of breast cancer. This study is important because it found that the protective benefit lies with monounsaturated fats as a category, rather than specifically with olive oil.
While the study doesn't specifically mention it, peanut oil has 6.3g of monounsaturated fat (4.3g polyunsaturated) compared to 10g monounsaturated (1.1g polyunsaturated) in olive oil and 8g monounsaturated (4g polyunsaturated) in canola oil.
Eating Low Glycemic Index Foods Such as Peanut Butter Decreases Diabetes Risk in Women
Eating low glycemic index foods such as peanut butter, yogurt, beans and broccoli along with a diet high in cereal fiber can significantly reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes in women, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study consisted of 65,173 American women, aged 40 - 65, who were free from diagnosed cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. During six years of follow-up, 915 cases of diabetes were documented among the women.
The study supported the well-known risk factors for non-insulin-dependent diabetes of age, obesity, family history, smoking and sedentary lifestyle. It also supported diet as a risk factor: a diet high in sugar and low in cereal fiber was significantly linked to an increased risk of diabetes.
Basically, a diet high in sugar (a high glycemic index) and low in fiber triggers the body to increase production of insulin in an attempt to regulate blood sugar. A chronic high demand for insulin may lead to insulin resistance and a lessened ability to produce insulin. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes may follow.
In the U.S., up to 16 million people may be suffering from diabetes, more than three-quarters from non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes commonly goes into remission with proper diet, weight loss and exercise. The glucose in low glycemic index foods, such as peanut butter, is digested more slowly leading to a gradual increase in blood sugar. For this reason, low glycemic index foods are recommended to help control both non-insulin-dependent and insulin-dependent diabetes.
The diet recommended for diabetics is not a "special" diet. It is the same kind of healthful eating plan that is recommended for everybody - high in fiber and low in sugar and fat.
I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER
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