PEANUT BUTTERS — CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE®

Information updated December 2023

Traditionally, Peanut Butter is made with two ingredients >> Peanuts + Salt.  

The leading U.S. brands of Peanut Butter — Jif, Skippy and Peter Pan — all contain Peanuts + Salt plus added sweeteners and other Not In Kitchen™ ingredients like Hydrogenated Oils and Monoglycerides and Diglycerides. (Sources: Statista 2023, Brand Web sites 12/23)

Depending on which variety of manufactured Peanut Butter you choose, you may also find Pea Protein, Soy Protein Concentrate, Corn Syrup Solids or Cottonseed Oil. 

COMMERCIAL PEANUT BUTTER HISTORY: In 1911, while searching for new ways to make soap, Procter & Gamble chemists applied the process of hydrogenation >> adding hydrogen to turn a liquid into a solid. They utilized this formula to making Ivory soap, but it also launched P&G into the food business as this same hydrogenation process led to the creation of Crisco. Ultimately, P&G applied this same technology to Peanut Butter and introduced Jif in 1958.

Today, the Jif brand is owned by The J.M. Smucker Company.

WHY DO THEY ADD HYDROGENATED OILS? You know how peanut butter naturally separates and the peanut oil rises to the top? But a jar of Jif or Skippy or Peter Pan does not? That's the hydrogenation process. Fully hydrogenated oils have been added along with other ingredients to allow these Peanut Butters to sit in a jar on the shelf without separating and remain safe to eat for a long period of time.

HOW LONG DOES A JAR OF JIF PEANUT BUTTER LAST? According to the Jif Web site 12/23, two years:

"Unopened and stored in a cool, dry area, Jif Peanut Butter will last for about two years. After opening, you can keep Jif Peanut Butter about three months on the pantry shelf."

HOW DO JIF PRODUCTS COMPARE WITH HOMEMADE? So, let's compare Jif Creamy Peanut Butter to the homemade recipe of Peanuts + Salt >> let's see if Jif contains Not In Kitchen ingredients, which are those ingredients which would not be in our kitchens if we were making real Peanut Butter at home. (Source: The J.M. Smucker Company Jif Web site 12/23)

JIF CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER CONTAINS SIX INGREDIENTS NOT IN KITCHEN: We would not have Fully Hydrogenated Rapeseed Oil, Fully Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Monoglycerides, Diglycerides or two added sweeteners in our kitchens if we were making Peanut Butter at home. 

JIF PEANUT BUTTER IS BANNED AT WHOLE FOODS >> FULLY HYDROGENATED OILS LIKE THOSE IN JIF PEANUT BUTTER ARE BANNED AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET: Whole Foods cites Hydrogenated Oils as, "Unacceptable in food." (Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 12/23)

WHAT'S IN SIMPLY JIF PEANUT BUTTER? This brand name, Simply Jif, evokes a healthier peanut butter and is meant to do just that. The lack of corporate concern that this premise denigrates their base brand — makes people wonder what is in regular Jif such that there is a 'simple' version of it — is a reflection of our lack of true knowledge about what is in the things we eat. The J.M. Smucker Company knows that we don't know, so . . . 

Jif Peanut Butter and Simply Jif Peanut Butter have the same eight ingredients, just in different amounts.

SIMPLY JIF HAS MORE QUANTITY-WISE OF THE INGREDIENTS WHICH ARE BANNED AT WHOLE FOODS: Ingredients are always listed in descending order amount; there is the most amount  of the ingredient listed first and the least amount of the ingredient listed last.

Simply Jif has more of the Fully Hydrogenated Oils which are banned at Whole Foods.

SIMPLY JIF IS FARTHER FROM HOMEMADE THAN BASIC JIF.

NOT ALL JIF PRODUCTS ARE REAL PEANUT BUTTER: Not all Jif products from The J.M. Smucker Company are real Peanut Butter >> Reduced Fat Jif and Natural Jif do not meet the legal Standard of Identity for Peanut Butter so they are called Peanut Butter Spreads. (Source for legal definition: U.S. Food & Drug Administration 2023; Source for ingredients: The J.M. Smucker Company Jif Web site 12/23)

REDUCED FAT PEANUT BUTTER SPREADS: Low and Reduced Fat products tend to have even more ingredients Not In Kitchen. For example, The J.M. Smucker Company's Jif's Reduced Fat product is made from only 60% peanuts so it is not real Peanut Butter >> legally they have to add the word "Spread" to its designation >> Jif Reduced Fat Peanut Butter Spread.

Note how the labels on the two real ones on the left say “Creamy Peanut Butter” and the two on the right — which don’t meet the legal definition for Peanut Butter — say simply “Creamy” and then — in smaller type circled in yellow — Peanut Butter Spread.

Here’s a snapshot of the ingredients in these four Jif products, three of which are banned at Whole Foods:

JIF REDUCED FAT SPREAD IS NOT REAL PEANUT BUTTER AND CONTAINS THREE ADDED SWEETENERS: Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar and Molasses. Jif Reduced Fat Spread also contains Not In Kitchen ingredients like Pea Protein, Fully Hydrogenated Rapeseed Oil, Fully Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, added fortification, Monoglycerides and Diglycerides. (Source for ingredients: The J.M Smucker Company Jif Web site 12/23)

Corn Syrup Solids and Sugar are the #2 and #3 ingredients in Reduced Fat Jif Spread.

Ingredients are always listed in descending order of amount.

PEANUT BUTTER COMPARISON >> JIF vs. STOP & SHOP: Stop & Shop Peanut Butter contains fewer ingredients and fewer ingredients Not In Kitchen vs. Jif. (Sources: The J.M. Smucker Company Jif Web site 12/23; Stop & Shop Peapod Web site 12/23)

Compared to the Stop & Shop Peanut Butter, Jif has more ingredients Not In Kitchen when making homemade Peanut Butter and Jif costs 80¢ more for a slightly smaller jar.

#2 BRAND PEANUT BUTTER SKIPPY FROM HORMEL FOODS ALSO HAS HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS INCLUDING SOYBEAN, RAPESEED AND COTTONSEED. These three hydrogenated oils are Not In Kitchen and are Far From Homemade and are banned at Whole Foods. (Source for ingredients: Hormel Skippy Web site 12/23; Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 12/23)

Q: Is Cotton a vegetable

A: No

Q: So, how can Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil be called a Vegetable Oil?

Seen below, TARGET’S GOOD & GATHER PEANUT OPTIONS: Only the Organic Peanut Butter from Good & Gather is Closest To Homemade — far right below. (Source: Target Web site 12/23)

AMAZON WHOLE FOODS 365 PEANUT OPTIONS >> 2 of 3 are Closest To Homemade: The Organic Creamy Peanut Butter Spread — far left below — is not Closest To Homemade since it is not real Peanut Butter and contains added Oil and Sugar, but Whole Foods 365 Creamy Peanut Butter and Organic Creamy Peanut Butter are both Closest To Homemade — below center and far right. (Source: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 12/23)

CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE: The Peanut Butter brands you see on the Closest To Homemade chart below are simply Peanuts + possibly Salt, just like homemade, yay!

Some of the Closest To Homemade Peanut Butter brands include Good & Gather Creamy; Non-GMO Project Verified Woodstock Organic Smooth Unsalted; Non-GMO Project Verified MaraNatha Organic; Non-GMO Project Verified Santa Cruz Organic; Whole Foods 365 Creamy Peanut Butter, and Non-GMO Project Verified Peanut Butter & Co. Old Fashioned Smooth which is also Certified Gluten-Free and Certified Vegan. (Sources: Brand Web sites 12/23)

Discover more food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories:

JUSTIN'S PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD IS OWNED BY HORMEL FOODS.

JUSTIN'S PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD IS NOT ON THE CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE LIST BECAUSE IT IS NOT PEANUT BUTTER . . . IT’S PEANUT BUTTER SPREAD >> Hormel-owned Justin’s contains added Palm Oil and has had to legally add the word “Spread” to its nomenclature. (Sources: Hormel Justin’s Web site 2018 and 12/23)

IDEAL PEANUT BUTTER STORAGE: Open the Peanut Butter and stir the natural oil layer into the peanuts and then put in the refrigerator >> it will stay mixed and be thick + creamy.

Once open, the jar is best kept in the refrigerator to slow the natural oxidation of the oil. Keep the lid off for as short a period as possible when using it.

In the world of Peanut Butters:

AVOID: Low quality peanuts (more likely to be broken + moldy), added sugar, GMO sugar, added vegetable oils, (table) salt, reduced fat or low fat peanut butters (they have even more ingredients Not In Kitchen than regular peanut butter), plastic containers.

SEEK: High quality peanuts (as fresh as possible), Himalayan salt. If you're making peanut butter at home, ideally use organic peanuts fresh-cracked from the shell, glass containers.

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We leave you with some old print ads for Peanut Butter:

In the above ad for Big Top Peanut Butter, a peanut butter sandwich is noted as the nutritional equivalent of a meal with beef, potatoes and carrots. The copy reads, "Nutritionists agree: One Big Top sandwich has as much basic nourishment - protein, fats, carbohydrates, food energy - as this meal of juicy beef, potato, carrots."

Also, note the gun in the hand of one of the "beaver children" pointed at the other one's head. The line next to it reads, "Kids are eager as beavers each time you spread Creamy, golden-good BIG TOP on slices of bread!"

Many peanut butter brands once came in re-usable glass containers such as this one:

Today, most large commercial brands are packaged in plastic jars for multiple financial reasons, but also because many parents don’t want their young children handling glass.