Peanut butter is a substance that is found in almost every form, from spread to fudge.
The stuff is everywhere, and I love it!
The high-fat, high-gloop spread is simply the best thing to have smeared on sliced bread – toasted or not.
Here we’re going to look at 27 nutty facts about peanut butter.
In 1901, the phrase Peanut Butter & Jelly first made a written appearance. It was called peanut paste and was part of a recipe for a simple sandwich to add a bit of variety found in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics.
According to a study carried out from 1996 until 2010 consisting of over 9,000 women aged 9-15, there was a 39% decreased risk of developing benign breast cancer simply by eating peanut butter for 3 days a week.
In 2014, a team of German researchers managed to create a tiny diamond out of peanut butter after pressing it with immense pressure to replicate that of the earth’s own diamond creation process. The diamond was destroyed straight after due to an enormous hydrogen release.
In America, around $800 million is spent annually on peanut butter alone. Compare that to the approximate $75.5 million spent on peanut butter in the U.K.!
Harry Burnett Reese, an inventor and former farmer, invented Hershey’s peanut butter cup in 1928.
Peanuts aren’t actually nuts. The “nut” most of us seem to love is actually a legume, as it is an edible seed inside a pod.
During Alan Shepard’s journey to the moon with NASA in 1971, Alan brought along peanut butter as an apparent good luck charm.
In February 2017, Dinesh Shivnath Upadhaya secured a world record in India when he consumed 46 ounces (296.6g) of peanut butter in 60 seconds, landing him the title of “the most peanut butter eaten in one minute.”
Some sites report that around 15% of a man’s daily requirements of calories would come from a single peanut butter and jelly sandwich when consumed.
In 2016, it took 1,350 people, 4,500 bread loaves, 3551lb of jelly, and a staggering 4,280lbs of peanut butter for Temple University’s Main Campus to make 49,100 sandwiches in order to secure the record of the most sandwiches made in one hour.
The well-known brand of peanut butter, Skippy, was actually started in 1932 by Mr. Rosenfield who created the first chunky peanut butter under the brand name.
January 24th and March 1st are all big days for peanut butter enthusiasts: they are National Peanut Butter Day and, later, National Peanut Butter Lovers Day, respectively.
To make around 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches, you would need around 1 acre of peanuts. Each peanut farm is around 100 acres.
In the U.S., around ¾ of all houses possess at least 1 jar of peanut butter.
In 2014, a man called Jerome Davis pulled a knife on his sibling after he ate too many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sick of his brother’s obsession, he pulled the blade after he ate over 4 sandwiches in one day.
When it comes to the debate of chunky vs. smooth, it seems the division is down to gender and age. Women love smooth best, as do children, with men preferring the joys of the chunky variety.
Jerry Seinfeld, Elvis Presley, and Madonna adore peanut butter. Over 30 celebs & public figures are a part of a special “Adult Peanut Butter Lover’s Fan Club,” according to Skippy Peanut Butter.
According to a study conducted in the early 1990s, regular consumption of peanuts can lower the risk of contracting colorectal cancer in women compared to those who do not eat the nuts frequently.
In three states in the U.S., there are 6 cities named after the peanut; they are in California, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.
The presidency and peanuts have quite a connection. Two former presidents have previously been peanut farmers – the 39th president Jimmy Carter, and Founding Father Thomas Jefferson.
Who hates the feeling of peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth? The fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth is actually called Archibutyrophobia!
A vital ration during World War II was the peanut butter sandwich, according to the all-knowing Peanut Butter Board.
According to the National Peanut Board, the average 12-ounce jar of peanut butter requires around 540 to 550 peanuts to fill.
In 1903, a patent was granted to Dr. Ambrose Straub, this machine was crucial in the development of modern peanut butter. The machine passed peanuts that had been ground up through a meat grinder to achieve very chunky peanut butter.
Per person in the U.S., peanut butter is consumed at the rate of 3lb annually. For the whole of the U.S., this makes a whopping 700,000,000lbs or 317,514,660kg.
Like the clotted cream and jam argument in Britain, the U.S. has a very strong feeling about whether you put peanut butter first or last when preparing the famous PB&J, with 96% of people putting the jelly on after the peanut butter.
On February 14, 2012, Illinois local Patrick Bertoletti managed to secure the record of the most peanut butter and jelly sandwiches eaten in a single minute when he ate six – an average of 1 every 10 seconds.
So there we have it, 27 facts about sweet sweet peanut butter!
A substance many of us love even today as adults, and with the Fan Club and numerous organizations dedicated to the spread, we’re definitely not alone.
