Peanut Butter Worth Praising: MaraNatha

With all the bad news lately about salmonella-tainted peanut butter in processed food products, isn’t it high time we had a peanut butter story we could feel good about?

MaraNatha Nut Butters offers a wide variety of natural and organic nut butters which are super-yummy.  And they are not involved in the current PCA recall.

Every day, the news is just getting worse and worse.  More and more products, including natural and organic ones, are being recalled in the US and Canada.  Our faith in our entire food supply system is being tested.

But there is some good news.  Not all food manufacturers use peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America.  And while we certainly should not become complacent, there is also no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater… or, in this case, with the peanut butter.

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MaraNatha’s range of products includes almond, cashew, and macadamia nut butters as well as peanut.  Their peanut butter comes in organic, natural, crunchy, smooth, no salt, with salt, roasted, added calcium, and no-stir varieties with all permutations you can think of.

By adding a tiny amount of natural, expeller-pressed palm oil (which is solid at room temperature) to their “no-stir” nut butters, the peanut oil does not separate out.  Why palm oil?

Palm oil is not hydrogenated, contains zero trans fats and is lower in saturated fat than butter. It’s a vegetable oil and is cholesterol free. The palm oil we use is extracted from the palm fruit, using mechanical (not chemical) means.

While purists will likely opt for the 100% peanut options, my current favourite is their Creamy and Sweet No-Stir Peanut Butter (sold here in Canada as “Smooth and Sweet”).  The slight touches of sea salt and evaporated cane juice as a sweetener make this a truly luxurious (and kid-friendly) treat — we often just eat it straight out of the jar!  It has the taste and texture of big name brand peanut butters, but none of the junk!  It is also available in organic… just not at my local supermarket.  But if your supermarket is equally poorly-stocked, you can order directly from the company.

Despite processed peanut product fears, nuts and seeds should remain a healthy part of our diet, as they are rich in good fats, which our bodies need.

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