1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. Not long ago, listener Tory asked if 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: we could do an episode on the history of the 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: peanut butter sandwich. We have not done an episode on 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: that before, but we have done an episode on the 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: history of peanut butter, so we are sharing that one today. 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: And if based on what I just said, you're curious 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: about the peanut butter sandwich. Like a lot of foods, 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: its origins are unclear, but the first written reference we 9 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: have to it is by Julia Davis Chandler in nineteen 10 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: o one. Well, now I want a peanut butter sandwich. 11 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: But also just to note that the FDA's final determination 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: regarding partially hydrogenated oils came out shortly after we originally 13 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: recorded this episode, and that FDA removed trans FATS designation 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: of generally recognized as safe that's g r a S 15 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: for food and phased out its use in food. So 16 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,279 Speaker 1: if you're wondering why we didn't mention that, that's why 17 00:00:55,320 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: this episode originally came out in July, So enjoy. Welcome 18 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of 19 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 20 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: Holly Fry and I'm trade Peep Wilson. Hey Tracy, I'm 21 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: gonna start with a question, what is your stance on 22 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: peanut butter? I love it. I love it, I will 23 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 1: say when I'm that emphatic about it, I don't want 24 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: to give anyone the rock impression. It's not in my 25 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: top three flavors, but I do love it deeply. You know, 26 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: if I'm going for a dessert thing, I'm gonna go 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: more in a vanilla butterscotch caramel arena. But in terms 28 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: of just day to day food, peanut butter is like 29 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: where it's at for me, Like I will eat it 30 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: out of the jar with a spoon and call it dinner. 31 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: First several years when I was a kid, the sandwich 32 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: that was required to be in my lunch box each 33 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: day with peanut butter and bacon. If you've never tried 34 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: this culinary to I highly recommend it. It is delicious. Uh. 35 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: And if you ask most people who invented peanut butter, 36 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: usually they answer with George Washington Carver. Occasionally they will 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: talk about John Harvey Kellogg, who we talked about in 38 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: a previous episode of this podcast. And we're going to 39 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: talk about those guys and where they fit into the 40 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: whole thing in terms of the history of peanut butter. 41 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: But there were people mashing peanuts into a paste long 42 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: before either of those names came into the picture. Before 43 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: we go into the debate over who actually has bragging 44 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: rights to claim that they invented peanut butter, which is 45 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: a convoluted taling of itself, we're gonna talk a little 46 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: bit about just how modern peanut butter is actually made. Unsurprisingly, 47 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: it starts with farmers after the last frost, so in 48 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: the northern hemisphere in places that they grow peanuts is 49 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: normally around April. That's when the peanut crop is planted. 50 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: Uh and in the United States most farmers are growing 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: Virginia peanuts, Spanish peanuts, and runner peanuts. Peanut growers plant 52 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: on average a hundred fifteen to a hundred forty pounds, 53 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: which is between fifty two and sixty four of peanut 54 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: seeds per acre. The seeds, which are peanut kernels, are 55 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: planted just a couple of inches apart and also a 56 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: couple of inches underground, So seven to ten days after 57 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 1: they're planted, seedlings begin to emerge, and three to four 58 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: weeks after the seedlings first appear, peanut plants will begin 59 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: to flower, and peanuts are a self pollinating crop, and 60 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: they're kind of fascinating because while they flower above ground, 61 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,239 Speaker 1: once they're pollinated, the petals fall off and that fertilized 62 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: portion finds its way back into the soil to bear fruit. 63 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: So it's kind of odd that the flower then goes 64 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: back underground and then it becomes something ittable. The process 65 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: of penetrating the soil begins between forty five and sixty 66 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: days after planting, and at that point the peanut will 67 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: start to grow in its vine form. This is normally 68 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: when people start to use some supplemental irrigation to keep 69 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: the plants healthy. And once peanuts are matured, which is 70 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: about a hundred and twenty two hundred and sixty days 71 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: after planting, they're pulled from the ground. And in the 72 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: modern approach to this, there's a digger shaker which is 73 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: attached to a tractor and it's used to cut the peanuts, 74 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: tap roots and lift the plants up out of the ground. 75 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,359 Speaker 1: This used to be done by hand and it was 76 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: very very labor intensive and very time consuming, but then 77 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: in this modern version, once the plants are are up 78 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: off the ground. They're shaken on this conveyor that's part 79 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: of the big mechanism, and that kind of removes some soil, 80 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: and it also flips them so that they're left inverted 81 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: on the ground with the plant side down and the 82 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: peanuts side up. Trying to remember for sure, because you know, 83 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: we we grew all of our vegetables when I was 84 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: growing up. I feel like a couple of times we 85 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: experimented with planting a small number of peanuts, because I 86 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: remember like pulling up plants that had peanuts with lots 87 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: of dirt underneath them. But it's possible that that was 88 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: someone else's farm and I was on a field I 89 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: don't know. Regardless, the plants remain in the field for 90 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: between two and three days to dry, and then the 91 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 1: actual picking is done. The dried plants are pulled up 92 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: in a harvest ster that picks up and separates the 93 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: peanut part from the dried vine part. The peanuts will 94 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: still need additional drying after they're harvested, unless you're going 95 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: to boil them, which is delicious. Okay, they are delicious. 96 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: They are delicious, but I have a hard time getting 97 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: over like the texture and soupiness factor. That's a problem 98 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: for me. And the people that I know that love 99 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: boiled peanuts love boiled peanuts like they will defend them staunchly. Uh. 100 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: The peanuts after they're harvested are often taken to a 101 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 1: buying station, and this is where they're cleaned to remove 102 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,679 Speaker 1: things like any sticks and rocks that may have gotten 103 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: in with the nut harvest, even though they are not 104 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: technically a nut. We'll get to that later. Uh. And 105 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: the farmer next takes a sample of these peanuts to 106 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: Federal inspection to determine their grade, and their grade is 107 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,599 Speaker 1: based on a variety of factors, including general damage to 108 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: the crop, foreign material that might still be in there 109 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: after the cleaning and shaking, the maturity of the peanuts, 110 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: as well as their moisture contents. Next, the peanuts go 111 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: to the shelling plant, where the actual nuts are separated 112 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: from the hull. After the shells and any other remaining 113 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: foreign material comes out, the shelled peanuts go through an 114 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: electric eye by a conveyor belt. The eye is an 115 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: optic sorder that further separates the nuts based on their quality, 116 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: and next they are separated based on size, and at 117 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: that point they're sorted into bins accordingly, so a digital 118 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: scale will measure the sorted nuts, usually into these tote bags, 119 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,479 Speaker 1: these giant kind of uh synthetic fabric tote bags that 120 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: are capable of holding a metric ton of contents. And 121 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: then the bags are taken to dry storage. And if 122 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: the nuts aren't needed in the first four days after 123 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 1: they're sorted, like if they haven't been shipped out by 124 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: that point, they're usually moved to cold storage, and that 125 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: would normally be set like a thirty eight to forty 126 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: two degrees fahrenheit or three point three to five point 127 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: six degrees celsius. Normally, from this point, peanuts go one 128 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: of three ways. They go to a blancher where the 129 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: skins are removed so the nuts can be sold to consumers, 130 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: or they're exported, or most importantly to today's topics, they're 131 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: taken to a peanut butter plant can also buy peanuts 132 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: in the shell, which would just skip some of the 133 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: steps that we've talked and talked about. Yeah, I love 134 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: those two. Tracy is a great nut proponent, a great 135 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: peanut proponent. Uh So, the peanuts that are taken to 136 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: a peanut butter manufacturer are normally roasted and then they're 137 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: cooled very quickly to stop them from cooking any further 138 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,679 Speaker 1: and that helps retain their oil contents. And then after roasting, 139 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: the peanuts go through a blanching process similar to the 140 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: ones that would happen if they had been sent directly 141 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: to the blanchers, and then one last cleaning is done 142 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: before they go to the grinding stage. Peanuts are ground 143 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: once on their own and then usually a second time 144 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: with flavors, sweeteners, and stabilizers added. Once the desired consistency 145 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: is achieved, the peanut butter goes into jars to be 146 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: sealed before being shipped to retailers for a consumer purchase. 147 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: And continuing the stories of peanuts from my childhood, uh, 148 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: my my dad worked at an organic food co op 149 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: uh to help us make ends meat when I was 150 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: a child, and he would come home with these tubs, 151 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: like giant tubs of organic peanut butter that you had 152 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: to like stir the oil back into the peanuts. It's 153 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: also delicious. Um. Uh. Now, after all the talking that 154 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: we just did about how peanut butter gets made, we're 155 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,839 Speaker 1: keep that pretty specific to the US, So you might 156 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: think that the US is actually the most prolific peanut 157 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: producing nation, but that is not accurate. In fact, both 158 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: China and India actually grow more peanuts than the United States, 159 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: although a larger proportion of the peanuts UH that are 160 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: grown in the United States are used for peanut butter 161 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: than is the case in either of the their countries. 162 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: So about half of the peanuts that are grown here 163 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: in the United States end up in a peanut butter jar. 164 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: So that's how peanut butter is made. But as to 165 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: where peanuts actually come from, in spite of how popular 166 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,079 Speaker 1: they are in the United States, they are not native 167 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,839 Speaker 1: to North America. Now this is an oddly lucky case 168 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: of a species being imported and not kind of getting 169 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: out of control. Um And also, as I mentioned earlier, 170 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: peanuts are not nuts their legumes. They're more closely related 171 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: to peas and beans and alfalfa and clover. Peanuts got 172 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: their scientific name iraqous hypogaea in the eighteenth century from 173 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: carl Naeus, who was a Swedish botanist. The iracous part 174 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: comes from the Greek word for weed uh and the 175 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: hypogaea part comes from the Greek word for underground. Chamber. 176 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: So this literally means underground weed. But they're delicious um. 177 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: But before they ever got a scientific name, peanuts were 178 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: growing in South America. The place peanuts are believe you too, 179 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: have first grown is in the world's largest wetland, which 180 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: is called Grand Pentenal, which I could be woefully mispronouncing, 181 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: and that takes up roughly fifty thousand to seventy five 182 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 1: thousand square miles or a hundred and twenty nine thousand, 183 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: two hundred and ninety four thousand square kilometers in tropical 184 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: areas of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Peanuts there are still 185 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: a big part of the culture in Bolivia and there 186 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: used to make drinks and soaps and they're eating its food. 187 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: But the earliest known point of peanut use is in 188 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: Peru between three thousand and two thousand BC. There are 189 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: dig sites along Peru's eastern coast that date back to 190 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: five hundred and one hundred BC where people live on 191 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: Earth's areas where peanut shells are just scattered everywhere in 192 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: enormous abundance. Yeah. I think I read one description that 193 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 1: said it was like a modern baseball stadium. There were 194 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: just so many peanuts strewn about. Uh. And while it 195 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: was not all that much like today's peanut butters, there 196 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: were some South and Amrican cultures that were grinding up 197 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: peanuts and they were mixing. They were creating a paste 198 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: with them and then mixing that paste with cocoa to 199 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: create a sort of spread, although not as easy to 200 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: spread as what we are used to. I would eat that, 201 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: I would too, It sounds delicious from their peanuts are 202 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: believed to have spread up the Pacific coast into Mexico, 203 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: but they would make it to the American South via 204 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: a much more roundabout route, which we will go into 205 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: in a minute, and which people were arguing about on 206 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: our Facebook page this week. Yeah. Yeah. While peanuts were 207 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: brought back to Europe by Portuguese and Spanish explorers, they 208 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 1: never kind of achieved the popularity there that they have 209 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: in North America. Spanish also carried peanuts across the Pacific 210 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: Ocean to the Malayan Archipelago in the fifteen hundreds, and 211 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: by six o eight peanuts were in China. Uh. And 212 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: we certainly know that peanuts have become part of many 213 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 1: Asian cuisines, much to my palates delay. Uh. There's evidence 214 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: of use of ground peanuts in West African cuisine dating 215 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:08,079 Speaker 1: back five hundred years, and they traveled to Africa we 216 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: think from Brazil and the way that this was commonly prepared, 217 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: this sounds so delicious to me. The peanuts would be 218 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: broken up under a roller so kind of mashed, and 219 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: then they would be um mixed with honey and red peppers. 220 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: That sounds like an artisanal peanut butter to me. I'm 221 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: sure you can find that in a yummy upscale grocery store. 222 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: From there, peanuts also made their way to India in 223 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: the sixteenth century. Yeah, so it's almost like it kind 224 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: of went in both directions to kind of go around 225 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: the belt of the the Earth to kind of make 226 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: their way. They had hit Asia and then they kind 227 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: of came into India from the other side. Uh. And unfortunately, Uh, 228 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: it's thanks to the slave trade that peanuts made their 229 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: way from Africa back to the America's being transported sometimes 230 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: on the same ships that actually carried enslaved human cargo. 231 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: Even in the United States, grinding peanuts predates the timeline 232 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: most commonly related to peanut butter, more properly known in 233 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: the early half of the nineteenth century, peanuts were sometimes 234 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: ground or beaten into a paste and then seasoned with 235 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: salt to make a peanut porridge. But while peanut pastes 236 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: of a few different types were part of cultures dating 237 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: centuries back, uh, and you know then they had kind 238 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: of become popular in the American South around Civil War 239 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: times where it really was the United States though we're 240 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: peanut butter as we know it came into existence. But 241 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,199 Speaker 1: before we get to the American peanut butter story, do 242 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: you don't have a word from a sponsor? Sure? So, 243 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: getting into the tail of American peanut butter, The earliest 244 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: known American peanut butters were made with a combination of 245 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: Spanish Virginia peanuts, both still very popular today. Uh. Spanish 246 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: peanuts have a higher concentration of oil than other varieties, 247 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,199 Speaker 1: and they're extremely flavorful. Even though peanuts themselves were considered 248 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: to be a food with the lower classes, the first 249 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: iterations of peanut butter were really popular among the wealthy 250 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: and fashionable, But that really didn't last for very long 251 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: as peanut butter dropped in price as people got better 252 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: at making it more efficiently. It became a staple of 253 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: homes throughout the Nation. Yeah, one uh piece of literature 254 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: I was looking at said it really was only about 255 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: a ten year timeline that it went from being sort 256 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: of a new and fancy, high class food to be 257 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: in almost every pantry, which is a very short period 258 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: of time. But going back to the early introduction of 259 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: peanut butter as we know it today, it is linked, 260 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: as I said earlier to a previous podcast topic, John 261 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: Harvey Kellogg, and it was at his Western Health perform 262 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan, that some of the earliest 263 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 1: proponents of peanut butter could be found. When the story 264 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: goes that Kellogg started to grind peanuts for the patients 265 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: at his UH sanitarium who were unable to chew for 266 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: themselves or that had difficulty digesting things, so it was 267 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: kind of a pre chewing concept. Uh. And eventually he 268 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: switched from roasting the peanuts to steaming them to prevent 269 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: breaking down the oils because he thought that was gonna 270 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: upset digestion. Kellogg applied for what's generally considered to be 271 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: the first peanut butter patent on November four of eight, 272 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: although his invention was called a food compound rather than 273 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: peanut butter. It specified a manner of turning nuts into 274 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: a paste for eating. He filed two more patents for 275 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: similar food products in eight and eight, although he later 276 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: said he never patent in peanut butter and thought all 277 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: people should have access to it. The Santitas Company, which 278 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: he founded with his brothers, was advertising nut butters and 279 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: catalogs as of eighteen ninety seven. Another player in this 280 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: this story is George Bail, who was a cracker salesman 281 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: who eventually started his own snack company, and he began 282 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: producing and selling peanut butter as a snack item rather 283 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: than as a health food as Kellogg had labeled it 284 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: in eight and Bail claimed for many years that he 285 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: was the original manufacturer of peanut butter, and his advertising 286 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: included that claim. Bail is sometimes being credited as being 287 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: one of the first manufacturers of peanut butter to add 288 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: salt both to just regular peanuts and a peanut butter. 289 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: Thank you, George Bail, I love me some salted peanuts. Uh, 290 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: he passed away. In whether Kellogg or Bail was really 291 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: the first to come up with peanut butter as we 292 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: think of it today, that remains something of a debate. 293 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: There's more paperwork backing up Kellogg's claim in the form 294 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: of patents, but detractors point out that his peanut butter 295 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: like food wasn't as close to quote, real peanut butter 296 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: as the bail formula was. Yeah, a lot of them 297 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: point out that the boiling rather or the steaming rather 298 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: than the roasting, as being a pretty thistinctive variation, because 299 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: the roasting really does bring out a much different flavor. 300 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: But regardless of who made it first, peanut butter did, 301 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,880 Speaker 1: as I mentioned just a bit ago, become incredibly popular, 302 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: whether people were still eating it thinking that it was 303 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: a health food or whether they just thought it was 304 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 1: really tasty and a convenient snack. Uh. In nineteen o four, 305 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: peanut butter was an attraction at the St. Louis World's Fair, 306 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: and shortly thereafter beech Nuts began manufacturing it uh And 307 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: unlike previous versions of peanut butter that went to market 308 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: in tens, beech Nuts product was the first that we 309 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: know of that was shipped in glass jars, and they 310 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: continue to make peanut butter for years. Beech Nut eventually 311 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: merged with Life Savers in nineteen fifty six. In nineteen 312 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: o nine, Hines also got into the peanut butter game. 313 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: Hines produced peanut butter until it was crowded out of 314 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: that market in the nineteen fifties. UH. And then between 315 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,639 Speaker 1: nineteen o three and nineteen ten, and agricultural problem was 316 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: making its way north from Central America and this was 317 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 1: the Bowl weevil. We could actually do a whole episode 318 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,440 Speaker 1: on how detrimental the Bowl weevil invasion was to US 319 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,120 Speaker 1: agriculture at the time. It was not pretty. There were, 320 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,439 Speaker 1: you know, agricultural communities that basically shut down completely, but 321 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: that's another episode. However, as they pertained to peanuts, UH. 322 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: Once they made their way to the US, these beetles 323 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: started gnashing on the cotton crop in the South, particularly 324 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: where cotton has normally grown, and they really did just 325 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: kind of break down the agricultural system there and they 326 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: left farmers looking for another crop that they could grow, 327 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 1: and for a lot of them, peanuts filled that void. 328 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,120 Speaker 1: So people often credit George Washington Carver with inventing peanut butter, 329 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: and this whole Bowl Weevil inspired switch to planting peanuts 330 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: instead of cotton kind of figures into that legend. Carver 331 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,719 Speaker 1: was a proponent of peanuts and there are many uses. 332 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: And he did teach farmers, particularly black farmers, about crop rotation, 333 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: although that wasn't exactly a new concept at that point. 334 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: And he did write about peanuts quite a bit, although 335 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: some of his claims were not quite correct. Uh. The 336 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: only peanut related patent Carver ever received was for a 337 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: cosmetic made from them and not peanut butter. Yeah. And 338 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: one of the incorrect claims he made was that peanuts 339 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: were easy to plant, growing harvest, And they are easy 340 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: to plant, and they're pretty easy to grow, but harvesting, 341 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: as I said, prior to machinery, was just backbreaking labor. 342 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: H And at this point though, peanut butter was a 343 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: product that was being made, but it was primarily just 344 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,919 Speaker 1: for regional markets because prior to hydrogenation, the spread just 345 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: did not travel well. So hydrogenations raised the melting point 346 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: of peanut butter so that it would stay solid at 347 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: room temperature and not separate into oils and solids. Today 348 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 1: you have to pay extra for that, uh yeah, because 349 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: you know, the fancy peanut butter that you gotta stir 350 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: together cost the most in the National Peanut Butter Manufacturers Association, 351 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: which today is the peanut and that processors association was formed. 352 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: So okay, we're gonna start talking a lot about hydrogenation, 353 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: and because it becomes really important in the story of 354 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: peanut butter, so we actually want to also talk about 355 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: exactly what that is. And to do that, I'm actually gonna, um, 356 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: We're gonna quote a passage from John Crampnor's book Creamy 357 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: and Crunchy and Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All 358 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,199 Speaker 1: American Food rather than sort of try to reinvent the 359 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: food science wheel, because he lays it out very nicely. 360 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,879 Speaker 1: The hydrogenation process consists of bubbling hydrogen into the bottom 361 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: of a tank of vegetable oil in the presence of 362 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: a catalyst such as powdered nickel. This isn't done at 363 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: the peanut butter plant, but a separate facility. When vegetable 364 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: oil is hydrogenated, two things happen. Hydrogen atoms attached themselves 365 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,200 Speaker 1: to carbon atoms, and the double bonds of electrons between 366 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: some carbon atoms are replaced by single bonds between the 367 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: carbon and hydrogen atoms. Vegetable oil molecules with double bonds 368 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: have a bent or kink structure, so they don't stack 369 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: together easily, causing them to remain fluid. Molecules with single 370 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: bonds are straighter, stacked together easily, and are solid. By 371 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: replacing double bonds with single bonds, hydrogenation creates a more 372 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,360 Speaker 1: tightly packed crystalline structure and the vegetable oil raising its 373 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: melting point. So yeah, that's basically what they're saying is 374 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: this makes it um all stick together but not become 375 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: a solid, so it remains spreadable and smoother um. And 376 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: I feel like we should briefly talk about trans fats 377 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: because they are the villains of modern nutrition and they 378 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: are part of this process. They're created when the ground 379 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: peanuts and hydrogenated oil are heated to very high temperatures 380 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: and then rapidly cooled, and this crystallizes the fatty acids 381 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 1: in the mixture. Transpats, as we know, lead to arterial clogging. 382 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 1: And that's because their melting point is so high that 383 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: they can't really be burned off like through exercise, Like 384 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: you could never really work out hard enough to activate 385 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: the melting of them and for them to easily be 386 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: um um metabolized and moved out of your body. So 387 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: they tend to accumulate, and that's why people are very 388 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 1: twitchy about them. So this whole transpat situation might make 389 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: you want to shun peanut butter, but when it's correctly made, 390 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: the product only has really tiny amounts of transpats. The 391 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: presence of transpats and peanut butter falls well below the 392 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: FDA standard that would require it to be mentioned on 393 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: the label. Yeah, I didn't um double checked the veracity 394 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: of it, but I read one statement from a food 395 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: scientist that said, basically, if you eat one cookie with 396 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: trans fats in it, it is far more trans fats 397 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: than you would get in many, many servings of peanut butter. 398 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: So it really is kind of a trace amount. So 399 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: now that we've got the science lesson out of the way, 400 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: let's have a brief word from a sponsor, and then 401 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: we'll talk about one of the most important men in 402 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: the peanut butter story. So a gentleman named Joseph rose 403 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 1: Field figures very prominently in peanut butter history. On April 404 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: fifth one, he filed for a patent for his process 405 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: of partially hydrogenating peanut butter to stabilize it, and in 406 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 1: ninety three he manufactured a brand called luncheon Uh, and 407 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: this was an unstabilized peanut butter. Though in nine or 408 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: twenty four rose Field licenses patent to the Swift Company 409 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,439 Speaker 1: and in a short lived brand introduced by Swift was 410 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: named either Dainty or Delicia, and it was making peanut 411 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: butter using rose Field's patented process. Yeah, and the reason 412 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: that we're not sure of the name is there's not 413 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: a lot of documentation, and that information is taken from 414 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: um court testimony that rose Field's children gave in I 415 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:43,440 Speaker 1: think in nineteen eighties, so it was much later and 416 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: they were working for memory and they couldn't quite recall 417 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: the exact name. But that's why we're not sure of it. 418 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,959 Speaker 1: But Swift's early effort with either Dainty or Delicia, whichever 419 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,719 Speaker 1: it was called, did not sell particularly well. However, they 420 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: didn't abandon this idea. The company made another run at 421 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: peanut butter manufacturer, again using rose Field's partial hydrogenation pattern 422 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 1: in and this is when they introduced it as Peter Pan, 423 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: which of course became the first big brand on the market, 424 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: which is what I wanted desperately as a child when 425 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: we were eating peanut butter from a tub that had 426 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: to be stirred together. Now was it because peter Pan 427 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,199 Speaker 1: was smooth and delicious or was it because it was 428 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,719 Speaker 1: called peter Pan? Uh, it was because it was like 429 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 1: smooth and delicious and sugary and not not. So the 430 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,640 Speaker 1: difference is not nearly as pronounced today. But the texture 431 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: of the organic sturn together peanut butter from nineteen seventy 432 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: nine was like kind of dry and chunky and didn't 433 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: spread very well. Um, whereas like peter Pan peanut butter 434 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,399 Speaker 1: was this magical sweet deliciousness because it's also there's a 435 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: fair amount of sugar and a lot of and a 436 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: lot of peanut butters in addition to the parts. We'll 437 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: talk about that in a minute. Yeah, I'm pretty sure 438 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:04,920 Speaker 1: that I would go to my grandmother's house and she 439 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: would make us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and they 440 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: would be peanut butter. There would be peter Pan peanut 441 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: butter on white bread with jelly, none of which were 442 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: appropriate things to eat at our house. There was also 443 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: another man who patent today food product just a few 444 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: weeks before rose Field, and his name was Frank Stockton. 445 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: The first pattern that actually used the phrase peanut butter, 446 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: and Stockton's patents described a full hydrogenation process, which made 447 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: for a less creamy product and one that was more 448 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: of a salad with a higher melting point. He licensed 449 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: his hydrogenation process to Hynes, who was producing hydrogenated peanut 450 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: butter as early as Yeah. Even when you get into 451 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: kind of more in depth stories of how peanut butter 452 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: came to be what it is today, UM Frank Stockton 453 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 1: often gets left out of the picture, in part because 454 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 1: some say that his full hydrogenation process just it made 455 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: for a peanut butter that was not as naturally delicious 456 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: because it was more solid, it was harder to spread. 457 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: Some would feel like it was kind of a step 458 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: back in terms of UM, you know, consumer appeal. And 459 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: rose Field and the Peter Pan company, you remember they 460 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: were licensing his partial hydrogenation process, had a pretty significant 461 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: falling out in ninety two after some changes in leadership 462 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: at UM, the Swift Company which owned Peter Pan, the manufacturer, 463 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: made a move to reduce the fee that they were 464 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: paying rose Field for licensing his partial hydrogenation process, and 465 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: he was not having that uh, and the two entities 466 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,199 Speaker 1: went their separate ways, and then rose Field started his 467 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: own peanut butter company called Skippy. Uh. The Swift Company, 468 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,680 Speaker 1: which again had been the parent to Peter Pan, switched 469 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,440 Speaker 1: to a different hydrogenation process, which was patented by a 470 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 1: man named Leo Brown in two and Brown's patent is 471 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,920 Speaker 1: kind of interesting because, um, a lot of it really 472 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: focuses on its prevention of the products sticking to the 473 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: roof of the consumer's mouse. The it talks a lot 474 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,640 Speaker 1: about saliva and how it will factor in with this 475 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: different hydrogenation process. Rose Field further experimented with peanut butter 476 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 1: production by setting up a lab and testing out a 477 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,400 Speaker 1: new system to try to get a smoother, more palatable mixture. 478 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: He started churning his peanut butter rather than grinding it, 479 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,439 Speaker 1: which was the normal method, by then dropping crushed nuts 480 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,480 Speaker 1: into the mixture. He invented chunky peanut butter, which was 481 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: introduced in Nive and which I have never cared for. 482 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: Oh ha, ha ha, You're dead to me, Tracy V. Wilson, 483 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: because I'm all about the chunky peanut butter. Um, you 484 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: and your smooth Peter. I'm sticking with Skippy, I guess uh. 485 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,679 Speaker 1: Rose Field also introduced a chocolate peanut butter combo in 486 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: the form of choc nut butter, although this product never 487 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,639 Speaker 1: really caught on, but he was kind of ahead of 488 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: his time because five years later the Reese's Cup was 489 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: introduced and it kind of went off like gangbusters. In 490 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,199 Speaker 1: nine five, rose Field sold Skippy to Best Foods for 491 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 1: six million dollars. Uh which also this also was a 492 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:14,920 Speaker 1: company that makes Hellman's mayonnaise products. Yeah, uh so. Also 493 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 1: in ninety five there was a Kentucky man named William T. Young, 494 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: and he sold his company, which at the time was 495 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,560 Speaker 1: called Big Top Peanut Butter, to Procter and Gamble, and 496 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: Procter and Gamble reformulated Young's recipe pretty significantly. They used 497 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: alternate oils to peanut oils in the hydrogenation process. Then 498 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 1: they started adding sugar and molasses to their products. This 499 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: new version of the recipe was rebranded as Jiff and 500 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: competitors took notice. Soon afterward, other peanut butter manufacturers started 501 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: adding sweeteners and non peanut oils to their products, and 502 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: then the Food and Drug Administration got involved. Uh. They 503 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: were watching this kind of shift in peanut butter from 504 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: being just peanuts and peanut oil to peanuts, peanut oil, 505 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: other oils, and sugars, and they were not okay with 506 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: a product that included non peanut ingredients being labeled as 507 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: peanut butter. The FDA stance was that a product needed 508 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: to be peanuts to be marketed as peanut butter. But manufacturers, 509 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: on the other hand, thought that was a much more 510 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: reasonable number, and thus began twelve years of legal back 511 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,320 Speaker 1: and forth about what percentage of peanuts has to be 512 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: in peanut butter for it to really be peanut butter. Finally, 513 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: in nine the FDA and manufacturers settled on nine of 514 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: the amount of peanuts a jar of peanut butter must contain. Yeah, 515 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:40,960 Speaker 1: And it was one of those things that I was 516 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: doing my research. I didn't include it here because it 517 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: gets very mathey in a hurry. But a lot of 518 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: the arguments were like, okay, but if we include this 519 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: many peanuts and this much peanut oil, then we don't 520 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: have any space to put molasses in, so that's not 521 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: really a workable recipe for us. Like it was all 522 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: sort of A lot of their argument was science based 523 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: and what could actually fit in the recipe and still 524 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 1: make it palatable and competitive on the market. And what 525 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: consumers were used to eating. Um. So since the nineteen seventies, 526 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: there have, of course, I'm sure all of our listeners 527 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: will remember one or another recall or a shifting health 528 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: trend that have damaged one big peanut butter brand or 529 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: another for a time. But peanut butter just as a 530 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: food has really remained a staple in pantries, certainly throughout 531 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: the US and in other parts of the world. Yeah. 532 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 1: I think one of the I know one of the 533 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: reasons that we ate it so much as a child 534 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: was that even uh, even though they were they were 535 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,520 Speaker 1: buying organic from a food co op, it was like 536 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 1: not a brand of it was like a tub of 537 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: industrial sized, super cheap. We can make a million sandwhich 538 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: is out of this peanut butter that had to be 539 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,479 Speaker 1: stirred together with a bachelor. Oh yeah, there are so 540 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: many tales of like, uh, you know, I'm sure anybody 541 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: in their friends circle will be like, oh, when I 542 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: was in college and super broke, I would just buy 543 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: like a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of 544 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: bread and that would have to last week for the week. 545 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 1: And even famous people often love to tell they're like, 546 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: I was so broke peanut butter stories that are basically 547 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: the same story of this is what sustained me when 548 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: I wasn't able to, you know, afford more um variety 549 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: in my diet. So peanut butter has saved a lot 550 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: of people from being hungry, that's for sure. Uh. And 551 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: I thought to close out it might be fun just 552 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: to share a handful of fun facts about peanut butter. 553 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: By the time he retired to start off, Josip rose 554 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 1: Field had ten food patents. Yeah, he really did some 555 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: interesting things in terms of the food industry. He paid 556 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: his workers a lot more than than most other companies were. 557 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: He admitted the wide mouth peanut butter jar. Uh. He 558 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: was very into uh kind of moving and shaking and 559 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: trying new things. Um. In seven, the New Yorker published 560 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: its first peanut butter cartoon, and that was by some 561 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: a sure sign that the product had become a cultural institution. 562 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: To make gets well bounced jar of peanut butter, you'll 563 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: need about five and forty peanuts. That's so when you 564 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, if you saw my Rye Grand when you 565 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: were talking about possibly experimenting with planting peanuts. It's one 566 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: of those things where you have to plant so many 567 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: to get a little bit of a crop. So well, 568 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: and if my memory is accurately, pretty much grew them 569 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,960 Speaker 1: and snacked on them, and it's tirely possible that I'm 570 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: conflating them with some other root food that we grew. 571 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: Is the first year that hydrogenated peanut butter out sold 572 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: natural peanut butter, and while peanut butter is often seen 573 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 1: as a staple for people with limited budgets, fancy peanut 574 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,960 Speaker 1: butters are now a large part of the market. I 575 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: will confess I buy a fancy peanut butter. I do sometimes, 576 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: but every once in a while, Um, I'll be on 577 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: the peanut butter. I'll looking at the sort of you know, 578 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: organics and the naturals, and I'll look at Brian and 579 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: be like, not this time, i gotta go with the 580 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 1: the old standards for sugar them because they are very 581 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: delicious and they're kind of um. There's a lot of 582 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: nostalgia that's part of it. One acre of peanuts translates 583 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: to roughly thirty peanut butter sandwiches. About eight of today's 584 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: peanut butters are hydrogenated and to be labeled as natural 585 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: peanut butter. The product can contain natural sweeteners and salt, 586 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: but no stabilizers. So that's why a natural peanut butters 587 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:30,959 Speaker 1: often have to be um stirred. Now, there are a 588 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 1: lot and I haven't looked into the science of this, 589 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: but have you seen these where it's like it's natural 590 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: peanut butter that you do not have to stir, Like 591 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: the label will state like no stirring needed. How are 592 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: they doing that? I have seen that, but I have 593 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: not bought them because I have this weird estalgia for 594 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 1: stirring the peanut butter because of my weirdo organic childhood. 595 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: Uh In Delta Airlines distributed sixty nine point six million 596 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,080 Speaker 1: packs of peanuts on its flights. Related to that and 597 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: to what I'm going to say next, I was on 598 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: a flight very recently where there were no peanuts served 599 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 1: because there was someone on the flight who had a 600 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: severe peanut allergy and it turned out that was my 601 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: seat mate. Oh my goodness. UH. As many as six 602 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:18,759 Speaker 1: out of a thousand people in the United States have 603 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 1: peanut allergies, which is really sad because, in addition to 604 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,360 Speaker 1: the fact that it means you can't eat this pretty 605 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: cheap and tasty staple. Like often peanut allergies are just deadly, 606 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,880 Speaker 1: which is why they were not served on the entire airplane, 607 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:35,879 Speaker 1: because there was one person with a severe allergy. Yeah, 608 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:37,800 Speaker 1: and it's one of those things. I'm sure anybody who's 609 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,279 Speaker 1: listening that's dealt with peanut allergy, and even people that 610 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 1: haven't probably no peanuts and peanut powder show up in 611 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,479 Speaker 1: some unusual places. It's kind of like gluten, where you don't. 612 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:50,880 Speaker 1: It's not always in the places you automatically think it 613 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: would be, so that it's very restrictive. It makes me 614 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:55,439 Speaker 1: sad because I love peanut butter so much. I wish 615 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: everybody could chow down on it. Yeah, and I know 616 00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:59,879 Speaker 1: that there are people who are really against the id 617 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 1: of banning peanuts from a place because of allergies, But seriously, 618 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: an airplane, like, what are you gonna do if you 619 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 1: have a medical emergency in the eighth when you're trapped 620 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,880 Speaker 1: in a steel tube her lying space. Um. Peanuts actually 621 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: contribute more than four billion dollars to the US economy 622 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:24,280 Speaker 1: every single year, and Americans spend almost eight hundred million 623 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: dollars a year on peanut butter. Uh. The average American 624 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: eats about six pounds. That's roughly two point seven kgs 625 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: of peanuts and peanut butter products each year. I'm really 626 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,200 Speaker 1: quite confident in all seriousness that you could triple that 627 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:45,799 Speaker 1: number for me and we'll just leave that there. Well. So, 628 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: in my weirdo organic childhood, one of the things that 629 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: we would have for a snack would be uh, some 630 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: some peanut butter from the tub of peanut butter that 631 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:56,760 Speaker 1: had to be started together with a bachelor, um and 632 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 1: and honey smashed together in a cup. Who young with this? 633 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 1: I still do that sometimes, um and I. Usually my 634 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,400 Speaker 1: breakfast lately has been peanut butter on a fruit, like 635 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,439 Speaker 1: peanut butter on apple or peanut butter on banana. It's 636 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: good stuff. I'm a fan of peanut butter. Thank you 637 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 1: so much for joining us today for this Saturday classic. 638 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 1: If you have heard any kind of email address or 639 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:29,640 Speaker 1: maybe a Facebook you are l during the course of 640 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,280 Speaker 1: the episode, that might be obsolete. It might be doubly 641 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,680 Speaker 1: obsolete because we have changed our email address again. You 642 00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: can now reach us at History Podcast at I heart 643 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,680 Speaker 1: radio dot com, and we're all over social media at 644 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 1: missed in History, and you can subscribe to our show 645 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google podcast the I heart Radio app, 646 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:54,120 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed 647 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 648 00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 649 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,920 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 650 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: favorite shows. M m hm