Quality control and strict food safety standards ensure that your favorite peanut butter is delicious — and safe — to eat (even by the spoonful).
Whether spread with jelly on white bread, stuffed inside a candy bar, or eaten straight from the jar, it’s no secret that Americans love their peanut butter. A recent survey showed that the country’s favorite nut butter is eaten by more than 290 million Americans (that’s nearly 90% of the entire population!). It’s no surprise, then, that peanut butter sales in the United States amounted to approximately $1.82 billion in 2015 alone.
With such high demand, how do manufacturers churn out millions of pounds of the creamy (or crunchy) stuff while following strict quality control standards? Let’s take a closer look at peanut butter’s journey from a vine on a Georgia farm to the shelf in your pantry.