Although not as popular in England as in the USA, millions of jars of peanut butter are sold in groceries. But most brands still contain palm oil as an emulsifier. Which harms orangutans and other endangered creatures (more on that below).
Meridian is one good brand, none of their peanut butters (smooth, crunchy and flavours like maple syrup or strawberry) contain palm oil. All are made with whole peanuts roasted in their skins. The only addition in most cases in salt. Sold in glass jars (you can recycle the 1kg catering tubs at council depots).
Avoid nuts (and nut/seed butters) for young children and allergies (nut/seed butters are also choking hazards for children and pets). If giving as a treat, feed dogs quality peanut butter biscuits instead. Read more on food safety for people and pets.
Don’t feed leftover nut butter sandwiches to garden birds or wildfowl, due to salt and fat (this smears on feathers, affecting weatherproofing & insulation).
Break Free from Palm Oil (to save orangutans)
There is a lot of nonsense talked about palm oil. Greenpeace says the term’ sustainable palm oil’ is as useful as a chocolate teapot. It’s just a self-policed term used by industry, to greenwash the public. The only term to trust would be ‘certified organic’. But there is not enough land on earth to provide this, with the amount of palm oil used by food brands.
Some plantations carrying the ‘Round Table on Responsible Palm Oil’ logo’ have been found to have burned forests to the ground, with orangutans and their babies inside them (some orangutan mothers have even been shot and burned, while trying to protect their babies).
If you like the taste of Nutella, switch to Meridian Chocolate Hazelnut Spread. Unlike the former (which indirectly harms orangutans by using palm oil), this product uses a portion of profits to fund International Animal Rescue, to fund rescue of orangutan and reforestation projects (80% of their habitats have been lost to the palm oil industry, leaving just 100,000 orangutans left in the wild).
Reduce Saturated Fats for Heart Health
Nut butters are obviously high in fat, but palm oil makes things worse. It’s a saturated fat that can raise LDL ‘bad’) cholesterol and clog your arteries.
The fat in nuts is unsaturated, so if eaten sensibly, a tablespoon on toast or stirred through curries gives all the creaminess, without the heart attack risks.
Palm oil is often from plantations that rely on pesticides and herbicides, once they’ve chopped down the old growth forests that were home to native species. These pesticide are not just harmful to humans and creatures, but drift into waterways and leave residues.
Lower Your Carbon Footprint
The companies that defend palm oil, say it’s needed in food products. It’s not. They could use more local oils like rapeseed (which supports local farmers). Or even better, encourage people to make their own food, which requires no palm oil (only found in processed foods).
We are always being told about ‘local food miles’. Well, palm oil is not local at all. It’s grown in Indonesia, and then shipped (by air) thousands of miles, creating a huge carbon footprint. For an ingredient only used, because it gives more profits to big food brands.
The only caveat is that for peanut butters without palm oil, you have to stir the jar before eating, as palm oil is used to prevent separation of oils. A small price to pay (use a spoon and save an endangered species!)
Enjoy Better Taste and Quality
When you go for artisan brands without palm oil, you’re usually supporting brands that put taste and quality on a par with profit. So these nut butters have more nuts, and less of a greasy mouthfeel.
Other Brands of Palm-oil-Free Nut Butters
- Yumello offer salted date or smoky harissa nut butters, sweetened with dates. This company also makes jars of tahini – sesame seed paste).
- NUTcessity (Bath) offers flavours nut butters (maple pecan, gingerbread almond, date coffee walnut, caramel cashew & choc hazelnut). Profits help Frank Water, which uses profits from office water coolers, to bring clean safe water to children in India.
3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
For a change from spreading on toast, try these simple Peanut Butter Cookies (Rainbow Nourishments). All you need is palm-oil-free peanut butter, maple syrup to sweeten and sustainably-sourced almond flour (from Europe, not Californian monocultures). Or make your own.
