Crunchy Peanut Butter

Test Date: July 2009

Tester: Michele

All products for this test purchased at Fred Meyer and Winco.

MICHELE'S OPINION: This again is a test where it really depends on what taste you prefer. My goals for this blogsite are to provide the best, most natural and nutritious foods from among all offerings at the grocery store, and with that mandate, I highly recommend the Adam's (which is also my personal favorite). However, if you grew up eating peanut butter with sugar in it, then go for it. The only real drawback is that the sugary products are higher in sodium, but not by much. Read on for more details on price, nutrition, and taste:

PRICE COMPARISON FOR 28OZ OF PEANUT BUTTER (store first, then brand):
$3.99 Fred Meyer Adam's
$3.00 Winco Skippy
$2.88 Winco Jif

1. Skippy: This peanut butter has a very creamy base with big chunks of peanuts all throughout. It has a slightly sweet flavor.

2. Jif: This brand of peanut butter tastes almost identical to the Skippy brand. The only difference, mildly discerable, is that Skippy may be slightly saltier than this product. But they really are amazingly alike. After tasting the two I even took a second look at the jars to see if they were made by the same manufacturer!

3. Adams All Natural: This peanut butter is totally different from the first two. Since it is all natural, there is a layer of peanut oil at the top that must be mixed in before the first serving can be eaten. It tastes like real peanuts and nothing else. It has a similar level of crunch as the others, but the base of the peanut butter is grainier than the two above because it is just ground up peanuts.

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: These three products have similar nutritonal information per 2TB, including calories (190-200), fat (16g) and protein (7g). The one big difference is the amount of sodium: Adam's has 90mg of sodium compared to the other two products, which have 120-130mg per serving. Also, the second ingredient in the Skippy and Jif products is sugar, while Adams has no sugar at all.

TASTE WINNER: I'm partial to natural flavors, so I have to go with Adam's.