Are There Bugs In Peanut Butter? Where Do They Come From?

Let’s do some guesswork! Creamy, Nutty, Crunchy, Salty, Sugary, Savory, and Buggy? Which food could it be? All hints point out toward peanut butter except the part, saying buggy. You may assume that it’s some spelling mistake that has made me write buggy instead of buttery. Well, not true! To your sheer surprise, peanut butter has bugs in it. Eww… Yuck! A cold hard fact that not all peanut butter devotees might grasp unless there’re some of them who love eating bugs as Haute cuisine.

are there bugs in peanut butter

With this revelation, a pandora box is likely to open, questioning the integrity of this spreadable which is a jewel to many Americans. Where do these bugs come from? Do manufacturers know about these bugs? And is it safe to eat buggy peanut butter?

To get answers to all these questions, let’s dive in:

Does Peanut Butter Have Bugs In It?

Yes! There are bits of bugs in peanut butter. But obviously, the manufacturers don’t add them intentionally. According to FDA, one dollop of peanut butter may have approximately 8-10 bug fragments in it. (on a hilarious note, the crunchiness of PB seems to come from the legs of a cockroach, or you shouldn’t mind the extra protein you’re consuming while spreading a dollop of peanut butter on your toast. DON’T TAKE IT TO HEART.)

It’s also interesting to know that FDA never allows adding rident hair or bits of bugs in Peanut Butter. Yet it has set a definite amount of bugs you should expect even from a premium quality PB.

On the other hand, you would be surprised to know that peanut butter manufacturing plants utilize strict hygienic measures such as wind blowers to keep insects away from the produce. Not just that, but excellent UV systems and mouse traps are used to ensure you get cleaner and healthier produce.

But even with all these precautions, the factory-made PB isn’t 100% free from fragments of bugs as they can’t take care of things as much as we do ourselves if we make butter at home using manual butter churn.

This may ask you to put a question mark on if peanut butter with bugs is safe and healthy to eat.

 Does PB With Bugs Make Healthy Food?

Happily, it’s not just safe but still healthy to eat PB with bugs in it. Every year, without our knowledge, we consume insects, rodent hair, and other contaminants. And the best part? We still remain alive without facing any potential health hazards.

Interestingly, insects and their parts are good providers of protein. This means that Peanut Butter with bugs in it is providing you more protein value than the nutritional value labeled behind your PB jar.

Nevertheless, the amount of these bits of insects are too small to consider as it doesn’t lead to any serious health issues.

Final Verdict

Neither Peanut Butter manufacturers nor FDA intentionally add or recommend adding parts of insects into it. The insect fragments fall into PB in the processing stage and aren’t harmful until there are 30 insect fragments per 3.5 ounces of PB, as approved by FDA.

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