It’s no secret that Americans love their peanut butter. In fact, about 90% of American households eat peanut butter, making it one of the most popular products.
However, when you travel the rest of the world, this might be the motto: Where or where is the peanut butter? Turns out that the rest of the world just doesn’t quite get it regarding Americans love of that lunch box staple – PB&J (peanut butter & jelly). “In many parts of the world, peanut butter is regarded as an unpalatable American curiosity,” Brian Sternthal, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, explains.
If you should be traveling to France, Italy, England, Spain, Russia, China, Sweden, Czech Republic, Argentina or Denmark, chances are you will find it difficult to find a grocery store where you can buy peanut butter. But in Israel, it is a story similiar to the love story of peanut butter in America.
Peanut butter in Israel
Though many European countries have yet to acquire a taste for peanut butter, that’s not true in Israel. Word has it that you can even find peanut butter in the grocery stores. After all, peanut butter has been around for awhile in Israel, and there is even a special word. Apparently, this is it: חֶמְאַת בָּטְנִים
(If my research is in error, please let me know).
For those who have been to Israel, then you know about the ubiquitous peanut butter-flavored snack manufactured by the Osem corporation in Holon, Israel. Bamba (Hebrew: בַּמְבָּה) has been marketed since 1964 and makes up about 25% of the Israeli snack market. It’s made from peanut butter-flavored puffed maize containing no cholesterol, preservatives, or food coloring. Unfortunately, it contains high amounts of both fat and salt, though it is certified Kosher by Badatz Jerusalem.
As Bamba is made with peanuts, logic might dictate that adults and children with peanut allergies should forego this popular snack. However, a 2008 research study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that Jewish children in Israel who began eating peanuts earlier in life had allergy levels 10 times lower than a control group of Jewish children in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the trial on 628 babies prone to developing a peanut allergy found that the risk was reduced by over 80% simply by introducing peanut products early in their diet.
Stated another way, because Israeli infants consume extensive amounts of peanut products, peanut allergies are rare. Seems that Israeli children may be on to something when it comes to peanut products. The message? Eat more peanut butter as a baby.
