Kirkland sig. peanut butter is 8g carbs with 2g fiber and making them 10g net carbs. Santa Cruz PB is 5g carbs with 2g fiber making them to be 6g net carbs. The difference is about 4g net carbs for two servings of peanut butter. I can speak for other peanut butter brands too but whats the most accurate label to track to use on cronometer?
A quick rummage around the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Composition Database shows that peanut butter is around 50% fat, 22% protein, and 22% carbohydrate (the rest is probably water). Almost all of the carbohydrate is sugars. There appears to be very little fibre. I suspect that the variation in the nutrition panels you are seeing probably has something to do with the presence or absence of added sugar.
As for the composition of foods listed in on-line apps, the accuracy of their data is highly variable, apparently. (I don’t use such an app, so I am not speaking from experience.) The data on the product package should be more reliable, but be aware that U.S. law allows manufacturers to fudge the amount of sugar listed. If the nutrition label says 0 g of sugar, but the ingredients list shows sugar present, I assume that the amount per serving is 0.49999999999 g and figure out the difference between the minuscule serving size listed and the amount I will actually eat, and multiply accordingly. Similarly, if the amount of sugar listed per serving is “under 1 g,” then I assume 0.99999999999 g/serving and multiply accordingly. In more-civilised countries, manufacturers are allowed to list amounts per serving, but they are also required to list amounts per 100 g of product, which renders impossible the subterfuges allowed under U.S. law.
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Well the two peanut butter brands I listed are the only ingredients peanut butter. So there’s no sugar in any of the ones I buy.
Peanuts, according to the same database, contain, all by weight, 49% fat, 25% protein, and 16.5% carbohydrate. Fibre is 8.5% and sugar is 4%. Obviously, the peanut butters I looked at must have had added sugar. I suspect that of the two brands for which you showed Cronometer data, one brand had no added sugar, but the other one did. Either that, or Cronometer is in error, which is not beyond the bounds of possibility, either.
Another possible explanation is that the two brands you are comparing are made from peanuts from different sources, or from different varieties of peanut.
These are all my best guesses. Perhaps someone else on the forums will have more information about this.
This is what I was suspecting… different kind of peanut butters, how its been processed, I’m curious if this all matters. Like chunky vs creamy would be different in carbs.
Different sources, different species of peanut (there are quite a few and they all get to call themselves “peanut”), and sometimes different ratios of oil. They can add in extra peanut oil to bump up the creaminess and get away with it, legal or not. Sneaky, sneaky.
Also, and not to be gross or anything, but if the nuts have been sitting around for a looong time, like in an inappropriate storage facility, before they were ground, they will have dried out quite a bit, lowering their moisture content and bumping up the oils and fiber by ratio. If you don’t think that happens, I have about ten documentaries on corporate naughtiness to show you.
When in doubt, err on the side of caution and go with the highest carbs reported. Then, at least, you won’t be surprised later on by the scale or your pants. Otherwise, make your own PB or have it ground fresh so you can get acquainted with the ingredients beforehand. Fresh ground nut butters are like fresh ground coffee–there is a difference.
PS: My family helped found the first natural foods store in my hometown, which is still going strong, so I know from nut butters. I’ve seen some baaad batches of peanuts delivered that didn’t make the cut.
Yeah, if you can possibly get your PB from a health-food kind of place that crushes it fresh, right in front of you (so you can see/smell the nuts it’s actually made from), that would be preferable.
As far as PB in a jar - it seems you’re in the States, so unfortunately I can’t recommend good local brands or sources.