Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
According to Wikipedia, “Jif is an American brand of peanut butter made by The J.M. Smucker Company, which purchased the brand from Procter & Gamble in 2001. In 1955, Procter & Gamble bought Big Top peanut butter from William T. Young of Kentucky and, in the ensuing years, reformulated and rebranded it to compete with Skippy and Peter Pan. P. & G. named its product Jif, used oils other than peanut oil in its hydrogenation process, and sweetened the recipe, adding sugar and molasses. The original Creamy and Crunchy style Jif peanut butters both debuted in 1958. In 1974, Extra Crunchy Jif was introduced, followed in 1991 by Simply Jif, a peanut butter variant with low sodium and less sugar than regular Jif. Reduced Fat Jif was introduced three years later in 1994. In 2014, Jif Whips was released as the first whipped peanut butter. Since 1981, Jif has been the leading peanut butter brand in the United States.” With that said, this article seeks to answer the question “Is Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?”
A full vegan-friendly analysis of every Jif peanut butter product can be found in the following sections.
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Controversial Vegan Ingredients
Before we start our vegan analysis, we would like to make note of the controversial ingredients that are assumed to be vegan in this analysis. Even though we consider them to be vegan, we will still highlight these ingredients if they appear in any posted ingredient lists. These controversial ingredients include:
Sugar
I many foods products, one of the first few ingredients is Sugar. Sugar is a controversial product in the vegan community because refined cane sugar is processed with bone char to achieve the pure white color. The sugar itself does not contain any bone char particles, but is not vegan due to the processing methods used. Since the type of sugar is typically not stated, it is assumed to be vegan in this analysis. If you choose to avoid non-vegan sugars than all of the products in this analysis should be avoided. A full rundown on if sugar is vegan can be found in our article titled “Is Your Sugar Vegan? Lets Find Out!“
Palm Oil and Palm Fat
Palm oil is a controversial vegan ingredient not because it is animal-derived, but because the cultivation of palm oil has devastating environmental impacts and harms many animals. You can learn more about palm oil in our article titled “Is Palm Oil Vegan?“
Natural and Artificial Flavorings
Natural flavors can come from both animal or plant sources, but the natural flavors in nut butters are typically from plant sources. Those natural flavors from animal-origin will be highlighted if known.
Colors
Some food colors are controversial in the vegan community. This is because food colors are often tested on animals. In this article we assume all food colors are vegan, unless the color itself is from an animal or insect origin (e.g. Carmine).
Traditional Jif Peanut Butter
Traditional Jif Peanut Butter Ingredients (Creamy and Extra Crunchy)
Is Traditional Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?
Yes, both the creamy and extra crunchy traditional Jif Peanut Butters are vegan! They contain no animal-derived ingredients in them.
Natural Jif Peanut Butter
Natural Jif Peanut Butter Ingredients (Regular Creamy and Crunchy)
Peanuts, Sugar, Palm Oil, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Salt, Molasses. [Source]
Natural Jif Peanut Butter Ingredients (Honey Creamy and Crunchy)
Peanut Butter Spread (Peanuts, Sugar, Palm Oil, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Salt, Molasses), Honey. [Source]
Is Natural Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?
There are two types of Jif Natural Peanut Butter: Regular and Honey. As you would expect, the Honey Natural Jif Peanut Butter is NOT vegan because honey is included in the ingredients. However, the regular Natural Jif Peanut Butter IS vegan because it contains no animal-derived ingredients.
Simply Jif Peanut Butter
Simply Jif Peanut Butter Ingredients
Roasted Peanuts, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean), Mono And Diglycerides, Molasses, Sugar, Salt. [Source]
Is Simply Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?
Simply Jif Peanut Butter is vegan-friendly! It contains the same ingredients as traditional Jif peanut butter, only with less sugar.
Reduced Fat Jif Peanut Butter
Reduced Fat Jif Peanut Butter Ingredients
Peanuts, Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar, Pea Protein, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Salt, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean), Mono And Diglycerides, Molasses, Magnesium Oxide, Niacinamide, Ferric Orthophosphate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride. [Source]
Is Reduced Fat Jif Peanut Butter Vegan?
Even though it is extremely processed with lots of added chemicals, it appears that Reduced Fat Jif Peanut Butter is also vegan. However, it is by far the most processed of the peanut butters on this list so you might want to avoid it nonetheless.
Jif Peanut Butter with Omega-3
Jif Peanut Butter with Omega-3 Ingredients
Peanut Butter (Made From Roasted Peanuts And Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils [Rapeseed And Soybean], Mono And Diglycerides, Salt), Anchovy And Sardine Oil, Tilapia Gelatin, Tocopherols And Citric Acid (Antioxidants). [Source]
Is Jif Peanut Butter with Omega-3 Vegan?
Jif’s Omega-3 Peanut Butter is easily the weirdest of the peanut butters they sell. On the outside it appears pretty normal, but once you read the ingredients things get strange. The last two ingredients and the ones added for Omega-3 are “Anchovy and Sardine Oil” and “Tilapia Gelatin”. In simpler terms, Jif Omega-3 Peanut Butter contains FISH ingredients. Therefore, Jif Peanut Butter with Omega-3 is definitely not vegan!
Jif Whipped Peanut Butter
Jif Whipped Creamy Peanut Butter Ingredients
Roasted Peanuts And Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean), Mono And Diglycerides, Salt. [Source]
Jif Whipped Peanut Butter & Chocolate Spread Ingredients
Peanut Butter (Made From Roasted Peanuts And Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils [Rapeseed And Soybean], Mono And Diglycerides, Salt), Chocolate Flavored Spread (Sugar, Peanut Oil, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Corn Starch, Polyglycerol Esters Of Fatty Acids, Natural And Artificial Flavor), Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean). [Source]
Are Jif's Whipped Peanut Butters Vegan?
Both of the whipped Jif Peanut Butters (Creamy and Peanut Butter & Chocolate Spread) are vegan-friendly! Neither of them contain animal-based ingredients, but the chocolate spread is much more processed.
Jif's Flavored Peanut Butter Spreads
Jif Peanut Butter and Naturally Flavored Cinnamon Spread Ingredients
Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Natural Flavor, Salt, Mono And Diglycerides, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean). [Source]
Jif Peanut Butter and Naturally Flavored Maple Spread Ingredients
Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Molasses, Natural Flavor, Salt, Mono And Diglycerides, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed And Soybean). [Source]
Are Jif's Flavored Peanut Butter Spreads Vegan?
Both of Jif’s Flavored Peanut Butter Spreads are vegan-friendly! The only ingredient of concern in either would be the “natural flavor” ingredient, but Jif did not specify that these are made with any of the major animal-based allergens so they’d likely be vegan.
Additional Jif Peanut Butter FAQs
Q: Is Jif Peanut Butter Gluten Free?
All of Jif’s peanut butters are gluten-free, except for their Omega-3 Peanut Butter according to the Jif website.
Q: Is Jif Peanut Butter Vegetarian?
All of Jif’s peanut butters are vegetarian, except for their Omega-3 Peanut Butter which contains fish-based ingredients. [Source]
Q: Is Jif Peanut Butter Dairy Free?
All of Jif’s peanut butters are vegetarian, except for their Omega-3 Peanut Butter which contains fish-based ingredients. [Source]
Q: Is Jif Peanut Butter Healthy or Good for You?
We would not consider Jif to be a healthy peanut butter or good for you. This is because Jif adds unnecessary ingredients to their peanut butter such as sugar, salt, and oil. Instead, we would recommend choosing a single ingredient peanut butter (only peanuts) such as Spread the Love or Adams.
Q: Is Jif Peanut Butter Good for Dogs?
Q: Is Xylitol in Jif Peanut Butter?
According to the ingredients listed on Jif’s website, none of their peanut butter spreads contain xylitol. [Source]
