Skippy Peanut Butter Ingredients: Is It Vegan-Friendly?

Peanut butter remains a staple in many American homes, with some preferring it smooth and others crunchy. Whatever your preference, Skippy makes a range of peanut butter products, ensuring it maintains its place among the top three peanut butter brands in the U.S.

The word “butter” in peanut butter often makes people think it contains dairy, but most peanut butter varieties have no traces of dairy. So, what are the ingredients in Skippy Peanut Butter, and is it vegan-friendly?

According to the FAQ page about Skippy products, wide Skipp varieties are vegan, including their regular creamy and chunky varieties, natural varieties, squeeze packs, and those with no sugar added. Peanuts are the essential ingredient in peanut butter; most companies add oil and salt, meaning it’s vegan-friendly. However, as with most products, you must read the label of Skippy Peanut Butter to ensure what ingredients it contains.

Peanut Butter’s Health Benefits

Skippy Peanut Butter contains 7 grams of protein and 17 grams of fat per serving, of which only 3.5 grams is saturated fat. It also has dietary fiber, iron, and vitamins B3 and E.

Recent studies have shown that moderate consumption of peanut butter, approximately 2 tablespoons a day, may protect you from several chronic diseases and cancer.  

At 190 calories per serving, Skippy Peanut Butter has a high-calorie content. Even though it does contain healthy fats, it’s also a high-fat food. Therefore, it’s vital to stay within the limits of the ideal consumption because too much can lead to weight gain and health problems.

Skippy Peanut Butter Ingredients

Besides peanuts, oil, and salt, here are some other ingredients that you may find in some types of Skippy Peanut Butter:

1.     Honey

Skippy has two products that contain honey, Skippy Creamy and Crunchy (a variation of its natural Peanut Butter Spread) and Skippy Roasted Honey Nut. Most vegans don’t consume honey since it’s a product sourced from bees. Therefore, these two Skippy products aren’t vegan-friendly.

2.     Sugar

Some Skippy peanut butter contains refined cane sugar. Sugar remains a controversial product for many vegans, not because it comes from animals, but due to the use of bone char in its processing to remove impurities and make it white.

Not all vegans avoid white sugar since it doesn’t come into contact with animal bones. But some prefer not to eat it since it’s a processed product with extra calories.

We don’t know how the cane sugar used by Skippy’s gets refined. The best way to find out is to contact the company or buy one of their products that don’t contain sugar. Their facilities make vegan and non-vegan peanut butter varieties, so cross-contamination is always a slight risk.

3.     Oil

Skippy Peanut Butter contains oil but is cholesterol-free and vegan because they aren’t animal-based. However, there are two concerns about its oils.

The first is that Skippy Regular contains hydrogenated vegetable oils from rapeseed and soybean that have trans-fat – the least healthy oil since it lowers “good” cholesterol and raises “bad” cholesterol. Compared to saturated fat, trans fat is worse since it can cause heart disease. Skippy Natural contains no hydrogenated oil.

However, Skippy uses palm oil to help maintain the texture of its products. Even though palm oil is entirely plant-based, many vegans don’t prefer to consume it because its cultivation leads to deforestation in the tropics and the loss of animal habitats of some endangered species like orangutangs, the Sumatran rhino, and the pygmy elephant. Learn more about palm oil uses and how farming can become more sustainable in this informative article from WWF.

Determining Whether Skippy Peanut Butter is Vegan-Friendly

Always check the ingredient list unless you’re purchasing your known vegan Skippy Peanut Butter product. If the product contains any of the following ingredients, it’s not a vegan product:

• Honey
• Fish oil
• Milk
• Gelatine

The same applies when purchasing any other brand of peanut butter. Any product with a “certified vegan” label has been certified as a product that contains no animal product, no sugar refined with bone char, and has not been tested on animals.

If in doubt about any product, contact the company directly to address your concerns.

Here’s a list of vegan-friendly Skippy Peanut Butter:

• Skippy Single
• Skippy Cream
• Skippy Super Chunk
• Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy and Skippy Reduced Fat Chunk
• Skippy Natural Singles
• Skippy Natural Creamy and Skippy Natural Creamy 1/3 Less Sodium & Sugar
• Skippy Natural Super Chunk

Another Skippy Peanut Butter Grey Area

Joseph Rosefield introduced Skippy Peanut Butter to the U.S. in 1932. He named it after the successful radio serial and film “Skippy.” Despite resistance by the owner of the trademarked name by the creator of the comic strip, radio serial, and movie, Percy Crosby, the trademark was invalidated, and the name remained.

Several successor companies have owned Skippy, including Best Foods and Unilever. Unilever sold Skippy to Hormel Foods a decade ago. Hormel produces several vegan foods, but it is also known for its animal exploitation since it makes pork meats and other non-vegan foods.

Some vegans may deem boycotting Skippy Peanut Butter necessary due to its association with Hormel. However, many companies producing vegan foods are associated with other companies that cause harm to living creatures directly or indirectly.

Your choice to embrace a vegan lifestyle is already a huge step toward helping the environment, animals and protecting your health.

Vegan-Friendly Alternatives to Skippy Peanut Butter

If you don’t feel comfortable purchasing Skippy Peanut Butter, then we recommend two vegan-friendly alternatives:

1.       Wild Friends Creamy Classic Peanut Butter – This creamy peanut butter is 100% vegan and doesn’t contain added oils or sugar. It has honey so some may seek to avoid it as a vegan.

2.       Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter – This product contains two ingredients, Dry Roasted Peanuts and Sea Salt. It’s free of hydrogenated oils, sugar, preservatives, and artificial flavors.

To sum up, Skippy peanut butter is made from peanuts, oil, and salt, with some variations containing honey, sugar, and palm oil in some products. It’s vital to read the ingredients list to determine which products are vegan-friendly as some contain animal-based elements like fish oil or gelatine that would make them non-vegan. If you’re unsure about any ingredient, you can contact the company directly or opt for vegan alternatives such as Wild Friends Cream

Making Your Own Peanut Butter

You can make peanut butter by blending roasted peanuts, oil, and salt. This way, you choose the type of oil used – such as olive or avocado – and you add no extra sugar or other ingredients that may not be vegan-friendly.

To create a healthier homemade alternative, you can customize it with other flavors like cocoa powder, honey (not for vegans), sesame seeds, almond butter, coconut flakes, and more. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of making something delicious from scratch!

Good luck creating your own vegan Skippy Peanut Butter

Final Take

Since the main ingredients used to produce Skippy Peanut Butter are vegan, some variations are vegan-friendly. However, those variations containing milk, honey, or other animal products are not vegan-friendly.

Skippy Peanut Butter, like other similar brands, is a good source of protein. It also contains healthy fats and Vitamin E. It’s essential to stick to the two tablespoons of prescribed consumption daily to reap the benefits; otherwise, more can lead to weight issues and the problems that come with it.

Some vegans bring up ethical issues about consuming food high in fat. In contrast, others have ethical concerns about palm oil production, sugar refining processes, and the fact that the company that owns Skippy is associated with animal exploitation.

Whether you choose Skippy Peanut Butter depends on you since your choice to be vegan positively affects you and the environment.

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