Is peanut butter ultra-processed?

Peanut butter made of peanuts and salt is processed, NOVA group 3, the same as a jar of salted nuts. Whether any other jar is ultra-processed comes down to one ingredient: fully hydrogenated oil and mono- and diglycerides are on NOVA’s list, while sugar and palm oil aren’t. The label on your jar decides.

Peanut butter sits in a strange spot. People think of it as one ingredient, and most assume the brand they grew up with is “processed” in some vague way, and that the jar with oil floating on top is the healthy one. The real line is narrower than either.

We’d buy the jar that lists peanuts, or peanuts and salt, and stir the oil back in once when you open it. You get the same calories and protein, and there’s nothing on the label to wonder about.

It’s like the difference between salted peanuts and honey-roasted. Salt and sugar are kitchen things, and neither one moves a food into group 4. A hardened oil made in a factory does.

How the test works on a jar

NOVA’s authors put “salted or sugared nuts and seeds” in group 3, processed food. A nut ground into butter is still a nut, so peanuts and salt stay there. Sugar, molasses and vegetable oils, palm oil included, are kitchen ingredients in group 2, so adding them keeps a jar in group 3.

A jar crosses into group 4 with one ingredient from NOVA’s list. The ones that show up in peanut butter are hydrogenated oils, which NOVA names among substances kitchens rarely use, and emulsifiers like mono- and diglycerides.

What the jars say

We checked 77 US peanut butter labels in Open Food Facts with this site’s label checker on November 14, 2026.

21 jars had at least one marker, and 7 of those had both a hydrogenated oil and mono- and diglycerides.

The hydrogenated oil on today’s labels is the fully hydrogenated kind. Partially hydrogenated oil, the old source of trans fat, can’t be added to US food after June 18, 2018 (FDA). Fully hydrogenated oil is still on NOVA’s list, so the test hasn’t changed.

Nothing here yet. Pick a food below.

Try:Turkey sandwichCereal and milkFruit yogurtChicken, rice and broccoli

Add a food

ProteinBread and grainsVegetablesFruitSpreads and saucesDrinksSnacks and sweetsTakeout

White rice1Brown rice1Quinoa1Couscous1Pasta1Whole wheat pasta1Oatmeal1White bread4Whole wheat bread4Bagel4Flour tortilla4Corn tortilla3Pita4Pancakes4Granola4Corn flakes4Bakery sourdough3

Nutrition sits beside it

Two tablespoons of peanut butter come to about 190 calories and 8 g of protein in the site’s food table (USDA), and that row is the same whichever jar you buy. The group tells you how the jar was made. It doesn’t change what you’re spreading on the toast.

What we’d do

• Check the jar for hydrogenated oil or mono- and diglycerides. Paste the list into the label checker if you’re not sure.
• Buy peanuts and salt if you want the simplest jar, and stir the oil back in.
• See the peanut butter rung in the swap ladder.