Local Ingredients
We buy as much as we can from local businesses. Local doesn’t inherently mean better. It's always nice to keep the money in our community, but we will not do that at the expense of our customers by using sup-par base ingredients that are riddled with molds, PFAs, or toxic heavy metals.
How We Source Ingredients
Wheat
All wheat that we purchase must be certified Non-GMO and Glyphosate free. We look for test results for allergens and toxins such as Aspergillus Flavus (AFB1 and AFB2) and Aspergillus parasiticus (AFG1 and (AFG2).
Peanuts
There are many certifications that peanuts can obtain that attest to their pedigree, including growing conditions, harvesting, storage, safety, and overall quality.
We start by making sure that all peanuts we buy abide by the requirements of 7 CFR 996 by inspecting the USDA FSA 1007 Inspection Forms. From there, we check for non-GMO certification to make sure the peanuts are not derived from GMOs and are produced without using any genetic engineering. Then we check to see if there is a Clean Label Project Purity Award which shows us that the peanuts have been tested for over 400 industrial and environmental toxins such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, BPA, and a lot more. We also like to see product testing from a lab that is ISO 16050 certified as it specifically tests for mycotoxins like aflatoxins such as Aspergillus flavus (AFB1, AFB2) and Aspergillus parasiticus (AFG1, and AFG2).
Lead is a massive problem in the food supply he in America. Aflatoxins are a major issue when it comes to peanuts and peanut based products like peanut butter.
Most rotated crops with peanuts are cotton and corn, which are both heavily sprayed with many chemicals such as glyphosate which can linger in the soil and contaminate peanuts. For this reason, we like to know what crops the farmer keeps in rotation and how they work those crops.
On top of all the certifications, we also need peanuts to be raw and unprocessed in any way. A vital part of our peanut butter is the soaking. If the peanuts have been roasted, boiled, deep fried, etc., this would prevent us from making the most nutrient dense peanut butter possible
Our requirements are very strict.
In Summary
We look at every aspect of every ingredient we purchase for use in our products. We only want the most clean, safe, nutrient dense, and best ingredients to make our products. Unfortunately, we can’t know everything. We don’t exist to make products that are just better than what’s available. We exist to make the safest, clean, nutrient dense, and delicious products possible.