A New ‘Protein PB&J’ Is Coming for the Uncrustables Throne | Eater
"A major national retailer is being used to roll out an athlete-backed sealed, crustless “protein PB&J” called Jams nationwide, according to CNBC Sport. As founder Connor Blakely told CNBC, the biggest selling point of Jams is its lack of "seed oils, dyes, artificial colors and flavors, and high fructose corn syrup," in addition to having the "most protein per ounce of any peanut butter and jelly that’s currently on the market." The actual nutrition gap is relatively modest: a Jams sandwich contains 10 grams of protein versus six grams in a comparable Uncrustable, but Jams weighs 74 grams while an Uncrustable is 58 grams — about 13 percent protein compared with 10 percent. By contrast, Uncrustables remain dominant in the sealed-crustless-sandwich category (on track to exceed $1 billion in sales in the current fiscal year), and J.M. Smucker Co. invested $1.1 billion in 2021 to expand distribution to meet demand for Uncrustables; NFL teams reportedly go through at least 80,000 Uncrustables per year, per The Athletic. CNBC also notes that Uncrustables already do not contain artificial dyes and removed high fructose corn syrup in 2017 in favor of real sugar. The wider critique is that much of the new “health-conscious” positioning — whether about oils, dyes, probiotics, or added protein — often "taps into our anxieties," veering into fearmongering and contributing to trends lumped under the "Make America Healthy Again" umbrella (with both sensible guidance, like eating more vegetables, and more worrying elements such as raw-milk advocacy, backlash against food dye, and a tone the writer describes as bordering on "orthorexic")." - Bettina Makalintal
