why does peanut butter not need to be refrigerated after opening?
In: Chemistry
What everyone else has said, plus sugar and salt.
Sugar and salt lower the pH of food and make it less hospitable to bacteria and pathogens. This is why a lot of northern cultures have salted beef or fish as traditional foods. Same goes for pickles — pickled and fermented foods as staples become scarce the farther south you go, because there’s no reason pickle a vegetable when it can grow fresh all year.
In the case of processed peanut butter: high sugar content, salt, and low hydration (water).
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