Meatless burgers and Tofurky freak me out. So when presented with the prospect of trying something that both looked and tasted like peanut butter, but had not seen a trace of nuts for miles, I was a little weary.

Totally NutFree’s new FreeNut Butter is an all natural, Canadian made, soy butter. They’re marketing this product towards people with nut allergies, vegetarians and vegans, and most of all, people who are health conscious. It has the Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Health Check symbol on the jar and every piece of marketing material they supply boasts how much better it is for you than regular peanut butter.

So let’s get on with first impressions. FreeNut Butter? Seriously? I understand what the company is going for with this name (it SOUNDS just like PEAnut butter, this is perfect!) but yet, when I gave the name to three guys, it was met with a barrage of laughter and a few “Are you serious?” type questions.

Moving right past the name however (cause really, it ain’t gonna change any time soon), I went ahead and tried it. Opened the jar…good sign, a freshness seal. Thought:

Sometimes I think this is just used for effect, cause frankly, if you make a product that can sit on the shelf for years before it expires, what level of freshness can there possibly be? But I digress.

With the freshness seal intact, I proceeded to peel it back and smell the FreeNut goodness. Looks like peanut butter. Smells like peanut butter. Now for the crucial taste test:

Hmmmm. Not so much.

While it tasted similar to peanut butter, it just wasn’t the real thing. The texture was actually stickier than peanut butter if you can believe it, and there was a slight aftertaste that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. After visiting the website and seeing that the company claims the product to be free of bitter and musty aromas (I should hope so…), but then says that the product has bitter and musty flavours (excuse me?!), I suppose this funny aftertaste was explained.

But wait…there probably aren’t a whole lot of people out there who sneak a spoonful of straight PB while their mom isn’t looking right? Better try the more conventional, FreeNut Butter on toast.

I have to say, it wasn’t half bad. I had some toast and FreeNut Butter for breakfast this morning and I was impressed. The funny aftertaste was gone and it tasted more like peanut butter than it did when I ate the forbidden spoonful. Score one for FreeNuts!

For someone who hasn’t tasted peanut butter in a while (i.e. people with nut allergies or vegetarians/vegans), this seems to be a great alternative. It tastes close enough to peanut butter that those who don’t know any better would likely be fooled. For someone who knows and loves a good PB&J sandwich on a Saturday afternoon however, sorry folks, this just won’t do it for ya. Considering the premiums one usually pays for healthier products, it just wouldn’t be worth it to me to have the seemingly healthier FreeNut Butter on my kitchen shelves.

So, the verdict is in. I would highly recommend Totally NutFree’s FreeNut Butter to anyone I know who is allergic to, or against eating, nuts.

For this tough nut with a discerning palette however, I say pass me the Skippy!

Next week, Stasia‘s got The Goods on Clairol’s Perfect 10 by Nice ‘n Easy!