Bamba (Hebrew: במבה) is an Israeli snack made of peanut-butter-flavored puffed maize, manufactured by the Osem corporation in Kiryat Gat, Israel. It was launched in 1964 and is one of the leading snack foods produced and sold in the country, making up approximately 25% of the Israeli snack market.
Overview
Bamba is made from peanut-butter-flavored puffed maize. It contains no preservatives or food coloring, is enriched with several vitamins, and contains high amounts of unsaturated fat. The energy content is 160 calories per 28 grams (544 kcal per 100 g). Bamba is certified kosher by Badatz Jerusalem. The Washington Post has described it as "Cheez Doodles without the cheese."
Manufacturing Process
Corn grits are "popped" under high pressure, turning them into long lines of white, puffed, unflavored Bamba. The lines are cut into nuggets and moved to a drying chamber where they are air-baked for 20 seconds, giving them a crispy texture. Peanut butter, imported from Argentina, is added at the end by pouring it into rotating drums where the nuggets are coated. The hot Bamba is then moved along a conveyor belt to cool before packaging.
Variations
In 1964, Bamba was trialed with a cheese flavor but proved unpopular and was dropped. Osem subsequently launched Bamba in different flavors, including corn, grill, caraway, and peanut butter, with the latter becoming the mainstay.
Current and past variations include:
- Sweet Bamba (strawberry-flavored, round in shape, red in color, originally colored with artificial red dye later replaced with beetroot)
- Bamba Hazelnut (regular appearance with a brown, creamy filling)
- Nougat-filled Bamba (introduced in 2008)
- Halva-filled and chocolate-filled Bamba (introduced in 2010)
- Bamba-filled Bamba (peanut-butter-paste filled, introduced in 2013)
- Bamba Bomba (60g bags, introduced in 2015)
- Banana Punch flavored Bamba (2015)
- Round Bamba (coin-sized and shaped, introduced in 2016)
- Bambini (mini version, 2016)
- Pretzel shaped Bamba (Purim 2017)
- Caramel biscuit cream filled Bamba (summer 2017)
- Ice-coffee filled Bamba (2018)
- Cappuccino cream filled Bamba and Bamba with Chocolate (winter 2019)
In 2017, Trader Joe's began offering Bamba under their private label, imported from Osem in Israel.
Similar Products
A similar product called Erdnussflips (peanut flips) was introduced in Germany in 1963 by the Bahlsen company, which instead of using peanut butter uses peanut dust. Other similar products include Smoki (introduced in 1972 by Serbian company Štark), Křupky (Secalo), and Kukuričné chrumky arašidové (introduced in 1974 by Slovakian company Nitrianske mlyny a cestovinárne).
Peanut Allergy Research
Bamba has been the subject of significant medical research regarding peanut allergy. A 2008 study concluded that, due to the extensive consumption of Bamba by infants in Israel, peanut allergy is rare among Israelis. A control group of Jewish children in the UK had ten times higher rates of allergy. The later Learning Early About Peanut Study (LEAP) showed that high-risk children who were given softened sticks of Bamba in early life had an 81% reduction in peanut allergy prevalence. Researchers have noted that Bamba has decreased IgE binding, lower levels of major allergens, and decreased protein extractability per unit mass compared to raw and roasted peanuts.
Advertising
Bamba's advertising features the "Baby Bamba" character, a cartoon figure depicted wearing a blue diaper, with one tooth, and bald except for one ginger curl at the front of his head. In honor of International Women's Day 2020, a female "Baby Bamba" was introduced, wearing a pink T-shirt with pigtails. In March 2021, the New York Mets baseball team announced a partnership with the brand.
Etymology
Osem named the snack "Bamba" because it sounded like baby talk.
