Bamba snack
Encyclopedia
Bamba is a peanut butter
-flavored snack
manufactured by the Osem
corporation
in Holon, Israel
Bamba is one of the leading snack foods produced and sold in Israel. It has been marketed since 1963 with no decline in sales. Bamba makes up 25% of the Israeli snack market. The competition has come out with similar products - "Parpar" (Telma) and "Shush" (Strauss-Elite
).
Bamba is made from peanut butter
-flavored puffed
corn
. Bamba contains no cholesterol
, preservative
s or food coloring
, and is enriched with several vitamin
s. Nevertheless it contains high amounts of fat
. It has 544 calorie
s per 100 gram
s. Bamba is certified Kosher by Badatz
Jerusalem. Some describe it as "Cheez Doodles
without the cheese."
, imported from Argentina
, is added at the end. A worker stands on a step above the rotating drums and pours a pitcher of liquid peanut butter into each of the containers. As the drums turn, the nuggets are coated. The hot Bamba is then moved along a conveyor belt
to cool before packaging.
-flavored Bamba (officially called 'Sweet Bamba' ) that is round in shape instead of oblong and red
instead of the trademark color, which caused it to be dubbed by Israelis as 'Red Bamba' . The artificial food coloring that was once used has been replaced with beetroot.
In 2008, Osem came out with a new Bamba flavor - nougat
-filled. Nougat Bamba is produced at the Osem plant in Sderot
and is considered one of the most successful products marketed by the Nestle
group, which owns the controlling interest in Osem.
In 2010 , Osem introduced a halva-filled as well as a chocolate-filled Bamba (the latter with a flavor resembling Reese's Peanut Butter Cups).
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
-flavored snack
Snack
A snack is a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a smaller amount of any food item.-Snacks and health:...
manufactured by the Osem
Osem (company)
Osem Investments Ltd. is one of the largest food manufacturers and distributors in Israel.The group is majority owned by Nestlé S.A...
corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
in Holon, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
Bamba is one of the leading snack foods produced and sold in Israel. It has been marketed since 1963 with no decline in sales. Bamba makes up 25% of the Israeli snack market. The competition has come out with similar products - "Parpar" (Telma) and "Shush" (Strauss-Elite
Strauss-Elite
Strauss Group Ltd. formerly known as Strauss-Elite , is a food products manufacturer in Israel. It is the shared trademark of two companies - Strauss and Elite, that merged in 2004...
).
Bamba is made from peanut butter
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
-flavored puffed
Puffed grain
Puffed grain includes ancient puffed grains like popcorn as well as puffed rice. Modern puffed grains are often created using high temperature, pressure, and/or extrusion....
corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
. Bamba contains no cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
, preservative
Preservative
A preservative is a naturally occurring or synthetically produced substance that is added to products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, biological samples, wood, etc. to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes....
s or food coloring
Food coloring
Food coloring is a substance, liquid or powder, that is added to food or drink to change its color. Food coloring is used both in commercial food production and in domestic cooking...
, and is enriched with several vitamin
Vitamin
A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on...
s. Nevertheless it contains high amounts of fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
. It has 544 calorie
Calorie
The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
s per 100 gram
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s. Bamba is certified Kosher by Badatz
Badatz
Badatz , a Hebrew acronym for "Beit Din Tzedek," or "Court of Justice," is a modern term used for a major Jewish rabbinical court.In Israel, the term 'Badatz' is often used to refer to the Badatz of the Edah HaChareidis; however, it is not the title of this group, and other batei din use the title...
Jerusalem. Some describe it as "Cheez Doodles
Cheez Doodles
Cheez Doodles are a cheese-flavored cheese puff produced by Wise Foods, Inc. which are similar to Frito-Lay's Cheetos. They debuted several years after Frito-Lay's snack in the 1950s. Originally developed and manufactured by King Kone Corp. of the Bronx , it became the prevalent cheese puff snack...
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 then moved to a drying chamber where they are air-baked for 20 seconds, which gives them a crispy texture. The peanut butterPeanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
, imported from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, is added at the end. A worker stands on a step above the rotating drums and pours a pitcher of liquid peanut butter into each of the containers. As the drums turn, the nuggets are coated. The hot Bamba is then moved along a conveyor belt
Conveyor belt
A conveyor belt consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
to cool before packaging.
Variations
Osem also produces strawberryStrawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
-flavored Bamba (officially called 'Sweet Bamba' ) that is round in shape instead of oblong and red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
instead of the trademark color, which caused it to be dubbed by Israelis as 'Red Bamba' . The artificial food coloring that was once used has been replaced with beetroot.
In 2008, Osem came out with a new Bamba flavor - nougat
Nougat
Nougat is a variety of similar traditional confectioneries made with sugar and/or honey, roasted nuts , and sometimes chopped candied fruit. The consistency of nougat can range from soft and chewy to hard and crunchy depending on its composition, and it is used in a variety of candy bars and...
-filled. Nougat Bamba is produced at the Osem plant in Sderot
Sderot
Sderot is a western Negev city in the Southern District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 20,700. The city has been an ongoing target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip...
and is considered one of the most successful products marketed by the Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
group, which owns the controlling interest in Osem.
In 2010 , Osem introduced a halva-filled as well as a chocolate-filled Bamba (the latter with a flavor resembling Reese's Peanut Butter Cups).