PAM is a
cooking spray
Cooking spray is a spray form of an oil as a lubricant, lecithin as an emulsifier, and a propellant such as nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide or propane. Cooking spray is applied to frying pans and other cookware to prevent food from sticking. Traditi ...
currently owned and distributed by
ConAgra Foods
Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...
. Its main ingredient is
canola oil
Close-up of canola blooms
Canola flower
Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historical ...
.
PAM is marketed in various flavors, such as butter and olive oil, meant to impart the flavor of cooking with those ingredients. PAM also markets high-temperature sprays formulated for use when grilling, etc., and one containing flour suitable for dry-cooking as in baking.
PAM is marketed as a nominally zero-calorie alternative to other oils used as lubricants when using cooking methods such as sautéing or baking (US regulations allow food products to claim to be zero-calorie if they contain fewer than 5 calories per Reference Amount Customarily Consumed and per labeled serving, and the serving size of a one-third second spray is only 0.3 g containing about 2 calories.)
History
PAM was introduced in 1959 by Leon Rubin who, with advertising executive
Arthur Meyerhoff
Arthur E. Meyerhoff (1895–1986) was an advertising agency executive and entrepreneur. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.
Meyerhoff died in 1986; services were held at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe, California
Califo ...
, started PAM Products, Inc. to market the spray. The name PAM is an
acronym
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff.
[Definitions of Nutrient Content Claims](_blank)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
In 1971, Gibraltar Industries merged with
American Home Products
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, ...
and became part of the Boyle-Midway portfolio. By 1985, PAM began to diversify its offerings by developing butter and olive oil sprays.
When the company divested its Boyle-Midway Household Products division to
Reckitt & Colman
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, currently branded as Reckitt, formerly known as Reckitt Benckiser, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition produ ...
in 1990, PAM was one of the few products American Home Products retained.
It later became part of the American Home Foods subsidiary. In 1992, PAM changed its formula to include canola oil in an effort to reduce its saturated fats content and improve taste.
In 1996, AHF was acquired from American Home Products by
Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and
C. Dean Metropoulos & Company, becoming
International Home Foods
International Home Foods (IHF) was an American manufacturer, distributor and marketer of food products, based in Parsippany, New Jersey. It was acquired in 2000 by ConAgra Foods and merged into ConAgra's Grocery Products division. IHF's best kno ...
. In turn, International Home Foods was acquired by Conagra in June 2000.
In 2003, PAM introduced a new baking spray including real flour. A variation made specifically for grilling was introduced in 2004. PAM Professional, for high heat applications, debuted in September 2007.
In October 2023, Conagra was ordered to pay $7.1 million in damages to a Pennsylvania woman following a 2017 incident where a can of PAM exploded in her face and caused second degree burns. At the time of the verdict, there were more than 50 similar cases filed against the company. The litigations stem from a 10 oz. can manufactured between 2011 and 2019 that introduced a U-shape vent on the bottom but has shown to have a lower threshold for heat than previous versions.
References
External links
Official website
Cooking oils
Conagra Brands brands
Products introduced in 1961
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