Peanut Butter Sales Down Almost 25 Percent
Peanut butter sales are down nearly 25 percent after the recent salmonella outbreak after wary parents have stopped buying the lunchtime staple for their children, according to the New York Times.
Even though the FDA issued a list of safe peanut-butter products, many consumers appear to be taking a better-safe-than-sorry tact. The downturn has led some major peanut-butter manufacturers to issue an ad campaign to reassure consumers:
The J. M. Smucker Company, which makes Jif peanut butter, placed ads in newspapers across the country on Friday, including the New York Times, that said the company did not buy peanuts from the Peanut Corporation of America, whose plant in Blakely, Ga., was found to be the source of the outbreak. The advertisement included a 35-cent coupon for a jar of Jif. “Obviously this has had a very negative impact on the industry,” said Maribeth Badertscher, a spokeswoman for Jif.
Are you playing it close to the vest or are you still buying peanut butter from unaffected brands?
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30 Comments:
I have two giant jars of Skippy from Costco from way before the scare. I'm still working on that. If I wasn't, I'd probably not have a problem with buying from the unaffected brands.
wunami at 8:05PM on 02/07/09
i'm still using....couldn't break the habbit even if i wanted
sfred at 8:12PM on 02/07/09
I feel bad for the Smucker Company. If bad and good suppliers suffer alike, then what's to motivate firms to go the extra mile to get trustworthy suppliers?
OneEyedMan at 8:36PM on 02/07/09
I have a jar of peanut butter that I bought well before this, but if I needed more I would buy it. There's a local company here -- very small -- that has seen a big boom in business because of the scare. So maybe business is just shifting a bit for now. I'd probably be fine buying a jar of Skippy, though, if that's what I wanted.
Interesting thing is that the Vitamin Cottage peanut butters have been recalled. Not sure if these are the grind-it-yourself ones, or if it's the ones they have preground at the store -- or maybe both. If there's no Vitamin Cottage in your area, it started as a vitamin and health food store, and they've evolved to be grocery stores with lots of natural herbs and supplements in bottles. The problem is that they bought whole peanuts from the guys selling the bad peanut butter. So here's a grocer that people think of as being natural and organic and safe, and their peanuts come from a bad source. I'm wondering if this will get people questioning just what the natural label really means. It'll be interesting.
dbcurrie at 9:29PM on 02/07/09
The contaminated peanuts have been in circulation since the beginning of '07, an older product containing peanuts is still highly suspect. A friend got sick after consuming a product that wasn't on the list, a package of a mix, Reese's peanut butter bars that she'd purchased at Target just before Halloween, but didn't make until the beginning of January. She knows it was that, because she'd brought them to work, and everyone who ate them became ill.
I love peanut butter, but will not purchase any of it, no matter how many assurances. I do not trust any claims from these companies. We've been lied to left and right, consider the claims of contaminated tomatoes, when it was peppers all along, and the FDA hid information from the public. I will not purchase any products from these companies until their facilities are inspected, tested, I start seeing country of origin labeling, including data on where ingredients come from, and learn that their facilities are in the US and they use e-verify. Enough is enough.
Mares at 9:36PM on 02/07/09
Older products should be checked, of course, but especially in the case of a jar of peanut butter; if you've already been eating from it and no one got sick, it's likely safe. My wife and I went through the stuff in our cabinet and there were a few things that were on recall lists. We'll take those back to a store to get non-recalled versions (Luna bars and things like that). But we're still happily eating from our jar of Jif (I think it's Jif) and will replace it when we run out.
Mares: a question; if you can't trust the FDA, how will you determine when you can trust the safety of peanut butter products again? I don't mean this in any way to imply that you're not taking a reasoned position on this; I'm honestly curious about your thoughts on it.
ccbweb at 10:46PM on 02/07/09
Our brand (Adams) hasn't been affected. We haven't needed to buy new peanut butter yet, but we will buy when we finish our current jar.
peachypear at 10:47PM on 02/07/09
If anything, my peanut butter consumption has increased, since it's a food that I am prone to eat in fits and starts, and it's been back in my consciousness lately. In a big picture way, the questions about food safety issues and integrity of the food chain are scary. Realistically, the risks to me as an individual during these "outbreaks" is so neglible that they never have a negative impact on my consumption patterns.
marinelm at 10:54PM on 02/07/09
We are sitll buying (and eating) peanut butter. My husband eats Jiff or Skipy, and I eat Adams. So far so good!
mhurst826 at 11:00PM on 02/07/09
Please pass the Peanut Butter.
jshthree at 11:07PM on 02/07/09
It is really terrible that we have to worry AT ALL about any of our food. We are not impoverished, melamine ridden china, but our pets were dying two years ago from melamine poisoning just the same. After the spinach scare recently no one could buy spinach from anywhere, even though it was traced to one single farm early on. Now it's peanuts, that came from one place, period. Why can't the FDA release a list of the tainted products, and not the ones they deem as safe? What a crock of s--t. They have to know where every bit of tainted product went. If not ,heads should roll. It will be the same old crap as with the spinach. As far as I know, nothing was done to the farm that produced the e-coli contaminated product. I don't recall them ever revealing the source of the e-coli, which they had to know. Perhaps it was the pickers, maybe the fertilizer, the processing. We were never told as far as I know, and I watch the news every day. Oh yeah, I know all about the latest missing child, which overpaid sport stars lied about steroid use, a gold medal laden, bong smoking dumb ass, and of course, Sully, the hero of the universe because he remebered his water ditch training. BFD any self respecting commercial pilot could have done it. My point is that when the story is really important, and affects us all, it is not followed up on, or maybe not reported at all. It makes me scream!
I eat peanuts or peanut butter on nearly a daily basis, and I deserve to be informed about the known contaminated products. We ALL do!
As screwed up as China is, at least the have the balls to actually penalize criminals in their country. The woman who ordered the melamine as an additive in the baby formula to boost its protein levels in tests very nearly lost her life over that decision. Now she will just spend the rest of said life in prison. That is a very effective way to make sure it doesn't happen again.
This is a ridiculous time we are living in right now, with all this uncertainty. Greed, deception, and laziness are being rewarded. Graciousness, truthfullness, and diligence, are being punished.
whatseatingme at 11:29PM on 02/07/09
I regularly get fresh peanut butter from Whole Foods or Fairway and will continue to do so. I can't live without fresh honey roasted peanut butter!
jovan at 12:46AM on 02/08/09
Still buying and eating our favorite peanut butter from Peanut Butter & Co. I've been a long time consumer of this brand and trust them fully when they say that their product has not been affected.
meezergirl at 6:14AM on 02/08/09
We just picked up a new jar of Smuckers organic natural peanut butter on Wednesday. No worries here :-)
littlestcapy at 7:55AM on 02/08/09
whatseatingme----welcome to the world of food suppliers. There is no way for the company that made the bad peanut butter to know what products it is in. They know who they sold it to and thats about it. After that it is up to the individual companies to determine if they bought said lot numbers.
The question everyone should be asking is where was the FDA inspector at the plant. Every plant that I have been to,on a guided tour, has an FDA inspector. They should of caught the infraction.
I will continue to eat my JIF peanut butter without fear.
srfchf at 8:49AM on 02/08/09
Like some other folks who commented, I haven't bought any new peanut butter...but not because of the scare. I just haven't finished my last jar of peanut butter. It's really too bad because this has to do more with peanut products, not really peanut butter...right?
inothernews at 10:25AM on 02/08/09
What reason is there to think that there's something inherently risky about peanut butter, and not just contamination at this particular plant? I am still trying to figure out how salmonella got into the peanut butter. It's not like they were slaughtering chickens at the plant. But you know, this is the second peanut butter-related salmonella outbreak; the other one was from a different plant in Georgia a couple of years ago. I'm truly mystified.
emilydev at 12:08PM on 02/08/09
@whatseatingme: Why does being in the US mean we shouldn't ever have to worry about our food? If you're eating it, then you should be responsible to some degree. It's not always someone else's fault.
The FDA does not track every single food particle in the US from being grown or imported to being eaten with extreme exactitude and can thus say with certainty which specific particles are the tainted ones. If my neighbor borrows some flour, do I need to let the FDA know about it so they know where that flour went in case it turns out to be tainted? It would just be stupid from a liability standpoint, to release a list saying only which things are tainted. This seems strangely lost on someone who talks about the decision maker on the melamine in China being held responsible. Not to mention saying certain things are contaminated, but other stuff might be as well...it's basically like saying nothing. Who the heck is going to eat any peanut butter at all if that's the case? Releasing a safe products list is the way to go.
I'm sorry this gets off-topic, but you seem arbitrarily angry at random things. I mean, are you seriously angry that a pilot was able to water ditch a disabled plane without anyone dying is being celebrated as hero just because theoretically every pilot should be able to do it? There's a vast difference between able to do something and actually doing it.
By the way, the peanut butter and spinach were both tainted with salmonella, not e. coli. (I'm pretty sure that's why they aren't reporting the source of the e. coli contamination.) That has clearly been in the news (and even in this blog post). So maybe you should work a bit harder on informing yourself and stop acting like you "deserve" that information being spoonfed to you (which I do not recall being some kind of fundamental right). It's not really the news media's responsibility to tell you everything you need and want to know...so really, watching the news everyday really doesn't hold much weight when you argue something like this.
wunami at 12:23PM on 02/08/09
@emilydev: isn't there salmonella in, um, poo?
BangieB at 12:28PM on 02/08/09
I'm down to my last bit of Skippy's Natural, and I'll be buying more as soon as I run out. There will always be reason to be wary or doubtful of any food product after all of the recent scares (tomatoes, spinach, etc.), but if companies like Skippy and Quaker Oats have assured the public of their quality, I think it's okay to take that leap of faith.
poke87 at 12:40PM on 02/08/09
I have eaten peanut butter-containing products since the recall. But to be honest, I did have some pause. If you look at the list, the number of companies grows on a continual basis, spanning everything from nutrition bars to Wegman's. I haven't bought a jar because I have not been in a peanut butter mood for awhile, since before the recall. Food poisoning is truly 'Serious Eats' and sometimes I think it's better to try to use stuff like this as a push to explore new things for a bit, until everything calms down.
If I explode from the 3 mini Reeces Valentine pb cups I ate, though, all of my friends here will be the first to know!
HeartofGlass at 1:19PM on 02/08/09
My husband made peanut butter cookies just the other day...mmmmm. We're staying aware, but are still eating our Jif.
AliceBlue at 1:34PM on 02/08/09
I'm still eating my Smucker's natural crunchy. Couldn't give it up if I wanted to.
cmbarrytx at 2:38PM on 02/08/09
I prefer the organic peanut butter and peanut butter sandwich crackers (way cheaper than Ritz) at Trader Joe's. No worries!
flootsmith at 5:22PM on 02/08/09
I'm still eating my Jif...thank goodness they're safe, I don't know what I'd do without peanut butter!
Haylbop21 at 8:22PM on 02/08/09
Peanut butter is getting a bad name, unfairly. I'm still a fan, and will continue to eat my Jif and natural Smucker's without hesitation.
dmcavanagh at 11:15PM on 02/08/09
wunami,
Sorry, but it was Ecoli in the spinach in 06 not that that really matters.
I wasn't talking about if you loan flour to your neighbor, I don't know exactly where you were going with that. I was strictly speaking about food processed commercialy. I might not of made that clear enough.
As to you implying that I believe I should be "spoonfed" my news your waaay off. I just don't appreciate sensationaism getting in the way of much more important things, like the safety of my food.
srfchf,
I would like to hear about the FDA inspector as well.
whatseatingme at 9:10AM on 02/09/09
we have a JIF plant in town, and if you're in the right place at the right time, you can smell the peanuts roasting -- YUM!!!! I've watched the recall lists grow, but I'm not going to give up my JIF.
susanova at 9:42AM on 02/09/09
I am, I love peanut butter. But I love peanut butter so much, when I had one of the Peter Pan jars with the UPC code in question during the last scare, I still ate it. The whole thing.
Laurel E at 9:56AM on 02/09/09
Stop buying peanut butter and the terrorists win.
I'm still buying jars of Trader Joe's natural creamy with salt at a time. Won't stop. I'm also fond of Jif, but haven't bought that in a while.
That said, they should have the factory location on the label of all these products, so that when there's a recall, it's clear which jars are tainted and which are not. One factory is bringing down the whole peanut butter industry, including compliant plants. Not exactly fair, is it?
Pupster at 11:14AM on 02/09/09