nosh nook #156 - monday, october 19, 2009

peanut producers thriving after safety scare (link)
10.18.09 - msnbc - from a.p.

at the beginning of this year, because of a salmonella outbreak that eventually killed nine people, the FDA started announcing recall after recall of peanut products. peanut butter? tainted. crackers & peanut butter? tainted. that crunchy peanut candy bar? also tainted. taint taint taint. as a result of the salmonella scare, the peanut industry went into a serious tailspin, as a frightened public avoided peanut products & sales dropped. the peanut industry's PR people tried to counter the effects of the outbreak, but were initially unsuccessful. the peanut-buying public was just too frightened.

despite all the trouble the peanut industry was having, at the moment, things are actually looking pretty good for them. according to msnbc's article from the a.p., "food makers processed more peanuts over the past year than nearly any other time on record." salmonella be damned! according to the department of agriculture's figures, the amount of "peanuts used for peanut butter set an all-time record at 1.1 billion pounds." the peanut industry's a bit surprised by the good news. after the outbreak was announced, they had a crappy january & february, but by march, things were pretty much back to normal. overall, it's an abnormally fast comeback.

stanley fletcher isn't so surprised & he's a "peanut economist" at UGA, so he knows peanuts. "there's an old adage in the industry that you can almost track the economy by consumption of peanut butter. it's basically the cheapest source of protein." it could have something to do with that, but it also could have something to do with the fact that, once their fears subsided, everybody who panicked & tossed out their peanut butter eventually had to go get more peanut butter. anyway, you don't have to worry about the peanut farmer anymore. they may never put another of their kind in the white house, but americans are basically addicted to peanut butter & need the cheap protein to survive, so they'll be just fine. don't waste your tears on them. waste them on that chick from the hills instead.