Peanut fear overtakes its comfort

How the mighty have fallen. Peanut butter, once the great American comfort food, makes us uncomfortable.

Since news of Georgia’s tainted peanuts broke in mid-January, sales of peanut butter have dropped by 23 percent, according to Information Resources Inc., even though many of the jarred brands are not on the recall list. Some schools have stopped offering peanut butter sandwiches as a lunchtime alternative and parents are nervously checking their pantries, or they’re giving up the sticky treat altogether.

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Jessica McGowan / jmcgowan@ajc.com

Marchet Sparks (right), owner of Le Petit Marche in Kirkwood, serves Sumatra cinnamon raisin peanut butter and housemade golden fig jelly sandwiches. Because of the recent peanut butter salmonella outbreak, many people have concerns about consuming peanut butter. Despite concerns, Le Petite Marche continues to serve the popular peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the store.

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• For all the latest developments on the peanut crisis and the salmonella outbreak, with an updated list of recalled items, plus background on the scare, go to the AJC's special report: ajc.com/peanuts.

Stacey Newbern recently threw out a 6.5-pound economy jar of Skippy just to be on the safe side.

“We chunked the whole tub,” said the Whitesburg mother of eight boys. “Better safe than sorry.”

The Newberns used to go through three supersized jars of peanut butter a week. Now they’re switching to the higher-priced brand, and eating less.

Marchet Sparks, of Le Petit Marche, in Kirkwood, posted a press release from her supplier to reassure customers that her organic peanut butter is safe.

The shop’s Sumatra cinnamon-raisin peanut butter sandwich with golden fig jam won best peanut butter sandwich from Atlanta Magazine, and Sparks was at the magazine’s “Best Of” soiree Monday night, making peanut butter sandwiches and celebrating her win. “People really want to come back to peanut butter,” she said. “They miss it.”

Yet uncertainty is in the air for that most mainstream of midday meals.

Gwinnett County Schools made the decision to pull all peanut butter and peanut products from the school cafeterias because of concern from parents, even though none of its peanut butter was affected by the recall, said spokesperson Sloan Roach.

Other schools have also stopped offering the classic nutty combo as an alternative lunch. Susan Cheshire, executive director of the Georgia School Nutrition Association, said many schools are substituting cheese or cold lunchmeat sandwiches instead.

This is problematic for kids who consider the nut butter sandwich a diet centerpiece. And not just for kids. The PBJ ought to be on the Mt. Rushmore of handheld foods, and now that profile has crumbled.

While criticizing the Peanut Corp. of America, the company that owns the Blakely, Ga., plant and that’s responsible for the salmonella outbreak, Agriculture Committee Chair Sen. Tom Harkin acknowledged this stature, asking “What’s more sacred than peanut butter?”

“My middle child, she’ll eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day and not get tired of it,” said John McGeachy of Senoia. McGeachy found himself nervously checking the labels of 32-ounce jars that he regularly buys at warehouse stores. “None of the products we bought were Georgia-based,” he discovered.

But he was in a convenience store recently and discovered they’d pulled every peanut product in the shop.

“It does make me nervous,” said the father of three.