The New York Timesreports that consumers are avoiding all peanut products - even those not included in the recall. The Times says the fallout from the recall and salmonella scare is hurting companies like Jif even though Jif's products are safe because Jif doesn't use any product from Peanut Corporation of America, whose plant in Blakely, Ga., was found to be the source of the salmonella outbreak.
The drop-off is so striking that brands like Jif are taking the unusual step of buying ads to tell shoppers that their products are not affected, and giving them a coupon to make sure they do not learn to live without a staple that almost every child loves - and more than a few of their parents, too.
Given the steady stream of headlines since mid-January about one of the largest food contamination scares in the nation's history, the companies whose products are not being recalled could have a difficult time winning over people like Guadalupe Vasquez.
On Friday, she and her three young children kept walking past shelves of peanut butter at a grocery store in Bellaire, Tex. "The news shows say don't buy it and I won't buy it," said Ms. Vasquez, adding that she normally buys a jar each week for her family. "I'm very fearful of salmonella."
Data from market research firms shows peanut sales were down over 20% through the first three weeks of January but there's not data yet on Peanut sales for the last couple weeks which could show an even bigger drop. Part of the problem for companies like Jif is that consumers do not have a lot of spare time. Yes, there is a database available that shows all the recalled products but it is easier for some consumers to just switch away from peanut products completely until the crisis abades. As long as the salmonella threat continues manufacturers like Jif, Skippy and Peter Pan have no option but to continue contacting journalists, posting information on their websites for consumers and running ads explaining that their products are safe.
A similar problem happened last year when some consumers stopped eating all tomatoes because one type of tomato had been mentioned as the source of a salmonella outbreak. It would help if the FDA was faster at tracking down the source of these kinds of outbreaks.
You can see a useful timeline of the events in the salmonella outbreak here.
