The US peanut industry has been hit by the economic downturn and wavering consumer confidence after January’s salmonella scare, industry representatives have indicated.
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Speaking at IFE today (17 March), the American Peanut Council’s European marketing director Louise McKerchar said that while exports to Europe have held up, US sales are still feeling the impact of the recall.
“Only a handful of products exported to Europe have been recalled… Obviously there has been a drop-off in demand in the US, but it is hard to say how much of that is due to the scare and how much of that is due to the economic downturn,” McKerchar told just-food.
“It is also part of a wider issue – consumers are now asking ‘is our food safe in America?’… Peanuts could be the straw that broke the camels back.”
The salmonella outbreak, which has sickened 683 people in 46 states and resulted in nine deaths following contamination at plants owned by Peanut Corporation of America, has prompted widespread criticism of US food regulators.
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By GlobalDataThe Obama administration announced this weekend that it would set up a Food Safety Working Group to advise the President on improving coordination between government departments and agencies, as well as examining, upgrading and enforcing food safety laws.
While peanut industry bodies have launched various promotional campaigns, including the new ‘Energy for the Good Life’ initiative, McKerchar said that these were not a direct response to the salmonella scare.
“The industry is always trying to increase consumption through promotional activity,” she said.
However, McKerchar added, the recent salmonella outbreak has had a profound effect on the US peanut industry.
“The peanut industry is now looking inward at ways to improve safety,” she observed.
According to McKerchar, this introspective analysis is likely to result in pressure on smaller peanut producers and processors to join industry associations, who will then educate them on safety and hygiene best practice.
“What we don’t want to see is smaller food manufacturers… stopping production of products containing peanuts,” she said.
