Central Virginia Foodbank faces peanut butter shortage

PEANUT RECALL DATABASE

A nationwide recall of food containing peanut products is having an effect on the Central Virginia Foodbank, but not in the way you might think.

Many food pantries across the United States report having to toss thousands of pounds of food containing peanut products because of salmonella fears. Not so in Richmond, where the foodbank is more concerned with a peanut butter shortage.

"Folks are now so fearful of peanut butter in general that we're starting to see a reduction in people contributing peanut butter in its retail form," said Rick Holzbach, food resource manager for the Central Virginia Foodbank.

That's particularly bad news for food pantries, where jars of peanut butter are viewed as a lifeline item because of their high protein content.

"No matter how bad things get, if you have a jar of peanut butter in your home, you've got a great source of protein," Holzbach said.

The salmonella outbreak comes when the Central Virginia Foodbank and other community food pantries are struggling to keep up with an increased demand that can be tied to the troubled economic times.

The Central Virginia Foodbank, for example, said calls for people seeking food assistance have increased by 57 percent, going from 1,051 requests for July 2007 to January 2008, to 1,651 calls for July 2008 to January 2009.

And as demand increased, donations remained flat. Donations from July to December 2008 were 3,989,217 pounds, compared with 3,984,403 pounds for the same period in 2007.

As for peanut butter, the Foodbank has placed it on its list of urgently needed items, joining such foods as canned vegetables, pasta, and canned tuna and salmon.

Holzbach urged contributors to avoid confusing peanut butter in its retail-jar form with the numerous peanut products being recalled as a result of salmonella concerns. Those products include foods such as granola bars, cereals, cookies and nut mixes.

The salmonella outbreak has sickened nearly 600 people and is linked to nine deaths. Federal health officials are investigating allegations that a Peanut Corp. of America plant knowingly shipped tainted peanuts because of worry over lost sales.

More than 1,900 products have been recalled, although major-label brands of jarred peanut butter are not affected.

The Houston Food Bank has discarded 3,000 pounds of recalled products. Cleveland Food Clinic workers have thrown out about 1,000 pounds of food and have kept several thousand pounds of snacks on hold until the recall list levels off.

At the Central Virginia Foodbank, Holzbach said the only items discarded so far have been 117 individual snack packs of peanut butter crackers.

The foodbank's warehouse workers continue to monitor donations daily for recalled items, whether they are related to the recent salmonella poisonings or other health problems.

"We're very accustomed to posting the alerts going through the inventory," Holzbach said. "It's a daily practice in food-banking."

Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.