Peanuts, Peanuts Everywhere

Those managing peanut allergies received concerning news in late May. It seems that 'Peanuts Are Hot'. The number of top 200 restaurants serving menu items containing peanuts increased 84% since 2000, and the number of menu items with peanuts increased 142%. In grocery stores peanut butter is growing at a rate of 7.6% and peanut snacks at a rate of 56%. Consumer favour for peanuts is very high with 80% of consumers saying that peanut butter tastes great and 75% citing it as a good source of protein.

With several cities now banning trans fat from restaurants, peanut products will likely become even more prevalent. One item of particular concern is the positioning of refined peanut oil as allergen free. As noted in a prior post on NoPeanutsPlease, "there have been contradictory reports on the allergenicity of highly refined peanut oil" and those with peanut allergy should perhaps err on the side of caution and avoid peanut oil until the research is clear.