Methinks your org should develop a system to address nutrition, health and hunger for those in need instead of stock piling 5 metric tons of too often contaminated single legume paste.

QuoteWASHINGTON -- Four former officials of the Peanut Corporation of America were named in a 75-count indictment Thursday on charges related to salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut products.

The charges cap an inquiry that began in 2009 after the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control traced a national outbreak of salmonella to a Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga. The plant operated as a roasting facility where PCA produced granulated peanuts, peanut butter and peanut paste, which were sold to customers around the country.

Named in the indictment: brothers Stewart and Michael Parnell, former PCA president and vice president; Samuel Lightsey, plant operations manager; and Mary Wilkerson, plant quality assurance manager.

The Parnell brothers and Lightsey have been charged with conspiracy mail and wire fraud and the introduction of adulterated and misbranded food into interstate commerce. Stewart Parnell and Wilkerson also were charged with obstruction of justice.

"The indictment alleges that PCA officials affirmatively lied to their customers about the presence of salmonella in PCA's products,'' said Stuart Delery, principal deputy assistant attorney general.

Delery also said some officials at PCA, no longer in business, fabricated lab results certifying to customers that the products were salmonella free "even when tests showed the presence of salmonella or when no tests had been done at all.''

The salmonella outbreak sickened 714 people in 46 states and may have contributed to nine deaths, the CDC reported. The illnesses began in January 2009 and led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history, involving thousands of products.
An FDA inspection of the plant found dirty, unsanitary conditions. The company's own testing had found salmonella contamination, but it continued to ship its products, according to the FDA.

In some instances, the company had the product tested again by a different laboratory and got a clean test result, FDA officials said.

The government's indictment discloses a series of potentially damning company e-mails in which officials are allegedly ordering the shipment of peanut products despite having not received required salmonella tests results. Others discuss possible causes of actual contamination as "Mice!''

More on what the spirit of inclusion really means later.

I agree CM.

In many instances, message board queries can take as long as a week (or more) to generate significant response.  It doesn't seem odd to me.

It also doesn't seem odd if the person is genuinely looking to gather INPUTS from the allergic community; that is what this thread is generating.  S/he may not see any particular need to provide additional commentary. 

I am starting to wonder why the OP has not replied to any of the replies on this thread.  It has been three days, so it seems a little odd that the OP has not been back to check responses to his or her question.  I wonder if it was even a real post.

That's nice. I don't see an end in site to pb at school at this point and he is MFA so even without it there are lots of other allergens around.  You are very right that there is a lot of eating in HS.  I have see plenty of hs students eat where they are not supposed to eat.  Younger kids don't do this.  I'm not sure what my son's future high school is like but if kids are eating this way (anything and everything from what I have seen at other schools) it would seem he would have to pre wipe down his seat and I know he won't do that.  He would find that embarrassing.  I'll find out when the time comes, hu?

Thanks. In high school (finally!!) I don't really worry about PB consumed in the lunch room, because it isn't much.

But there still is tons of food consumed in the classroom--more than middle school actually. But it's not PBJ sandwiches. They've aged out of it as a staple.

Macabre,

I'm very sorry your child had contact ana in school 3 times.  That's really terrible.

In my child's case there are tons of kids eating pb and j every day at his school and eating all sorts of his allergens each snack and lunch.  His class wipes/washes after eating but the rest of the school doesn't.   Before I worried about jars of pb or other allergens collected in a food drive, I'd be thinking about the residue from what is openly eaten at school.  That is going to be the source of much more potential residue than sealed containers of foods.  So, in our case I see food drives as a non-issue regarding safety.  And thankfully so far DS's accommodations have worked. He has had ana from contact as recently a year and a half ago but that was not at school.  The accommodations they have at school seem to be enough. 

If I had had your experiences I would be much more stressed about school things. 

I have to ask, being in a nonprofit myself: have you done a needs assessment for this project before planning it? Is there a true need for this much pb to be donated to food banks or wherever you plan to take it? I've been in meetings where visionary-let-someone-else-handle-the-details colleague has suggested a grandiose solution to a problem without thinking criticlly about the problem--and about the proposed solution.

She didn't look at the need or at data to support the need for or likely outcome of her suggestion. She just thought it sounded like a great idea.  Though this colleague does have great ideas, what she proposed in this instance was not.  And it could have sidetracked our department from our other goals.  It sounded like it would make a huge impact and it sounded nice.  But it wasn't realistic and detracted from our mission.


So--is there a true need for this much PB? Specifically?  Or is there a need for a shelf-stable nutritious food that provides protein and is easily used?

That's a great point Janelle. 

Here's why I am concerned:  my high school age son is allergic to peanuts (sunbutter and Nutella are a sometimes food; PB is a never food, lol).  He has had anaphylaxis twice at school--once in elementary and once in middle school and another non-anaphylactic (perhaps) reaction in elementary school.  Did he ingest peanuts? Not that he would have noticed.  He had accidental ingestion by touching surfaces that had peanut protein on them and then eating or putting his fingers in his mouth.

The perhaps-anaphylactic reaction occurred when he was in third grade after lunch. The middle school reaction occurred during lunch after he went to the restroom and pushed open the bathroom door after washing his hands. It was the closest door to the bathroom. He then went and finished eating his lunch, putting the apparent peanut protein in his mouth. He got an epi for this reaction. An ambulance was called, and he was safe--after spending the rest of the day in the ER.  We paid the ambulance and hospital and doctors' charges btw. And the cost of the new EpiPen. The school, of course did not.

The third one was in elementary school.  He was playing indoor hockey. We can only surmise that there was peanut protein on the stick (and he was horrible about keeping his hands off his face and away from his mouth. He developed symptoms that didn't resolve but started to cascade.  Epi, hospital.  That evening he had a biphasic reaction. So again, Epi, ambulance, ER for four hours.  We unfortunately didn't get a frequent flyer discount. 

There have been countless times hives have developed from contact.  I remember once at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg dealing with hives that sprang up after touching a rail. They were fortunately minimal and were cleared up with a baby wipe or Clorox wipe and some benadryl. 

So here's why I am concerned. I don't worry that the peanut butter will jump out of hte jars and grab him.  BUT--most high school kids will NOT be bringing it in bags. They'll be bringing a single jar in their backpacks and will place the jar in a box.  Make no mistake--the outside of the jar will be host to peanut protein.  So it will be on the fingers of many of the students which then are used to open doors, push the button on the coffee machines (yes, my son's school has them, lol) and other things. 

And peanut protein is nothing if not persistent. This very recent study documents it stays on a surface that is not cleaned at least 120 days (and that was the outer scope of the study. We can assume it stays on much longer.)  http://www.aacijournal.com/content/pdf/1710-1492-9-7.pdf

It is cleaned off effectively with a Clorox wipe. Not as easily with dishsoap and water.  Only 50% is removed with hand sanitizer. 

So the more peanut protein is introduced to the surfaces in a school, the more peanut protein will linger.  And it is a lasting danger.

Quote from: lakeswimr on February 20, 2013, 07:34:40 PM
  I am sure people who need the food would love to have a variety of food and not just pb and j. 

Along these same lines, a lot of the people who are needing assistance from the food bank probably get WIC assistance as well, which would provide them with PB - so they may like something else.

I am also impressed that you came here and asked.  My son's schools have had food drives every year.  I am sure that pb gets sent in along with lots of other foods and I haven't worried about it one little bit.  I do not consider the jars of pb that were sent in to have been a danger to DS.  The pb isn't going to get into him or on him from inside a jar.  I can understand thinking about glass jars breaking and making a mess but there are already pb and other allergen-eating children all over the lunch room ever day who drop and spill stuff and with the school's safety accommodations DS is safe and fine eating there.  I just don't think this is as big of a deal as some here, too.  That said, I can't get behind the goal of making your drive the biggest ever pb and j drive.  I would be happy if pb disappeared off the face of the earth I think.  Well, having less pb around would be nice.  Having MORE pb around is worrisome.  So, I won't actively campaign against peanuts but they aren't something I want to see MORE of around my child.  I wonder if you work for the peanut industry.  If so that would explain the focus of your campaign.  If so I do not think it is appropriate to do what amounts to a campaign to sell your ow product in public schools.  (shrug)  If not, then I recommend expanding the focus beyond just pb and j.  Why not?  Why not make it the biggest FOOD donation campaign ever instead of just biggest pb and j campaign?  I am sure people who need the food would love to have a variety of food and not just pb and j. 

Again, it was very nice of you to come ask us our opinions.  Best wishes.

I'm also impressed that you came here to ask opinions on how to keep kids safe.   

The advice may not be exactly what you were looking for, but I hope you follow through on some of it.  And I have one more piece of advice.  If you do include pb substitutes (like sunbutter or peabutter) make sure you keep them separate from the pb.  MC explained why....people can have reactions from what's on the outside of the jar.

Wow!  I am impressed that you have asked for opinions from our group.

My DD is 13.  She just had anaphylaxis a few weeks ago to sesame.  She has multiple food allergies.  We have learned first hand that she is contact sensitive to peanuts. 

Food drives are done in her school for local food pantries.  They are limited to collection boxes in the lobby of the school and it is asked that all items arrive in plastic grocery store bags and that the filled bags are placed in the boxes.  When my DD brings her donation in, one of her friends puts her bag in the box for her.

There are many items in the box she may be allergic too.  But these campaigns do not request her specific allergens and she is careful and not offended. 

The only food drive I remember that was specific was a drive for canned soups.

A specific Peanut Butter and Jelly Campaign does request one of her most significant allergens.  That would be offensive to both her as the child with the class 6 allergy to peanuts and to me, her parent.....who works to constantly keep her safe.  She would not be interested in "donating jelly" just to say she participated.  That would not make her feel good about the campaign.  She would even worry about the kids receiving the peanut butter....what if they are allergic and do not know because they haven't had it before?  I would worry about the bullies and trouble makers....there are always some.....who might find it fun to be "creative" with a box filled with peanut butter and jelly.

Our schools have been very supportive of all the children with allergies....I'm guessing they would not participate in this drive.

I would suggest keeping it out of the schools.

Something else to consider:

I know that a PB & J drive has a 'ring' to it that other options do not.  And I think that collecting safe substitutes would be great - though we are lucky that it isn't an issue, I have thought many times that if something was to happen and DH and I needed to go to a food bank, I probably would not be able to feed myself.  A lot of times, kids with food insecurity also have to fix food for themselves - the parents are working or are exhausted from working multiple jobs.  And while they can fix PB & J themselves, it isn't a meal on it's own - it requires bread or tortillas or pitas or something to put it on.  What we try to get here when we donate to food banks is the shelf stable microwave meals.  The kids can fix them on their own, and it is a whole 'dish' - it doesn't require you to buy anything else to make it.

Fortunately, our school would never allow it, as it would pose a risk to kids who are contact sensitive.  With the incidence of peanut allergy being what it is, you may have a hard time getting schools to go along with this.  After all, it is their job to keep all children safe, and this would accomplish the opposite.