Search results: peanut

A new study reports that children of women who ate peanuts during pregnancy had lower rates of peanut allergies than women who were told not to eat peanuts.  This could be good news.  But I’m baffled by food allergies.  Why are rates rising?  Why don’t we know more about them?  Why isn’t there more research?  I’m getting lots of questions about them lately.  Good places to start: The National Library of Medicine explains the research.  Organizations like the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and the Food Allergy Initiative provide basic information.  And for personal experience, Allergic Girl has plenty to say on her blog.

CIO, the magazine for corporate Chief Information Officers, has an interesting report on this year’s recall of Peter Pan peanut butter. It’s written from the standpoint of company data managers, the folks responsible for setting up tracking systems for product recalls. Fine, but what about food safety systems?

Peanut butter, it seems, is the basis of a “ready-to-use therapeutic food” (RUTF) for aiding recovery of severely malnourished children in Africa. The announcement of these results doesn’t say what kind. The study itself is published in Maternal and Child Nutrition and the authors make the point that people administering this RUTF do not need to be medically trained so this therapy can be used at home. I’m always amazed when researchers discover that feeding malnourished children helps them to recover. Peanut butter is highly concentrated in calories and the investigators mixed in some vitamins along with it, so I guess it can be considered a superfood.

My collection of studies funded by the nut industry is growing, so here are a bunch all at once.

Almonds: Almond Consumption Modestly Improves Pain Ratings, Muscle Force Production, and Biochemical Markers of Muscle Damage Following Downhill Running in Mildly Overweight, Middle-Aged Adults: A Randomized, Crossover Trial. Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 8, Issue 9, 104432

• Conclusion: This study demonstrates that 2.0 oz/d of almonds modestly reduces pain, better maintains muscle strength, and reduces the CK response to eccentric-based exercise.
• Funding: This study was supported by the Almond Board of California

Peanuts: Peanut Polyphenols Are Bioaccessible and Inhibit Proliferation of Cultured Jurkat Leukemia Cells.  Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 8, Supplement 2, July 2024, 102631

• Conclusions: Polyphenol-rich PSE inhibits the growth and proliferation of Jurkat cells [a cell line derived from leukemia T-cells].
• Funding: The Peanut Institute.

Pecans: Pecan Intake Improves Lipoprotein Particle Concentrations Compared with Usual Intake in Adults at Increased Risk of Cardiometabolic Diseases: A Randomized Controlled Trial.  The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 155, Issue 5, 1459 – 1465

• Conclusion: Incorporating 57 g/d of pecans into the diet in place of usual snacks for 12 wk improved apoB, atherogenic lipoprotein subfractions, and the LP-IR in adults at risk of cardiometabolic diseases.
• Funding: This study was funded by the American Pecan Council.

Pistachios: Nighttime Pistachio Consumption Alters Stool Microbiota Diversity and Taxa Abundance Compared with Education to Consume 1–2 Carbohydrate Exchanges (15–30 grams) over 12 Weeks in Adults with Prediabetes: A Secondary Analysis from a Randomized Crossover Trial.  Current Developments in Nutrition.  Volume 9, Issue 7107481July 2025 [Thanks to Martin Camhi for this one]

Comment: If one nut producer does this, they all have to.  This is about market competition.  The idea is to convince you that nuts are superfoods performing health miracles and to eat more nuts.  These studies must be interpreted as marketing efforts.

Nuts are indeed healthy, but highly caloric—best eaten in small handfuls.  

If such studies should convince you of anything, it’s to eat the nuts you like.  They all can be shown to have health benefits.

The National Food Museum, is a project of Michael Jacobson, former founder and director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (I’m on its Advisory Council).  It is currently still virtual, but provides all kinds of resources, short videos among them.

The Museum organizes them into several categories.  I took a look at the category of “kids (and others).”  Three examples, from among many:

• “We like Peanut Butter,” silly song with Dr. Jean
• Cookie Monster
• Giuseppe Arcimboldo for kids!

This is a large collection of such things.  Enjoy!

As readers know, I am not convinced anyone needs to worry about protein intake; most of us get more than enough from our usual diets, even if vegetarian and vegan.

Consequently, I do not know what to make of high-protein products like this one.  No, especially this one.

Beyond sugar reduction: Protein Candy adds function and fun to better-for-you sweet set:  With 14 grams of protein and only 4 grams of sugar, Protein Candy promises better performance for consumers and retailers… Watch now

This is candy with whey protein added, specifically designed to “appeal to consumers seeking satiety “as quickly as possible,” which has emerged as a top priority alongside deepening interest in weight loss and the use of GLP-1 medications.”

I will say it again: hardly anyone needs more protein.

If you want protein with your candy, how about milk chocolate with almonds, or plain old peanut brittle.

Happy fourth of July weekend.

I was astounded to see this headline:

Kellanova eyes frozen PB&J as next-gen Lunchables push into hot and cold aisles.  Kellanova is developing frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as part of its strategy to expand Lunchables into new temperature zones, aiming to compete with products like Uncrustables and diversify its snack portfolio.Read More

Oops.  It’s not Kellanova doing this.  It’s Kraft Heinz’s product.

Lunchables PB&J is a no-thaw, crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich that also includes a side of grape or strawberry flavored dip. While most ready-to-eat PB&Js are frozen, Lunchables’ offering can be eaten straight from the refrigerator with no need to wait for it to thaw.

Wait!  How did I miss this?  There already are frozen PB&J sandwiches?

People think these are better than putting their own peanut butter and jam on bread?

OK.  Whatever.

(I am so the wrong generation for these things).

I was sent the press release for an annual report from a long list of food trade associations: Feeding the Economy, “Ninth Annual “Feeding the Economy” Report Demonstrates Immense Impact of the American Food and Agriculture Industry Amidst Economic Challenges.”

The 2025 report confirms the agriculture industry is at the heart of the U.S. economy, generating more than $9.5 trillion in economic value, which amounts to 18.7% of the overall national economy.

The report, online and interactive, isn’t really about agribusiness: The big agribusiness companies—Cargill, Bayer, Corteva, Archer Daniels Midland, etc—are not sponsors.  The first six alphabetically are

• American Bakers Association
• American Beverage Association
• American Farm Bureau Federation
• American Frozen Food Institute
• American Peanut Council
• American Soybean Association

They want you to know what they collectively contribute to the economy.  A lot.

They also want you to know that times are tough.

Direct and indirect industry wages have grown year-over-year but have failed to keep pace with inflation, reflecting nationwide economic stressors and the high cost of labor for employers. Additionally, the number of agricultural manufacturing jobs has fallen year-over-year and is down nearly 30,000 jobs since 2020.

Times are tough for everyone these days.  I wish this report had said more about the plight of small farmers and what could be done to help them.