Hi,

I was reading something that suggested avoiding all peanut products because they contain mold (aflatoxin?)

I also remember reading somewhere else that you can get peanut butter without it.

I was wondering what this mold is and if its harmful and if its something that grows on the peanuts or how exactly it works and if eating peanut butter or frying in peanut oil is a good idea?

Thanks,
MJ

bump in case anyone knows.

Ive been reading up on the stuff and it seems its a very dangerous carcinogen. But if its that harmful why dont we have warning labels. I am nervous about eating peanut butter now.

last bump I promise

The most balanced information seems to be this:

Does Peanut Butter Cause Cancer?
How much should I be concerned about aflatoxin (a toxin) in peanut butter? My children, like most kids, love peanut butter.
-- Danniel Ward-Packard

Today's Answer
(Published 10/06/1998)
Aflatoxin is a natural toxin produced by certain strains of the molds Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus that grow on peanuts stored in warm, humid silos.

Aflatoxins have also been found in milk, Brazil nuts, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. In regions of the world (Africa especially) where peanuts are a dietary staple, it's relatively common for aflatoxin to cause a type of poisoning called aflatoxicosis. Aflatoxin is also recognized as a potent carcinogen that causes liver cancer in laboratory animals.

According to a Consumers Union study done a few years ago, eating peanut butter that contains an average level of only two parts per billion of aflatoxin once every 10 days would present a cancer risk of seven in one million. Small as that may seem, it's higher than the estimated risk of cancer from most pesticides. And that's if you can restrict your children's peanut butter consumption to once every 10 days!

The Consumer Union study also discovered that the amount of aflatoxin in peanut butter varies from brand to brand. Ironically, the four best-selling supermarket brands -- Jif, Peter Pan, Skippy and Smuckers -- contained the lowest levels of aflatoxin among all the products tested, while the fresh ground peanut butters sold in health food stores had aflatoxin levels about 10 times higher than those big supermarket brands.

Thus we arrive at the peanut butter paradox. While big-brand peanut butters are relatively low in aflatoxins, they're quite high in hydrogenated oils -- chemically altered fats that I strongly discourage you from eating as they pose their own health risks. The only solution is to shop around and read labels carefully. Feel free to call the producers of your favorite peanut butter and ask about aflatoxins in their product. As more people become sensitive to the issue you can be sure producers will respond. In the meantime, you could switch to freshly ground almond butter, which doesn't carry an aflatoxin risk at all. I myself eat almond butter and sesame tahini and use peanut butter very rarely.


Not very reassuring, I know! As someone who doesn't like peanut butter, it's no problem for me to ignore it. If I really liked it and wanted to avoid problems, I would grind my own with peanuts I got from a source for eating out of hand. The problem with commercially produced peanut butters is the sheer volume involved...they can't inspect every peanut.
While the health food varieties seem a poor choice also, I suspect because they would not use fungicides.

I eat the smuckers all natural with no hydrogenated oils. I wonder if that counts.

What I am wondering is if this is something we can see growing on the peanut and throw it out so we can grind out own, or if its mostly undetectable?

Dr. Atkins mentions in his book that some nuts contain mold. It isn't visible on any peanuts I've ever seen.