What do you know about aflatoxin and peanut butter?

the last thing i read was that the highest concentrations were found in bulk natural foods-store fresh ground. depressing, huh? your jif is amongst the safest on *that* count. blah.

suse

My DH used to work as a chemist in a hazardous materials testing company. He knows all about various chemicals. What he says is

ALWAYS REFRIGERATE NUT BUTTERS!!!!!

You can always get the toxin even from regular peanut butter. So keep it in the fridge. People don't take this advice seriously, but people get sick every year from this.

I read that it is a fungus that grows on peanuts that can be highly toxic. The Whole Foods brand of organic peanut butter used to say that it used 100% Virginia peanuts of a variety that were not affected by the fungus. I noticed that my last jar does not say this. I have not researched that, but hoped it was true. I have also seen that some brands routinely test batches for the fungus. If we can rely on them really doing that then it is reassuring, but...So, we still eat peanut butter.

Yikes, I didn't know this .. and just today I made 3 pbj's.. 2 with refridgerated organic pb (ran out) and one with Skippy.. the Skippy had been in the cabinet for ages, I thought it was fairly indestructable - mom never refrigerated her pb. Anyway, I noticed a black fungus spot on the top of the jar, two seconds later I tossed the sandwhich (better safe than sorry) - I'm so happy I did!!

Thanks for this thread, good info!

But only refrig once it's opened, right?