bmcjmp (11/02/82)
Having bought all-natural peanut butter with no preservatives or other added ingredients, I can say from experience that you are better off storing it in the 'fridge. This will prevent the oil from separating out (provided you stir it up first before storage!) quite so quickly. Turning it once every few days also minimizes separation problems, as the oil separates upward. More importantly, refridgeration will prevent the peanut butter from going rancid, which happens faster in the ab- sence of preservatives. Of course, if you go through the stuff rapidly, this should not be a problem.
donch (11/05/82)
This may properly fit under net.cooks.rumors, but my memory says its true. Namely, rancid peanut butter contains a well documented carcinogin, the name of which slips from my mind. A nutritionalist doctor I go to also says that rancidity products usually do harm by inhibiting absorption of nutrients, vitamins, etc. that are otherwise present in the food. Based on all this, I second the motion to keep 'natural' food products well contained and refrigerated. Don Chitwood Teklabs, Tektronix, Inc. Beaverton, OR
jmcg (11/08/82)
The carcinogen in peanut butter comes not from storage but from a mold that grows on the peanuts. The carcinogen is one of the most potent known: aflatoxin. Because it is of natural origin and because its presence on peanuts is essentially unavoidable, aflatoxin escapes the ban which causes so much trouble for additives like saccharin and cyclamates. The FDA has, however, established standards regarding how much aflatoxin is "acceptable". Should you stop eating peanuts? No experts I ever ran into made that drastic a recommendation. Unless you're taking extraordinary efforts to avoid irradiation by your body's C14, it seems unlikely that the risk from aflatoxin will rank very high on your list. Jim McGinness UC San Diego (Chemistry) (619)452-4016 sdcsvax!jmcg sdcsvax!jmcg@nosc