Peanut Butter???

[theoilman]

How much peanut butter do people carry for a week on the trail? Or between resupplies?
What size jar?
What do you carry it in?
Has anyone tried the new portion packs of Jif? (I think 1 1/2 oz packs) I haven't found it in stores yet but have heard ads about them.

[Papa D]

I personally dislike the little individual packages because I try to avoid unnecessary packaging - I buy big honker jars of peanut butter and just re-fill a 10 oz plastic plastic container - as a matter of fact, I save plastic jars of all sorts to use for backpacking - - I love the idea of going a week without a re-supply but rarely do (especially on the AT) - I usually pick up a re-supply (at least a short-term one) every 4 nights or so BUT, for a week (7 nights), I'd fill the 10 oz. jar to the top 'cause that's probably either a 100 mile hike or a lot of time sitting around eating peanut butter!

[Odd Man Out]

I have used the small tubs, but only for weekends or picnics. For a week, take a whole jar. It come in plastic jars so the packaging wight is minimal. One pound is 2600 cal. I could easily eat that much in a week, but then again, I really like PB. Full size packages are also much more cost effective.

[ekeverette]

i bought these tubes that are about 4 or 5 times bigger than a tooth paste contaner.. the back ends are open so you can put in peanut butter, honey, jelly.. and close the backs up and you sqeeze it out... i love mine... thats all i ate was peanut butter.. they are called coghlan's squeeze tubes... get 2 for about 12 or 15 bucks... i love mine.

[Tipi Walter]

Most peanut butter is crap as it's loaded in hydrogenated fat---not human food. Look for Smucker's natural peanut butter or other brands w/o the stuff. See--

http://www.headheritage.co.uk/uknow/features/?id=19

[Papa D]

agree with Tipi - look for peanut butter without hydrogenated oils - I get big ol containers at Earth Fare Groc. in my town which is just peanuts only but I also buy jars of Skippy sometimes and use the containers - NUTELLA is maybe the ultimate trail food - really great -- not so healthy but absolutely marvelous - try it on Graham crackers with Port Wine that you carry in a small Poweraid bottle

[Sarcasm the elf]

Completely agree with Tipi and Papa D. I usually get my peanut butter from one the stores in my area that has a peanut grinder. It takes less time grind the peanut butter than it does to read through the ingredient labels on all the jars of packaged stuff.

As for how much to bring? I end up with an excessive craving for this stuff on the trail. If I'm out for a few days I will fill up a reusable container with five or ten ounces. If I'm out for over a week I'll bring a full pound and it won't go to waste.


Best discovery yet: GORP and peanut butter on a tortilla wrap.

Worst discovery yet: Brown Rice, Tunafish and Peanut butter mixed together.

[Wise Old Owl]

Not to scare folks but there was the peanut bugger scare with salmonella.... the short version go with natural well known or Skippy.....

Now the long version from my intensive notes.......

Kellogg's Recalls Peanut Butter Products Jan. 17, 2009\

Company Pulls Keebler, Austin, Famous Amos Cookies And Crackers After Salmonella Contamination Found At Peanut Supplier


Kellogg's is recalling 16 products using peanut butter after federal officials confirmed a salmonella outbreak at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to food companies. (CBS/AP)

• Salmonella Outbreak Hits 42 States

(AP) What began as an investigation of peanut butter shipped to U.S. nursing homes and cafeterias has broadened with the Kellogg Co. recalling 16 products and federal officials confirming salmonella contamination at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to 85 food companies.

A nationwide salmonella outbreak has sickened hundreds of people in 43 U.S. states and killed at least six.

"The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products," said David Mackay, Kellogg's president and CEO.

The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, as well as some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

Sandra Williams, a compliance officer with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Detroit, advised consumers not to eat the products and to contact a doctor if they have any symptoms.

Salmonella is the nation's leading cause of food poisoning; common symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The current outbreak is the second in two years involving peanut butter.

"Kellogg reacted promptly to this potential public health risk after receiving notification of the potential problem from their supplier," Williams said.

In Washington D.C., the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested records as it opened its own inquiry.

FDA officials say, however, that much of their information remains sketchy. And new cases are still being reported.

"This is a very active investigation, but we don't yet have the data to provide consumers with specifics about what brands or products they should avoid," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety And Applied Nutrition . Although salmonella bacteria has been found at the Georgia plant, for example, more tests are needed to see if it matches the strain that has made people sick.

Federal officials said the investigation is focusing on peanut paste and peanut butter produced at a Blakely, Georgia, facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Peanut paste is used in dozens of products, from baked goods to cooking sauces.

Health officials say as many as one-third of the people who got sick did not recall eating peanut butter.

"The focus is on peanut butter and a wide array of products that might have peanut butter in them," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, director of the foodborne illness division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Peanut Corp. said it was cooperating with federal and state authorities. It has recalled 21 lots of peanut butter made at the plant since July 1 and distributed to institutions, food service industries and private label food companies. The company also suspended peanut butter processing at the facility.


Health officials in Minnesota and Virginia have linked two deaths each to the outbreak, and Idaho and North Carolina have reported one. Four of those five were elderly people, and all had salmonella when they died, though their exact causes of death have not been determined. But the U.S. Center for Disease Control said the salmonella may have contributed.

The CDC said the bacteria behind the outbreak - typhimurium - is common and not an unusually dangerous strain, but the elderly or those with weakened immune systems are more at risk.

For more information:
 CDC: CDC" Latest On Salmonella outbreak
 USDA Foodborne Illness And Disease: Salmonella Q&A

By Associated Press Writer Hope Yen; AP writers Kate Brumback and Mike Stobbe in Atlanta and Lauran Neergaard and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington also contributed to this report.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


WIKI
*Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was a peanut-processing business founded in 1977 and headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. PCA was rendered extinct in February 2009 after being found to be the source of a massive salmonella outbreak in the United States during 2008 and 2009.
PCA operated processing facilities in Blakely, Georgia; Suffolk, Virginia; and Plainview, Texas. The company supplied peanuts, peanut butter, peanut meal, and peanut paste to institutional users such as schools and nursing homes, to food processors who used them in a wide range of products from cookies and snacks to dog treats and ice cream, and to retail outlets such as dollar stores.^[2]
Peanut Corporation of America had 90 employees and did $25 million in sales in 2008. The company manufactured roughly 2.5 percent of the nation’s processed peanuts.^[3]
The company was sued by American Candy Company after the FDA discovered in 1990 that PCA's peanut butter exceeded the FDA tolerance level for aflatoxin, a toxic mold product. American Candy turned the peanut butter into 8,000 cases of "kisses" for Wal-Mart, which were not shipped. Another lawsuit was brought by Zachary Confections Inc. of Frankfort, Indiana in 1991 after a 40,020-pound shipment of nuts from PCA was found to have an unacceptably high level of aflatoxin.^[3] There had been concerns about sanitation at the company since at least the mid-1980s.^[4]
On February 13, 2009, Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.^[5][6] At least a dozen civil lawsuits have been filed while the federal criminal investigation continues.^[5]



2008-2009 salmonella outbreak

In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 691 people, half of them children, became sick, in 46 states in the outbreak of food poisoning from eating products containing peanuts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among persons with available information, 23% reported being hospitalized.^[7] The real numbers are likely much higher, since for every reported case of salmonella, another 38 cases go unreported, according to the CDC.^[8] A combination of epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing by state officials in Minnesota and Connecticut, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the CDC enabled the FDA to confirm that the sources of the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella typhimurium were peanut butter, peanut paste, and peanut meal produced by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant.
This infection triggered the most extensive food recall ever in U.S. history, involving, as of April 22, 2009, at least 361 companies and 3,913 different products which were manufactured using PCA ingredients.The recall included everything produced at the Blakely plant since January 1, 2007.as well as everything ever produced at the Plainview, Texas plant.^[15][16] Products supplied for some school lunches were pulled,^[17] and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) even recalled emergency meals sent after a massive ice storm.^[18][19] (Since the storm left many without power, the United States Postal Service had to go door-to-door in Kentucky to warn residents and hand out 600,000 flyers from FEMA.^[20]). Food banks nationwide had to discard thousands of pounds of food in time of high demand from millions of U.S. families in need.
The recall did not involve major-brand peanut butters, but many consumers reacted by avoiding peanut products altogether, driving down the sales of all brands of peanut butter by nearly 25 percent.^[17][22] This caused great harm to the industry and farmers, already suffering from low prices due to the 2008 bumper crop and the deepening economic crisis.It is estimated that the U.S. peanut industry could lose $1 billion because of this outbreak.
On February 7, 2009, Oregon officials confirmed the first case of salmonellosis in a dog which had eaten biscuits contaminated with the PCA outbreak strain of salmonella.
The Post reported on February 15 that it had been an open secret among peanut insiders in Georgia, Virginia and Texas that PCA had serious sanitation issues. David Brooks, a buyer for a snack company, said that it was well known PCA was "a time bomb waiting to go off."^[4]
Inspection findings at Georgia plant

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors reported, following a two-week inspection of the Blakely, Georgia plant in January 2009, that the company had information that its peanut-butter products were tainted with salmonella but shipped them anyway after "re-testing" them. This occurred at least 12 times in 2007 and 2008. FDA inspectors also found mold growing on the plant's ceiling and walls, foot-long gaps in its roof, dead insects near peanuts, and holes in the plant big enough for rodents to enter. The company also didn’t clean its equipment after finding contamination and didn’t properly separate raw and finished products. In 2007 the company shipped chopped peanuts on two occasions even after salmonella was confirmed by private lab tests.^[36] The company had previously refused to divulge production test records until federal officials invoked the food safety provisions of a federal anti-terrorism law (the 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Response Act).^[8][37] As a result of this refusal and the incident in general, the Georgia Senate has passed a bill to require peanut product manufacturers to report any contamination within 24 hours, and failure to report will result in felony charges.
On February 6, 2009, the FDA reported that the company shipped tainted products under three conditions: (1) without retesting, (2) before the re-test results came back from an outside company, and (3) after a second test showed no bacterial contamination. In all three cases, the initial positive result means that the product should have been destroyed.
Additionally, an FDA report dated September 15, 2008 stated that an export shipment from the Blakely plant to Canada was found to be contaminated, and prevented by the FDA from being allowed back into the U.S. because the peanuts contained a "filthy, putrid or decomposed substance", as well as metal fragments.^[41][42][43]
Former employees interviewed by the Chicago Tribune stated that conditions in the plant were "filthy and nasty," and that they would never eat the peanut butter or allow their children to eat it. One employee remembered seeing a family of baby mice in a tote of peanuts, and others recalled having to step over standing water inside the building after heavy rain.Another former employee told CBS News that he saw a rat dry-roasting in a peanut area. Another told ABC News that workers had no idea the company had positive salmonella tests because "that information is not for the average employee to see."
In 2001, FDA inspectors also found that products were potentially exposed to insecticides, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press.
Documents released February 11 by the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee show that the company shipped products to customers even before receiving results of salmonella tests, and the company stopped using a private laboratory because too many tests done there showed contamination. A lab tester told the House panel that the company discovered salmonella at its Blakely plant as far back as 2006.
The company has issued a statement that it "categorically denies any allegations";however, it has shut down production and laid off its 50 employees at the Blakely plant.
Inspection findings at Texas plant

The company's plant in Plainview, Texas, which opened in March 2005 and employed 30 people, was never licensed in that state as a food manufacturing facility, and the state had not done any inspections until the problems with the Georgia plant became news. The Texas plant blanches, dry-roasts, oil-roasts, and chops peanuts, then ships them to food companies across the country. The Texas inspection in January 2009 found some unsanitary conditions, such as unclean sections of a peanut-roasting line. It also reported that several internal company laboratory tests dating back to November had found no salmonella or other contaminants. However, on February 10, 2009 company officials announced that the Texas plant has been shut down. The action came after samples taken on February 4 tested positive for salmonella. Former workers at the Texas plant interviewed by the New York Times said that the facility was "disgusting" and shared many of the problems found in the plant in Georgia, including a badly leaking roof and rodent infestation. A former plant manager told Good Morning America that he had repeatedly complained to the company owner, Stewart Parnell, about unsanitary conditions, including "water leaking off a roof and bird feces washing in", but Parnell would not provide any money to fix the problems.
On February 12 Texas health officials ordered an unprecedented recall of all products ever shipped from the Texas plant since it opened in 2005, after discovering that the plant's air handling system was pulling debris from a crawl space containing "dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers" into production areas. State health officials said they issued the sweeping recall because they didn't know how long the unsanitary conditions had existed at the plant.
The plant had been certified for organic production in November 2005, based on what state officials later called incomplete information obtained by an inspector with the state Department of Agriculture. However, the company failed to apply for a Texas health certificate, which would have triggered a visit by state inspectors.State health officials weren't aware the plant existed until the company released a list of its plants around the country.^[63]
The company had previously operated a plant in Gorman, where the company originally started in 1977. David Brooks, the snack food company buyer, said that he inspected this plant three times in the mid-1980s to determine whether to buy peanuts from PCA. The plant flunked each time for what he called "just filthy" conditions, including dusty beams, leaky roofs, and birds flying through the building.The Gorman operations ended up in Plainview when Hale County officials issued $2 million in tax-free revenue bonds to help the company convert a long vacant Jimmy Dean sausage factory in Plainview into a peanut plant.^[64] Local officials, including a county health inspector, toured the new plant and approved its opening, but the state never knew it existed. The plant sat alongside a major highway across from a massive Wal-Mart distribution center, and was highly visible with four signs out front and a billboard bearing a picture of a peanut. A state inspector drove by the plant "a few times" on his way to other inspections, but never stopped because it was not on his list. State officials say the company is solely to blame for failing to obtain the food manufacturer's license when the Plainview plant opened.
Inspection findings at Virginia plant

The PCA blanching operations in Suffolk, Virginia had some of the same food safety problems found in the company’s Georgia plant, according to state inspection records. Inspectors in 2008 found mold on "totes" holding peanuts, counted 43 mouse droppings on the floor, and saw a live bird walking and flying in the warehouse. The Virginia plant employed 13 workers and was shut down the day PCA filed for bankruptcy.


Criminal investigation On January 30, 2009 federal health officials announced that a criminal investigation has been launched by the U.S. Justice Department for possible prosecution under provisions of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This was after a criminal investigation had been requested of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation by Tommy Irvin, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which had the responsibility for inspections contracted to it by the FDA. GDA and GBI officials had said they would consider pursuing manslaughter charges if federal authorities did not take up the case.
On February 4, Georgia officials said they would not prosecute the company, because the two state laws under consideration (reckless conduct), and another regarding the adulteration of food) were only misdemeanors and would only allow for minor penalties. "Any potential prosecution is most appropriately handled at the federal level," Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said.
On February 9, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that it has joined the criminal investigation of the company. Search warrants were executed on the Blakely plant as well as PCA's corporate headquarters in Lynchburg. The FBI has sealed-off the Blakely plant following a raid by FBI agents.
Bankruptcy

On February 13 - less than 24 hours after the Texas recall - Peanut Corporation of America announced it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and permanently halting operations. Bankruptcy lawyer Andrew Goldstein said that the company had considered filing for Chapter 11, but decided to go into liquidation because all three of its plants had been closed down and there was no way it could carry on business. Consumers Union issued a statement saying that the bankruptcy filing shields the company from liability suits. In truth, however, the bankruptcy filing merely delays any claims against the company; individuals who have been sickened can still file claims against it. The "automatic stay" provisions of Section 362 of the United States Bankruptcy Code do not apply to any individual who does not file for bankruptcy. Thus, to the extent that misconduct by a non-debtor individual can be shown, persons injured by the company's practices will be able to pursue that relief. And, of course, criminal actions may be brought against those responsible as well. Additionally, consumers may well bring claims against the companies that bought from PCA, the majority of which are still solvent.

Government contract ban
On February 5, 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Peanut Corporation of America and a subsidiary, Tidewater Blanching LLC, have been banned from all federal government contracts and subcontracts for a period of one year. "The actions of PCA indicate that the company lacks business integrity and business honesty, which seriously and directly hinders its ability to do business with the federal government," David Shipman, acting administrator of USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, said in a statement.


Owner
was owned by Stewart Parnell, 54, who was also president and CEO of the company.
Parnell served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Peanut Standards Board, which sets quality and handling standards for peanuts. He was first appointed by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to the position in 2005, and was reappointed for another term that expires in 2011. On February 5, 2009 the USDA announced that the new Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had removed Parnell from the board.
Parnell started in the peanut business with his father and two younger brothers in 1977. They took a struggling, $50,000-a-year peanut roasting operation and turned it into a $30 million business before selling in 1995. Parnell continued working as a consultant to the business after the family sold it, and in 2000 he left to buy his own peanut plant again in Texas.In 2001, he bought the Blakely, Georgia operation, when its operations consisted only of roasting and blanching peanuts.Parnell tripled revenue at the Blakely plant by 2004, turning its first profit in 15 years, with production regularly surpassing 2.5 million pounds of peanuts per month. However, the FDA did not know that the plant manufactured peanut butter until the current outbreak.
Brooks said the Parnells ran PCA on a very tight budget, buying the cheapest peanuts they could find. The company operated a bare-bones front office from a converted garage behind Parnell's home outside Lynchburg, and relied almost exclusively on minimum-wage labor.^[
Despite more than 12 tests between 2007 and 2008 that showed salmonella contamination in his company’s products, Parnell wrote an e-mail to company employees on Jan 12, 2009 that stated, "we have never found any salmonella at all. No salmonella has been found anywhere in our products or in our plants." Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella to be shipped and complained that tests discovering the contaminated food were "costing us huge $$$$$." In a June 2008 e-mail exchange, Parnell complained to a worker after being notified that salmonella had been found in more products. "I go thru this about once a week," he wrote. "I will hold my breath ... again." After the company was identified as the source of the outbreak, Parnell pressed federal regulators to allow him to continue using peanuts from the tainted plant. He wrote that company executives "desperately at least need to turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money."
Under Congressional subpoena, Parnell on Feb 11 appeared with his plant manager before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee but repeatedly refused to testify, citing their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Among the questions they refused to answer was one from Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.): "In this container, are products that have your ingredients in them, some of which are on the recall list, some of which are probably contaminated. It seems like from what we've read you were willing to send out that peanut base that went into these ingredients. I just wonder, would either of you be willing to take the lid off and eat any of these products now like the people on the panel ahead of you, their relatives, their loved ones did?" Walden revealed an e-mail from Parnell, who, referring to products that had tested positive for salmonella, wrote: "Let's turn them loose."
Stewart and Gloria Parnell live outside Lynchburg, Virginia with a second home in Nags Head, North Carolina.^[3] Stewart Parnell is a member of the Oakwood Country Club in Lynchburg and flies his own airplane.^[3]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Parnell's lawyer is William O’Reilly, who is the former chief counsel and staff director for the House Ethics Committee. Parnell's plant manager is represented by Jim Parkman who defended HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy and former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. ^[87]
Parnell attended the Florida Institute of Technology and majored in oceanography but did not graduate.^[88] Parnell's younger sister, Beth, is married to Jimmy Falwell, a cousin of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell.^[4]
Remarks by public officials

• "This company had no conscience in its production practices, sales and distribution. That they would knowingly ship products tainted with salmonella to our nation's children almost defies belief." - U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

• "I'd like to see some people go to jail. This was a company that should have shut things down immediately." - Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

• "The actions by the Peanut Corporation of America can only be described as reprehensible and criminal." - Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)

• "They tried to hide it so they could sell it. Now they’ve caused a mammoth problem that could destroy their company - and it could destroy the peanut industry." - Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin

• "We’re going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations. At a bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter. That’s what Sasha eats for lunch. Probably three times a week. I don't want to worry about whether she's going to get sick as a consequence of eating her lunch." - President Barack Obama

• "This is a clear and unconscionable act by one manufacturer." - American Peanut Council statement

• "It is unacceptable for corporations to put consumers' health at risk and then simply declare bankruptcy and go out of business when they get caught. PCA's declaration of bankruptcy will, among other things, shield it from liability suits filed by consumers who became sick or whose loved ones died as a result of eating PCA's peanut products." - Jean Halloran, director

[Tipi Walter]

Completely agree with Tipi and Papa D. I usually get my peanut butter from one the stores in my area that has a peanut grinder. It takes less time grind the peanut butter than it does to read through the ingredient labels on all the jars of packaged stuff.

As for how much to bring? I end up with an excessive craving for this stuff on the trail. If I'm out for a few days I will fill up a reusable container with five or ten ounces. If I'm out for over a week I'll bring a full pound and it won't go to waste.


Best discovery yet: GORP and peanut butter on a tortilla wrap.

Worst discovery yet: Brown Rice, Tunafish and Peanut butter mixed together.

Here's another worst discovery yet: Mashed potatoes with brown sugar. BTW, if you guys want some really good nut butters, try both cashew and almond butter---fantastic, as below:





These images from:
http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/default.asp

I know, the stuff is expensive but it's awful good.

[Papa D]

Two comments before I go to bed; To: Wise old Owl - that post was way too long and to Tipi: That's a pretty cute girl old man

[Wise Old Owl]

ahh they are notes from a deep look at the industry bottom line - Stewart Parnell Knowingly murdered people and didn't serve a day in jail.

His peanut butter contained germs and mouse and rat urine... look at that face,,,,


Parnell.JPG

[XCskiNYC]

Most peanut butter is crap as it's loaded in hydrogenated fat---not human food. Look for Smucker's natural peanut butter or other brands w/o the stuff. See--

http://www.headheritage.co.uk/uknow/features/?id=19

The govt. of Denmark has outlawed partially-hydrogenated oil. The GF and I when we see that on an ingredient list call it Danish Poison. The only reason they put that krap in food is so the food can sit on a shelf for months and months without going bad. It's like embalming fluid for baked goods.

[Wise Old Owl]

wow good post.

[Northern Lights]

Try PB2 it is delicious, natural and dehydrated. Light and tastes good.

[Amanita]

I took a 10oz jar on my section this spring. I didn't eat it all, but I think it makes a good "backup meal" (to always carry an extra day of food over what you expect to need) because it's high cal/oz and can be eaten without cooking with just a spoon.

[d.o.c]

dont forget your honey to put in your peanut butter

[moytoy]

I eat about 2 oz of peanut butter a day whether I'm hiking or not. I will admit that I'm not very phobic about what I eat. As far as the salmonella outbreak, I don't think peanut butter is any more likely to be contaminated than any processed food that is mishandled. And I don't see how you can avoid hydrogenated veg. oil if you are resupplying in trail towns.

[moytoy]

Oh yes...How much to carry? I take at least 16 oz. for a 4 day trip. It's my backup food if I get stuck in the boonies. And the plastic container it comes in works for me.

[Tipi Walter]

On my long backpacking trips I take around three of these Nalgene 8oz containers filled with cashew or almond or peanut butter, another one with blueberry or plum jam, or whatever else you want. Morning toast in the fry pan never was so good until I got these things. I've never seen a "natural" nut butter (i.e. not hydrogenated) sold in a plastic jar, so I transfer the good stuff into one of these jars.

Here's another way to carry peanut butter---make it into homemade "fudge"---
** Mix in bowl a good amount of peanut butter (or cashew or almond).
** Add a generous amount of rice syrup, like Lundberg's.
** Throw in some carob powder---a chocolate substitute.
** Sprinkle in some shredded coconut.
** Knead repeatedly until mixed.
** Transfer into double ziplocs and put in fridge until trip.


Here's the stuff I'm talking about.

Image from
http://www.lundberg.com/products/syr...ice_Syrup.aspx

[IrishBASTARD]

I would stock up on PEANUT BUTTER soon...within this week. http://www.11alive.com/news/article/...hock-in-stores Stock up as much as you can...hiking or not this will kill. I went to the market today and saw a jar of JIF at "5.96"...no I am not connected to JIF if I was