Some quick observations:

The almond industry went through two rounds of salmonella in raw almonds earlier this decade (no deaths involved) and, to ensure to the public that almonds are safe, the grower/industry group instituted mandatory pasteurization of most raw almonds. I'm not saying that pasteurization is feasible for peanuts or even necessary, but this action shows how an industry, through a grower group, took strong steps to guarantee to the public it was serious about food safety.

The advantage for almonds is that the crop is pretty much centered in one state - California - and has one grower organization, which means it can gain quick consensus and move forward. Peanuts are grown in multiple states, and each has its own organization, plus a couple of regional groups and a national group. The expression "herding cats" comes to mind. This is seen by many as a Georgia problem, but it's affecting growers everywhere. But I doubt if the industry - growers through final manufacturers - will be able to do anything proactive that matters.

The argument also has been made that peanuts are a program crop, as opposed to almonds, which are not. Almond growers, the argument follows, felt more of a vested interest in taking swift, drastic action to prove to, say, German housewives that their products are safe. They're always into marketing, and their grower organization isn't as distracted by issues involving the next farm bill. To get into almonds you've also got to make a multi-decade commitment to the crop. As someone told me, "you're in a 30-year rotation with almond trees."

The press didn't overreact to what amounts to the largest food recall in U.S. history - hundreds sick, nine funerals, Congressional hearings.

Every time a product is recalled the state or federal agency issues a public notice or press release. SOP. Newspapers and other media have an obligation to run those. Yes, there have been commentaries. Nine people died from contaminated food, and somebody is going to have an opinion about it. I know I do. Anybody reading this does, as well.

I did a search in Google News for "peanuts +contamination" and then put the resulting URL in my RSS news reader so that I get regular, automatic updates on new articles relating to the subject.As late as last week products were still being recalled in different parts fo the country, plus products that included ingredients from Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) had been shipped as far away as Hong Kong and Europe. Perhaps some recalls weren't necessary, but based on the seriousness of the problem, other states are going to err to the safe side. Who can blame them?

I watched about half of the 4-hour Congressional hearing and saw the PCA guy take the Fifth over and over. If I were in charge of food safety in Montana or New Hampshire and watched that, I'd pull anything off the shelf that contained even small portions of that company's ingredients. As one of our editors put it, "He comes across as the consummate low bidder." All these recalls hurt Georgia the worst, but the inspection system there failed everyone, in some cases fatally.

Let me add that I've got a stake in peanuts. I publish a crop and pest report covering peanuts. I also go through a jar of Jif Extra Crunchy about every 3 weeks. All by myself.

Our reports are free to growers and crop advisors because we sell ad space. Trying to line up sponsors for our peanut report, PeanutFax, this year has been discouraging, much like growers trying to lock in contracts for their crop. We may have to publish this year's report without ads or revenue. Sure, the economy may have some effect, but we were able to line up sponsors for everything else. Chemical companies are our main sponsors, and they will do as little advertising as possible in the peanut market this year.

As noted above, I have opinions about all this, myself.