Costco Wholesale owned peanuts that were made into peanut butter by Sunland Foods Inc. Sunland is being sold at auction following bankruptcy related to a recall of salmonella-contaminated peanut butter in 2012. To expedite the sale, they need to get rid of 25 tons (950,000 jars) of peanut butter. This peanut butter is safe and edible - not contaminated with bacteria.
Costco claims that the peanut butter cannot be sold because of "leaky peanut oil" and refuses to allow it to be donated or used in any other way. The company will only allow destruction of the product through landfilling.
It is unconscionable to landfill safe food when there are hungry people in this country, and it also shows wasteful disregard for the environment to bury food in plastic jars where it won't decompose. Please call on Costco Wholesale to allow the peanut butter to be used instead of landfilled.
Sources:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/28/costco-26m-peanut-butter-new-mexico-landfill
http://consumerist.com/2014/03/28/25-tons-of-edible-peanut-butter-dumped-in-landfill-after-dispute-between-plant-and-costco/
(Image by PiccoloNamek, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)
