Peanut research – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

How a Better Peanut Was About More Than An M&M

M&Ms had a rancid nut problem. So they needed a new peanut…perhaps 300 million pounds of peanuts. Developed by peanut researchers at the University of Georgia in the Wild Peanut Lab, by 2017, the Georgia 09Bs, was in most M&Ms after more than a decade. But first, the candy maker selected a healthier genetic mutation with fat like olive oil. Only the beginning, the nut also had to keep its crunch inside a chocolate cover and be perfectly symmetrical. Furthermore, the same Southern farmers growing the current peanut had to want to switch. But then, they had a new problem. With global warming, peanut plants became more susceptible to disease. ….[READ]