In the not quite three months since he took office, Barack Obama has had a daunting array of issues with which to concern himself – but one the US president may have least expected was peanut butter.

“When I heard peanut products were being contaminated earlier this year, I immediately thought of my seven-year-old daughter Sasha, who has peanut butter sandwiches for lunch probably three times a week,” he told the nation in one of his weekly addresses from the White House. “No parent should have to worry that their child is going to get sick from their lunch.”