Big food companies were not the only ones troubled by the peanut recall.

Small businesses in all corners of the United States bought potentially tainted peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America and are now part of one of the largest food recalls ever in this country. There is the chef in Las Vegas, for instance, who used them in protein bars, the packager of nuts and dried fruits in Connecticut, the cannery in Montana that sold chocolate-covered nuts and the ice cream manufacturer in New York State.

In all, more than 2,100 processed and packaged foods have been recalled in the wake of a salmonella outbreak linked to the Peanut Corporation’s products. More than 660 people became ill, and infection may have contributed to nine deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The recall opens a window not only onto the ubiquity of peanuts in food, but also into the complexity of the nation’s food system. Without the resources of big companies, small businesses have a particularly difficult time navigating that system. Even the businesses that thought they had complied with food safety practices ended up with potentially tainted products.

And now, in dealing with the recall, they are at a continued disadvantage. While big companies like Kellogg, Kraft and General Mills have the experience and staff to handle recalls, many small businesses have never had to deal with anything like this.