Food warnings - sometimes I just shake my head

[David M. Bueker]

On a box of Shredded Wheat - "WARNING - CONTAINS WHEAT INGREDIENTS"

Pretty sad state of affairs.

Well hey, considering all the bogus products that don't actually contain what they are supposed to, this is probably legitimate!

My favorite right now are those commercials for the Five Hour Energy Drink. That is the name of the product and they splash it all over the commercial. Then when they discuss the product in the commercial they say it contains "some" hours of energy and flash all kinds of small print about how it doesn't contain any more energy than coffee.

Makes me laugh every time!

On a box of Shredded Wheat - "WARNING - CONTAINS WHEAT INGREDIENTS"

It is a good practice plus a way of protecting themselves. A lot of labels I read have warnings about the product produced in a plant that also does peanuts, wheat, nuts, or milk products. Lots of people need to know those facts.

I laughed about the 5 hour energy drink. I was in a local supermarket last year and a store clerk was stocking the product. He asked me If I wanted some of the energy drink. I looked at him and said, "why? I have so much energy now and at my age it makes me tired!" The look on his face was priceless.

Well hey, considering all the bogus products that don't actually contain what they are supposed to, this is probably legitimate!

My favorite right now are those commercials for the Five Hour Energy Drink. That is the name of the product and they splash it all over the commercial. Then when they discuss the product in the commercial they say it contains "some" hours of energy and flash all kinds of small print about how it doesn't contain any more energy than coffee.

Makes me laugh every time!

I thought that it was the super shot of B vitamin that was suppose to be the engine behind 5 hour energy and that the coffee reference was wrt caffine levels being equivalent to a cup of coffee. Then again I don't really pay attention.

[David M. Bueker]

Karen - sorry if this offends you, but if somebody cannot figure out that shredded wheat contains wheat then they really do not deserve the warnings or any protection in the form of being able to sue.

On a box of Shredded Wheat - "WARNING - CONTAINS WHEAT INGREDIENTS"

Catch-22.

Morons that can't work this out for themselves are likely to be unable or unwilling to waste time reading warning labels.

Karen - sorry if this offends you, but if somebody cannot figure out that shredded wheat contains wheat then they really do not deserve the warnings or any protection in the form of being able to sue.

As I said, it is protection for the company.....give them a call. It may even be a requirement from their legal department.

[Robin Garr]

Karen - sorry if this offends you, but if somebody cannot figure out that shredded wheat contains wheat then they really do not deserve the warnings or any protection in the form of being able to sue.

As I said, it is protection for the company.....give them a call. It may even be a requirement from their legal department.

I agree. I expect it's a no-tolerance regulation. If there's wheat in the recipe, the warning is called for, even if the product has "wheat" in its name.

Those of us who don't care can ignore it. I don't see a lot of angst here (any more) over the surgeon general's warning or the "contains sulfites" rules on wine, although they are arguably just as inane.

If there's wheat in the recipe, the warning is called for, even if the product has "wheat" in its name.

Now if we could just get the converse - e.g. packages labelled as 'crab' should have to say 'Warning - there is no real crab in this product' in lettering exactly as large as the 'crab'. I get tired of seeing pollock sold in restaurants as crab (and send it back in restaurants on the odd occasion when that happens).

[Robin Garr]

Now if we could just get the converse - e.g. packages labelled as 'crab' should have to say 'Warning - there is no real crab in this product' in lettering exactly as large as the 'crab'. I get tired of seeing pollock sold in restaurants as crab (and send it back in restaurants on the odd occasion when that happens).

Or Texas Wagyu beef sold as "Kobe," a practice that happily seems to be fading in the US in the face of considerable blowback from food critics in all 50 states.

then there are the products that should have warnings but don't. i'm thinking of something from Italy that has a recipe attached. the recipe called for adding 'a handfull of boiling water'.

My favorite label was on a product imported from Taiwan that listed among the ingredients "monosodium grutamate".

-Paul W.

My favorite label was on a product imported from Taiwan that listed among the ingredients "monosodium grutamate".

-Paul W.

Great one! Makes sense though - transliterated phonetically the same way they'd pronounce it by someone with a less than firm grasp of English.