Stupidity Strikes Again

[fuzzygobo]

Today I picked up a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter, and on the label there's a warning: CONTAINS PEANUTS.
Wow! There's peanuts in peanut butter, folks! Who woulda thunk it?

I know food manufacturers have to comply with the FDA and list all ingredients that might be harmful to people with allergies: peanuts, tree nuts, bee nuts (ever see the nuts on a bee?), milk, wheat, belly button lint, etc. etc. etc.

But is it REALLY necessary to put a warning on a jar of peanut butter... to remind people... that it may contain... of all things... dare I say it?... PEANUTS????????

In the Sunday comics there's a strip called Non-Sequitir that has a recurring character named Captain Obvious. This looks like a job for him.

 

[D'Snowth]

Today I picked up a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter, and on the label there's a warning: CONTAINS PEANUTS.
Wow! There's peanuts in peanut butter, folks! Who woulda thunk it?

 

[mr3urious]

This is mainly done by the companies to save their butts from anyone out there who just wants money by suing the crap out of them.

This is old news, BTW.

 

[Misskermie]

Oh god. That's probably for people who somehow pass middle school, but fail highschool.

 

[Drtooth]

That is completely idiotic. I agree to that much... but I also agree to this:

This is mainly done by the companies to save their butts from anyone out there who just wants money by suing the crap out of them.

The frivolous lawsuit.

I once heard a story (I hope it is an urban legend) that someone once tried to sue about Peanut M&M's because one in the package didn't have a peanut in it. He claims he bit down harder on the candy, anticipating one, but as there wasn't one there, he wouldn't up biting either the side of his mouth or tongue really really hard.

I bite the loose pieces of crappy skin in my mouth ALL the time, but I'm not going to sue anyone over it.

Still, if you're allergic to peanut butter, why by peanut butter in the first place? Makes no sense to me. But I guess it's better than the alternative... Peanut butter that contains chemicals that taste like peanut butter that also could also patch up a space ship.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

My favorite was the one on some fake fangs I saw that advertised the product as you being able to "eat, drink, and talk naturally." Then on the back it said to not eat or drink with them *facepalm*

 

[Misskermie]

My favorite was the one on some fake fangs I saw that advertised the product as you being able to "eat, drink, and talk naturally." Then on the back it said to not eat or drink with them *facepalm*

Well they're right.
You WILL eat and drink naturally, because you won't be wearing them.
LOL

 

[Beakerfan]

It's kind of like the coffee cups that say "Caution: Beverage is HOT". What do they expect?!?

However, I understand some people are just idiots. I happen to know that the reason RV manuals say "do not leave the steering wheel while vehicle is on cruise control" is because a woman mistook the cruise control for auto-pilot. She got up to make herself a sandwich and crashed.

 

[Drtooth]

It's kind of like the coffee cups that say "Caution: Beverage is HOT". What do they expect?!?

Back to what Mr3urious said, it's all about frivolous lawsuits. They have to put that on now because someone held it in between their legs when driving, and the lid popped off and it burned them. There was a time when frivolous suits were a get rich quick scheme for idiots, and major companies had to put obvious disclaimers on packages to avoid someone purposely injuring themselves with their product.

Remember that episode of Pinky and the Brain where Brain tried to fund one of his schemes by going to a workplace and claiming a mishap with a microwave and non-Dairy creamer turned him into a mouse?

 

[Teheheman]

I got a worse one. I saw a jar of PEANUTS with that warning on it. It's a clear glass jar of peanuts, with a warning on the back that says CONTAINS: PEANUTS. Well I fricken hope so. What do you expect it to contain? Horse meat? If I were allergic to peanuts, the last thing I'd do is go down that isle in the first place, but if I did, I wouldn't go and pick up a jar and say "I wonder if this has peanuts in it"

Daniel