I once worked in a music store warehouse. Packed with many of the instruments we shipped was a little packet of silica gel, to absorb any excess moisture in the cases and keep instruments from being damaged by humidity.
Each packet was labelled- Silica gel, dessicant. Warning: do not eat.
It never occured to me that the silica gel might be a potential snack, and I couldn’t believe anyone would regard it as such.
I expressed my views to my supervisor, and asked why the manufacturer felt the need to put such a warning on a something that was obviously not intended for human consumption.
His reply- “When I see something like that on a package, I know, somebody got a letter.”
In the same vein, a lot of sports rubs (Ben-Gay, et al) have labels that say, “Not to be taken internally”.
Are people actually that stupid?
(I always wanted to abscond with a bunch of packages of Ben-Gay, and alter the labels to read, “Not intended for use as a vaginal lubricant”, then smuggle them back to the store and replace them on the shelves.)
And has anyone else out there seen warning labels that seem so completely unnecessary?
Found on a box of generic Pop-Tart style breakfast treats:
WARNING: Pastries will be hot when removed from toaster.
I can only imagine some poor rube reading that and shouting to his mate, “Hey Darlin’! Guess what I jest found out. The toaster makes thangs hot!”
I bought some baby carrots that came in a little plastic sack with the warning: “Plastic bag is not a toy. Keep away from small children.” I understand the reasoning, but it still made me roll my eyes. Baby carrots?
I probably shouldn’t post this without reading the linked article, but here goes:
How about “WARNING! Automatic door!” on sliding doors.
Just who exactly is that there to protect? I mean, it’s not like the damn things are on hinges and might reach over and smack you around or anything. “Miss Flockhart, you’re standing in the track the automatic door uses to slide open; you’d better watch out!”
My all time fav was the warning on the windshield screen (you know that big cardboard thing to put in your windshield to prevent your car from getting too hot on the inside during summer???) BIG red letters:
The thing is, those same packets of silica gel are also put in packages of beef jerky.
Although it’s not likely that someone’s going to think of eating the contents of a musical instrument package, the same cannot be said for a package of beef jerky. It does make a little bit of sense that, if everything else in a package of beef jerky is edible, the dessicant should be labelled clearly as something you should not munch on.
The silica gel dessicant packet manufacturers put the “do not eat” warning on every packet they sell, because they do not know ahead of time whether the dessicant is going to be used in a musical instrument package or in a food package.
A few people nowadays are allergic to peanuts and peanut oil. Their allergic reactions can be life-threatening. To avoid accidentally killing such people, many food manufacturers are beginning to put warning labels on their products that contain peanuts and peanut oil.
But the wording of the warning can leave something to be desired. On the wrapper for a Snicker’s bar – whose ads all go out of their way to tell you how wonderful this candy bar is because it’s got peanuts in it – there is a label that says, “Warning: may contain peanuts.” MAY contain peanuts?!? Hell, if it says “Snickers” and it doesn’t have peanuts in it, I want my money back!
This is slightly off the thread, but I think it’s still relevant.
I have a book of ‘stories from the REAL ER’ One story went something like this:
Patient comes in complaining of purple vaginal discharge. As the nurse took her history, the woman mentioned she just started using a diaphragm. The nurse, who I’m sure knew what was coming but couldn’t believe it, asked what type of jelly she was using. The woman answered, “grape"
tracer, while it might seem ludicrous, at least they are trying to be helpful. They have one label they put on everything. The warnings on most General Mills and Kellogg’s products are more useful, they list more than peanuts. I give them an “E” for effort. Besides, you would be surprised how many people think that the problem is only with peanut butter. :rolleyes: These little tiny labels have been known to stop an unthinking grandparent, teacher, or babysitter from giving a child something that they have a severe reaction to. Yeah, people really are THAT stupid and we parents of children with severe food allergies have to let them go to daycare or school sometime.
Since the “may contain peanuts” label appears on some products but not on others, why doesn’t the company that makes Snickers just say “Warning: Contains peanuts” for the products that it knows have peanuts in them by design? The way the label is currently phrased, it makes it sound like they’re going to come out with Tofu Snickers any day now.
