This has been really brought home to me today. Over the last couple of days I’ve been reading about the dioxin contamination in Irish pork at the moment, due to contaminated feed. It’s been the main story in the newspapers, the TV and the on-line news. I would think that unless you lived the life of a hermit it would be impossible to live in the UK and not know about it.
Today I went to spend my ‘loyalty’ money at the other supermarket I frequent and was in a lovely relaxed mood as I wandered through the arcade. So laid back that I actually stopped to read the notices that were pinned on one side of a board at the entrance to the supermarket; the other side was advertising a spectacular that you could book through the supermarket.
I’m glad I did and what I read, and it was only in normal size print (10 or 12 point) on an A4 sheet, stopped me in my tracks. It was a notice advising people that a product, strong chorizo, that they sold could possibly harbour listeria.
Now as you probably realise it wasn’t just that a product could contain listeria that stopped me in my tracks but that the product had been on sale in August and was a product I was pretty sure I’d purchased and my son G had eaten, (rather a lot in one go too). He had also been rather violently ill afterwards and we’d put it down to it being too much spicy stuff.
I still had the remains of the packet in the refrigerator so I took down the details and hurried back to check. It was basically the same product but a different batch number. That would normally have reassured me but I had a small amount of it a little while back and I too have been feeling ill for a while. I’d put my stomach upset down to the cough medicine I was taking but despite not taking the medicine for a week I’ve still not recovered from the stomach upset.
A bit too much of a coincidence I think but the difference in reporting a possible health risk couldn’t be more marked; full scale coverage so no-one can miss it or an insignificant piece of paper that was pined above my head height, (OK I am a bit vertically challenged) and I just happened to spot as I had time and walked past the relevant side of the notice board.
Today I went to spend my ‘loyalty’ money at the other supermarket I frequent and was in a lovely relaxed mood as I wandered through the arcade. So laid back that I actually stopped to read the notices that were pinned on one side of a board at the entrance to the supermarket; the other side was advertising a spectacular that you could book through the supermarket.
I’m glad I did and what I read, and it was only in normal size print (10 or 12 point) on an A4 sheet, stopped me in my tracks. It was a notice advising people that a product, strong chorizo, that they sold could possibly harbour listeria.
Now as you probably realise it wasn’t just that a product could contain listeria that stopped me in my tracks but that the product had been on sale in August and was a product I was pretty sure I’d purchased and my son G had eaten, (rather a lot in one go too). He had also been rather violently ill afterwards and we’d put it down to it being too much spicy stuff.
I still had the remains of the packet in the refrigerator so I took down the details and hurried back to check. It was basically the same product but a different batch number. That would normally have reassured me but I had a small amount of it a little while back and I too have been feeling ill for a while. I’d put my stomach upset down to the cough medicine I was taking but despite not taking the medicine for a week I’ve still not recovered from the stomach upset.
A bit too much of a coincidence I think but the difference in reporting a possible health risk couldn’t be more marked; full scale coverage so no-one can miss it or an insignificant piece of paper that was pined above my head height, (OK I am a bit vertically challenged) and I just happened to spot as I had time and walked past the relevant side of the notice board.
