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Many of us know we should probably pay a bit more attention to the information on the back of food packets, although we know that sometimes it’s nicer to be blissfully unaware.
After all, do we really want to know how many E-numbers are inexplicably in our loaf of sliced bread? Or all those artificial sweeteners in the diet drinks we thought were good for us?
Sometimes, however, it’s probably worth paying attention to the small print, even if it’s a painful truth to stomach.
One person recently took to Reddit to discuss the scare they’d had from an unassuming packet of noodles, explaining: “Just got these dry noodles from Chinatown with a strange warning.”
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The packet detailed the nutritional value of the noodles, including the breakdown of cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein.
But that’s not the part that did it for them.
“It has WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm in it - does anyone know why it says this?” the UK-based Reddit user added, referencing a warning box below the nutritional value table.
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“And should I be concerned for my future kids?”
Underneath the warning, there was also a link to the website for the Californian government’s ‘P65 Warnings’, which stem from Proposition 65, a law that was passed in 1986 to protect sources from substances that cause cancer or birth defects.
One person commented: “California’s Prop 65 is written in a way that results in a lot of products (and places!) having this warning. Basically, if there’s even a chance that your product contains one of the chemicals or substances covered by Prop 65, and you didn’t include a warning, you could be sued. You see them on food packaging, in parking garages, on dog toys… It was a well-meaning law with very silly consequences.”
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Someone else wrote: “I've only been to California once but I swear absolutely everything I bought, from food to souvenirs (mugs, toys from Disney) had this warning on it. It quickly became clear that it was utterly meaningless so I stopped paying attention to it. I genuinely wonder if this labelling does more harm than good.”
A third said: “I work in manufacturing, this is their ‘prop65’ label, which is required on basically everything sold in California these days, NOT just food (I work in clothing manufacture). Most companies don't want to make packaging specifically for goods in California since it would end up more expensive, so they just put it on all their stuff, which is why you are seeing it. Most likely they use the same packaging / sell the exact same product in multiple countries including the USA.”
In a reply to another commenter, the original poster added: "Might stay clear next time - I didn’t know it was legal to import foods that were American legal but not UK legal."
Topics: Health, Cancer, Reddit, Food and Drink
Jess Hardiman