Peanuts Recalled For Not Stating “May Contain Peanuts”

A supermarket in England is taking packages of peanuts out of their stores because their containers do not say they “may contain peanuts.”

Booths is a grocery store chain; they have 29 locations in northern England. They pulled 300 of the packets off their shelves after a health agency issued an allergy alert.

The alert was issued because the food didn’t have a warning telling the customer that it might make people with allergies get sick.

The containers are labelled as “Whole Hearted Roasted Monkey Nuts.”

“Monkey nuts” is a British nickname for peanuts in the shell.  

The allergy alert was issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is in charge of ensuring food safety in the United Kingdom.

A spokesperson for Booths apologized for the situation and warned customers with a peanut allergy not to consume the product.

Some people are very allergic to peanuts. Symptoms of a peanut allergy range from skin reactions and stomach pains to severe breathing difficulties.

Stores in most many countries are required by law to tell their customers if a product has any amount of peanuts in it, even if peanuts aren’t supposed to be one of the ingredients.

Curriculum Connections
By Paul McGoey

Writing/Discussion Prompt
Many things in our society have warning labels, including food, toys and machinery. Think of something that doesn’t have a warning but could, and write out what that warning label might look like.

Example:

WARNING: THIS TREE SOMETIMES DROPS CHESTNUTS FROM VERY HIGH UP, AND IF THEY HIT YOU THEY MIGHT HURT YOU.  BE CAREFUL AND WALK BY THIS TREE QUICKLY.

Reading Prompts: Point of View
Imagine how different people might feel after hearing the announcement that the peanut packages were being taken out of the stores.

Write one word or sentence to describe the feelings of the following people:
1. A person who has to take all the packages off of the shelf
2. A person who is allergic to peanuts
3. A person who forgot to put the warning label on the packages
4. You (after reading this article)

Primary
Identify, initially with support and direction, the speaker and the point of view presented in a text and suggest one or two possible alternative perspectives (OCE, Reading, 1.9)

Junior
Identify the point of view presented in texts, ask questions to identify missing or possible alternative points of view, and suggest some possible alternative perspectives (OCE, Reading, 1.9)

Grammar Feature: Slang
Sometimes, people use words and expressions that are considered informal (very casual).  These words are known as “slang” or “nicknames” and they are often said aloud rather than written.

In England, peanuts are called ‘monkey nuts’. Other slang words to describe peanuts are: earthnuts, ground nuts, goober peas, pig nuts and pygmy nuts.

Complete the chart for common “formal” and “slang” words.