2 ms·

> It's not just a nice-to-have; people's lives depend on it. Nevertheless, I would certainly hope that if someone's life depends on avoiding milk products, tha

> It's not just a nice-to-have; people's lives depend on it. Nevertheless, I would certainly hope that if someone's life depends on avoiding milk products, that they learned a long time ago not to buy butter. I mean I get your broader point, but it's just that in this specific case this isn't shea butter or apple butter or whatever... it's butter butter. Like, listing wheat as an allergen on a candy bar, of course. But if you have a milk allergy, there's absolutely no universe in which you should even be picking up the butter to check in the first place.

gkoberger 2y ago
Well, it's "unsalted butter". It has an adjective. So it's not just "butter butter", it's modified. Not everyone speaks perfect english. One of the times I had an allergic reaction, it's because I didn't know all the Spanish word for peanuts... and the english translation right below it skipped that word.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  Unsalted butter is butter butter. It's the base form of butter with nothing added. And peanuts in something that isn't obviously made of peanuts, of course. That's what allergen labels are for, nobody's arguing against that. But you can't really mistake a bar of butter for anything else except margarine. And it you have a milk allergy, you're gonna make sure you know what the words are for butter vs. margarine, I should think?
  - maxerickson 2y ago
    You are arguing that the regulation should be more complex... Regulations that require the allergen labeling and don't make exceptions will obviously be shorter than regulations that make exceptions. If the outcome were worse for consumers, I can see arguing for the more complicated regulation, but having a clear statement of the allergens regardless of the product doesn't hurt consumers any (If you disregard the bother from the redundancy anyway).
    - crazygringo 2y ago
      > You are arguing that the regulation should be more complex... No, I'm just saying that in this particular instance literally nobody should have suffered any harm.
JoshTriplett 2y ago
There is absolutely zero value in making an exception to the rules about allergen labeling here. Yes, it has the net effect of having a requirement that a bag of peanuts says "Allergens: peanuts". So be it; this is the kind of rule that works better when made universal, with zero exceptions.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  I didn't suggest making an exception, sorry if that wasn't clear. I'm just saying, it's hard to believe anyone was harmed in this particular case.

gkoberger 2y ago

Well, it's "unsalted butter". It has an adjective. So it's not just "butter butter", it's modified. Not everyone speaks perfect english. One of the times I had an allergic reaction, it's because I didn't know all the Spanish word for peanuts... and the english translation right below it skipped that word.

crazygringo 2y ago
Unsalted butter is butter butter. It's the base form of butter with nothing added. And peanuts in something that isn't obviously made of peanuts, of course. That's what allergen labels are for, nobody's arguing against that. But you can't really mistake a bar of butter for anything else except margarine. And it you have a milk allergy, you're gonna make sure you know what the words are for butter vs. margarine, I should think?
- maxerickson 2y ago
  You are arguing that the regulation should be more complex... Regulations that require the allergen labeling and don't make exceptions will obviously be shorter than regulations that make exceptions. If the outcome were worse for consumers, I can see arguing for the more complicated regulation, but having a clear statement of the allergens regardless of the product doesn't hurt consumers any (If you disregard the bother from the redundancy anyway).
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    > You are arguing that the regulation should be more complex... No, I'm just saying that in this particular instance literally nobody should have suffered any harm.

JoshTriplett 2y ago

There is absolutely zero value in making an exception to the rules about allergen labeling here. Yes, it has the net effect of having a requirement that a bag of peanuts says "Allergens: peanuts". So be it; this is the kind of rule that works better when made universal, with zero exceptions.

crazygringo 2y ago
I didn't suggest making an exception, sorry if that wasn't clear. I'm just saying, it's hard to believe anyone was harmed in this particular case.