Send me bricks! I'm building an inverted house.

Here is something that worries me: I was having some muesli for breakfast, with chopped fruit and yoghurt since I like it that way, when I noticed the cause of the worry that I have about people and food manufacturers. It was a little inconspicuous sign at the bottom of the packet that said “suitable for vegetarians”. Why does it need this, does everyone not know that muesli is vegetarian? Or are the people producing that brand of muesli trying to imply that other brands of muesli contain meat products?

This makes me feel like the one character from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (a really good book written by Douglas Adams in case you do not know it). This character decided to go to a remote part of the world and build himself a house, where all the furnishings were on the outside of the house with the garden inside, an inverted house basically. There was a plaque on the door saying, “now leaving the insane asylum”. Most people, in the book, seem to think that he is crazy but his reasoning actually makes sense. He did all this since he found directions on a packet of toothpicks, which it should be complete common sense to know how to use. Because of this he decided that the whole world was crazy and needed to be put into an insane asylum.

After noticing this sign on a bag of muesli I agree with this character more than ever, I think it is time to find some bricks and start building me an inside-out-house. People are either crazy or stupid. Really, what is next? A sign on a packaged T-bone steak saying that it is not suitable for vegetarians because it may contain meat?

Or, is this now just some big game to food companies trying to insult each other? Our brand of coffee, contains real coffee; or our cornflakes, contains real corn; or our brand of cereal, will not give you TB. Or are people this intensely stupid, and I do mean offence if this is you who needs these obvious signs, and I really do not care if it does offend you, you deserve it. I in fact hope that these are just clever little tricks to make you think that other brands are fake or bad for you. Since this is better than the alternative, which means that: manufacturers really think their consumers are that stupid. But, either way, most of these obvious warnings and cautions are rubbish. Rather stick to ones that are useful, like warning that a product that is not in itself peanuts may contain peanuts.

Jon