Allergies are not very pleasant at the best of times and the consequences of nut allergies (sometimes fatal) clearly rank high on the list of those to be avoided if at all possible.

Only a few years ago there was little public awareness of nut allergies but scientific research has revealed how common and dangerous they really are. As a result, suppliers of foodstuffs, no doubt scared witless by the threat of litigation, display clear warnings on virtually all of their products.

I bought a can of Tesco lemonade the other day and even that had an allergy warning, stating –

“Recipe: No nuts – Ingredients: Cannot guarantee nut free – Factory: No nuts.”

I must confess that I have never really associated lemonade with nuts, having assumed, somewhat naively I suppose, that it is derived solely from lemons, a touch of sweetener and a bit of gas thrown in to give it some fizz. Oh well, we live and learn!

What I find puzzling in this particular instance is that if the suppliers can state that the recipe is nut-free why can’t they guarantee the same for the ingredients? Surely they can control what goes in to their products?

Nuts? You can say that again!