Most Ludicrous Food Warning of the Week -- Or Decade

With the over-proliferation (no, that’s not redundant; it’s merely accurate) of Nanny State regulations from the temporary world headquarters of Mondo Obama — Washington, D.C. — which seeks to insert federal power into virtually every aspect of our lives and orifice of our bodies  — the glorious blog of Gregg Easterbrook, Tuesday Morning Quarterback at ESPN.com, takes the cake (itself soon to be banned, no doubt, for running afoul of “First Lady” Michelle Obama’s food police) for most ludicrous warning of the week — or possibly, the decade.

The legal department of Lactaid Milk, a superb godsend and answer to the gastrointestinal prayers of lactose-intolerant people, has apparently become so concerned lest anyone who is allergic to milk accidentally ingest its product that it has now added this to its labels, according to Easterbrook’s current blog:

Disclaimer of the Week: Reader Steve Seiferheld of Haddonfield, N.J., writes, “I drink Lactaid brand milk, whose formula is good for … [those] who are lactose intolerant. On the packaging it says, ‘Allergen warning: contains milk.’ The name of the product is milk!”

One can only wonder whether this is a straw in the wind of the warning labeling of everything: one imagines future Birdseye frozen pea packages with the ringing alert, “Allergen warning: contains peas,” Hershey Chocolate bars stamped with “Allergen Warning: Contains chocolate,” and so on.

Legal disclaimer #1: I drink calcium-enriched, fat-free Lactaid Milk every day, enjoy it, endorse it, and was aware, even before the latest change to its labeling that the container is, indeed, filled with milk.  I was aware of this none-too-subtle fact because this is what the product looks like, even without the new warning:

Legal disclaimer #2: I, personally, am of the view that in such matters, it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Food allergies, like all allergies, can have lethal effects that should surely be avoided at all costs. That said, this could get absurdly absurd.

If only the federal government under Barack Obama would chisel into every federal department’s headquarters: “Warning: contains over-reaching, taxpayer-money wasting, safe-from-ever-being-fired Civil Service-protected federal employees.”

Of course the worst of all such offending federal employees is the Federal-Employee-In-Chief, whose own warning label should read, “Do not even think of re-electing.”