Silly labeling

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We received our supermarket delivery the other night (I love the fact that supermarkets here deliver; I generally get about one delivery a month to save lugging quite so much – toilet paper, etc is bulky). I don’t generally get produce [fruit & vegetables] in these deliveries, generally preferring my local greengrocer’s, but the watercress was on a particularly good sale, so I got some of that.

As we were checking through the order to make sure we’d gotten everything, Chris read the back of the watercress and burst out laughing – not a typical reaction, so I was curious. He then immediately turned to me and asked, “Who have you been talking to?” He then thrust the package at me so I could see for myself:

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Ah, we’re supposed to decant the watercress. *giggle* Decant is one of my favorite silly words, you see. It only means put it in another container, but it sounds so fancy! Posh, even. In this context, slightly pompous, actually, aided and abetted by the “Do not exceed the Use By Date.” Or else it will EXPLODE, clearly.

Not to worry – after removing it from this wrapper, we have, indeed, decanted the watercress. It’s not languishing about uncontained!

2 thoughts on “Silly labeling”

  1. SO lucky to have home delivery!!!! There used to be a company in KC that did home deliveries, but has since closed their doors.

    decant – Funny they would call it this! And consumer all the watercress within 1 day of opening? WOW!

    HA HA

    • Home delivery is pretty widespread here – 25% of households don’t have a car, so there’s a definite need. In addition to I think the half dozen or so major supermarkets, our greengrocer, butcher, and favorite restaurant deliver, too. Useful!

      Yeah, the “consume within X days of opening” lines are usually hilariously short. Here are some examples I’ve just gathered from around the house:

      • Philadelphia Cream Cheese: “To enjoy this product at its best consume within 1 week of opening” – Nope, I’ve had it last a good month before.
      • Ketchup: “Once opened, keep refrigerated and consume within 6 weeks and by date shown.” – I love ketchup, so I doubt a bottle’s ever lasted that long in our house, but it seems rather short to me.
      • Maraschino cherries: “Refrigerate after opening and use within 2 weeks.” – Those have been in the fride since last year sometime. I just checked; they’re still fine.
      • Jalapeno slices: “Refrigerate after opening and use within 14 days” – Nope, these last months.
      • Wholegrain and Dijon mustards: “Once opened, keep refrigerated and consume within 6 weeks and by date shown.” – Nope, mustard lasts forever.
      • Cheddar cheese: “Once opened best consumed within 3 days.” – Nope, this lasts weeks.

      And then there’s my favorite, where they try to make people think stuff will spoil while it’s frozen:

      • Flour tortillas: “Once opened, reseal, refrigerate and use within 3 days. Suitable for home freezing: freeze immediately and use within 3 months.” – No, you shouldn’t refrigerate tortillas, just like you shouldn’t refrigerate bread. Besides, tortillas will be fine for a week or more.
      • Bagels: “Suitable for freezing. Freeze on day of purchase and use within one month.”

      No, guys, really: if it’s frozen, it’s not going to spoil. The quality might suffer a bit, possibly, but I’ve never found that to happen yet, myself, only read about it. Even if it does, it’s just less tasty; it’s not actually going to hurt you. Ugh. I really detest the brainlessness and massive waste these labels give rise to.

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