National Peanut Board tries to make you mad about nuts again
Posted on Thu Mar 5 2009
One cow says to the other cow, "Hey, are you worried about mad cow disease?" The other cow replies, "Why would I be? I'm a helicopter." So went the jokes a little over a decade ago when the world was concerned about its beef supply. Today, the worries are about peanuts, as safety concerns spread as quickly amid a flurry of product recalls.
Now that the situation appears to be under control, the National Peanut Board sent sampling teams out into New York City's streets yesterday to hand out free bags of peanuts and reassure consumers. I wouldn't be surprised if many people turned them down, at least for the time being. Some probably looked at the peanut people wearing giant peanut costumes in Grand Central Station as if they were nuts.
I had a similar reaction during the mad-cow era. I was on a press trip in London, and a group of us ended up at one of London's finest steakhouses. As we were placing our orders, a Japanese camera crew burst in and started filming everyone ordering steak. The camera turned to me when it was my time to order, and I paused and said, "I'll have the fish."
—Posted by Kenneth Hein
