Mince Pies danger: shock horror probe

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If it wasn't so pathetic, I'd get angry about it.

And who employs these idiot jobsworths? Oh yes, we all do. We're taxpayers, and they're civil servants. Great use of taxpayer's money, in my view.

Vote Labour.

Gaz
 
I dont know if anyone who is vegetarian or religiously diverse comes to these events but I would have guessed that "mince" "pies" would be two words that would fail to attract either.

On the other hand if you want to setup a kebab stand then all you need is a meat roll, a gas burner and a sharp knife.
 
gaz_l said:
If it wasn't so pathetic, I'd get angry about it.

And who employs these idiot jobsworths? Oh yes, we all do. We're taxpayers, and they're civil servants. Great use of taxpayer's money, in my view.

Vote Labour.

Gaz

Wrong - they are local government officers - not civil servants.
 
Hmm better not have any mince pies this year. In case I get Syphallis or something.
 
wallingd said:
Hmm better not have any mince pies this year. In case I get Syphallis or something.

This may come as a shock to you but that part of the anatomy is not called a mince pie.
 
But people do have nut allergies and other allergies and the reaction to these can be extreme, even fatal. One of the reasons that we have improving health, less illnesses and increased longevity is partly because so called jobsworths do thankless tasks like this.
 
It is - but to be fair, if you have an allergy there is a certain amount of personal responsibility that goes with it and a mince pie is something I would expect ppl with nut allergies not to go near. Similarly - if you are a veggy then you should know that mince pies "should" contain suet which could well be beef and not veg.

What happens with things like this though is they get blown out of all proportion. Yes they gadjey was prob just doing his job - a little over jealous maybe, but we all undertake risk assessments every day of our lives - we just don't realise it. You mentally assess if you can get across the road before the bus will hit you for example, and in this scenario - "that is a mass produced or home produced piece of confectionary - might it have come into contact with something I am allergic to?"

What happens though is it becomes pure beaurocracy when formal terminology is used and it terrifies ppl. It is a fair assessment to say that it is a person's responsibility to determine if the pies might be contiminated and so the level of risk is minimal - but it just sounds so scary and it makes small time affairs like local village fetes a nightmare to operate.
 
BonzoDog said:
But people do have nut allergies and other allergies and the reaction to these can be extreme, even fatal. One of the reasons that we have improving health, less illnesses and increased longevity is partly because so called jobsworths do thankless tasks like this.

It is far easier to give a person an adrenalin injection to carry around than it is to signpost every source of legumes in the world.
 
miro said:
It is far easier to give a person an adrenalin injection to carry around than it is to signpost every source of legumes in the world.
I mention this as I have a colleague with this affliction. He ate something he thought was innocuous and it wasn t. The same happened to a girl in my daughter s class. In the first case none of us knew what to do. In the second case the school knew what to do but this has resulted in notices around the school. Some parents complain that this is bureaucracy gone mad but I suspect we might hear a different story if it was their child.
However I did not want to over dramatise but just to point out there is quite often some good underlying reason. The question is how should the information be presented and where does common responsibility begin and end. It seems that there isn t an easy answer.
And yes I would also agree that we all do ourseleves far more damage with alcohol and any of a number of other vices but again it is a question of society tackling the problems that it can identify.
Apologies for being boring.
 
BonzoDog said:
But people do have nut allergies and other allergies and the reaction to these can be extreme, even fatal. One of the reasons that we have improving health, less illnesses and increased longevity is partly because so called jobsworths do thankless tasks like this.

My son is lactose intolerant - he used to be very bad, pretty OK now - however, all that happened is we took responsibility and asked about the ingredients before we bought any food. If we couldnt get an answer we bought something else / bought it from somewhere else. 99.9% of the time whoever was selling whatever would get the box out and have a look at it.

These 'posters warning of the content' are a complete waste of time *unless* they are everywhere (no exceptions) and have a complete ingredient list for every item being sold - theres enough different food allergies or preferences that just listing nuts or suet is just a part job being done badly

We really don't need posters or regulations to sort that out. And we really don't need everyone else paying towards the extra salaries of some 'tax payer funded' body to save me from taking responsibility and asking.

I suspect health, less illness etc would be vastly improved by encouraging people to take responsibility themselves - rather than training them to expect some one else to have taken responsibility and warned them about every danger in life.

Richard
 
pammy said:
but it just sounds so scary and it makes small time affairs like local village fetes a nightmare to operate.

And then people don't bother to operate them (it's just too difficult) and we all lose out on a nice day out.

R
 
richard said:
...then people don't bother...
Mrs Del is involved with Alzheimers charity - the bureaucracy and red tape arising from coffee mornings, carer relief, volunteer drivers etc. is depressing.
'Risk assessment' stymies so much - school trips and activities, now, apparently family pall-bearers!
 
The trouble is that of treating all events, big or small, business or charity, exactly the same because that is required.

However. per instructions for Risk Assessments:

Trivial risks can usually be ignored, as can risks arising from routine
activities associated with everyday life, unless the event substantially
increases those risks
.

After a full and carefully considered Risk Assessment lasting 0.1 seconds, the scoffing/non scoffing of mince pies by the general public and a great deal else besides falls very firmly into that. The multitude of sad local jobsworths attempting to say otherwise can and should be told to shove it.
 
richard said:
We really don't need posters or regulations to sort that out. And we really don't need everyone else paying towards the extra salaries of some 'tax payer funded' body to save me from taking responsibility and asking.

I suspect health, less illness etc would be vastly improved by encouraging people to take responsibility themselves - rather than training them to expect some one else to have taken responsibility and warned them about every danger in life.

Richard


The problem for Authorities providing these activities is one of Litigation. They need to ensure they have covered every angle because someone will try to sue them if possible.
You can blame the rise of No Win, No Fee solicitors for this. In fact many of these are not actually Solicitors, they are merely chancers trying it on.
 
I'm involved in running dog agility shows, and risk assessments are often required for those now. We have to document that grass can get a bit slippery if it's wet, so people might fall over.
 
richard said:
We really don't need posters or regulations to sort that out. And we really don't need everyone else paying towards the extra salaries of some 'tax payer funded' body to save me from taking responsibility and asking.

I suspect health, less illness etc would be vastly improved by encouraging people to take responsibility themselves - rather than training them to expect some one else to have taken responsibility and warned them about every danger in life.

Richard

You sound like a person able to take responsibility but that unfortunately probably puts you in the minority. If most people did act responsibly there would be no obesity problem, far less accidents, fewer smoking related illnesses, less alcohol related problems, less violence, a more educated population and consequentially far lower welfare and social overhead. As, I for one, like to think that we live in an advanced society, I see it as of benefit to all that we try to deal as best we can by attempting to educate and inform those who take time to understand the message.
Watch out here come seat belt laws - crash helmets, minimum tread depth, MOT's - all of which created a mass of over reaction at the time but now all accepted. But yes, I do miss the days of fish and chips in newspaper.
 
miro said:
This may come as a shock to you but that part of the anatomy is not called a mince pie.

If you appreciate american comedy, I do believe its called an Apple Pie... :p
 
richard said:
And then people don't bother to operate them (it's just too difficult) and we all lose out on a nice day out.

R

Well said.
 

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