This morning I bought a cherry and coconut flapjack from a public vending machine.

If you're not familiar with a flapjack, I'll explain briefly.  In the UK, a flapjack is a tray bake (or bar cookie) made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and usually golden syrup or honey.  They are available often with extra ingredients such as chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, and toffee pieces or coating.

The label of my purchase stated clearly on the front: "Cherry and Coconut Flapjack."

On the reverse the list of ingredients included oats, butter, brown sugar, cherries, and coconut pieces.  It appears quite obvious then, that my flapjack contained nut pieces.

However, someone at the flapjack factory must have assumed that I, or other potential customers, had the IQ of a peanut.  My reason for saying this?  Below the ingredients was a message printed in bold, saying "Warning! May contain traces of nuts!"

Questioning the customer's intelligence, or providing a warning to nut allergy sufferers that the product he or she is about to sink their teeth into will probably make them choke on their own swollen tongue?  I found it quite humourous, so I decided to contact the nice people at the manufacturers' HQ.

A posh-sounding lady answered the telephone.  She was quite abrupt in her response to my question as to why a product containing nuts would provide a warning that it may contain nut traces.  She quoted a paragraph from the Health and Safety Act and sounded quite disinterested.

I decided to investigate further into companies and institutions that have a penchant for stating the obvious.  I found this to be quite a common feature in the UK.  Other examples I found were:

"Not paying for your fuel is a crime" at a petrol station.

"Open door to enter" above an entrance to a public library.

"May cause harm to young children" was the warning label on a 12-inch combat knife.

"Do not feed to pets" on a box of rat poison.

"Slippery surface" next to an ice skating rink.

"Clothes may get wet" on a water flume ride at a theme park.

Is the human race becoming so relapsed that we need signs and labels to tell us that a sharp knife will cause harm, or that ice is slippery?  The wonders never cease.