No Warning Required

Why is it that every time I go to buy a piece of chocolate or some kind of baking mix or basically any fun treat, it reads: “May contain tree nuts or peanuts?” Don’t get me wrong — I understand that companies voluntarily put that warning on their products for safety and to avoid a lawsuit, but will we ever get to a time where the things we are putting into our mouths are processed with more care? In a world where the number of people with food allergies, especially to tree nuts or peanuts, is constantly growing, one would think companies would want those items processed on separate machinery. I’m sure that costs more money, but I would imagine it would be worth it in the long run. I went to buy a marble cake mix from my favorite upscale home store, and guess what it said? Yep … may contain tree nuts. I considered other options and some of them said, “May contain peanuts or fish.” FISH?! Why would CAKE MIX contain fish of all things? Needless to say, I was discouraged … until I found a recipe for marble cake online. I love baking, so this was right up my alley.

The entire process took a couple of hours, but it was completely worth it. The finished cake tasted better than my favorite mix … with no warning label required.

Here’s a link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/hot-chocolate-marble-pound-cake.html