When is a punnet of cress not cress?

meritaten

answer - When its sold by Tesco!

I picked up a punnet of cress on a visit to Tesco last week. I love cress and today wondered why 'some' of the leaves looked a little different to others.
well, upon reading the label I find that although its LABELLED cress its actually 80% rape. Surely this is misleading - it should be labelled RAPE!

it tasted similar, but I have now chucked what was left as I am intolerant to rapeseed oil and certainly don't want to be eating the actual plant. I did wonder what on earth was causing the intermittent bouts of Runs, as I mainly live on Salads and the proteins I know I can tolerate.

the label states it was grown by Jan Bentley in the UK.

I am so annoyed! at myself for taking at face value that it was actually CRESS and at Tesco and Jan Bentley for making me ill over the last week!

who the heck would think to check the ingredient list on a salad ingredient? if it wasn't for the fact I hadn't used much and it was growing nicely on my kitchen windowsill - I wouldn't have!

I think I will grow my own now from seeds from reputable growers - last punnet of cress I will EVER buy!

tanith

meritaten its apparently been standard practice for a long while to add other seeds including mustard and rape seed..

http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/jul/23/life1.lifemagazine9

meritaten

Yes - I used to grow 'mustard and cress' seeds as a child - but labelling law these days surely does not allow something that is 80% another ingredient to be sold as 'CRESS'? sod standard practice - its the LAW! do I have to read the label on an iceberg lettuce? Should I check my radishes aren't lookalikies?
The product was labelled CRESS - so I want CRESS!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry - I really couldn't work out why my tummy was so upset - but now I know why! a little sodding seedling!
its the reason why labelling is so important - if it had been labelled Rape with Cress I wouldn't have bought it!

GwylimT

Thats the whole point of an ingredient list, if certain ingredients are an issue, you should always read the ingredients list. You know after all vegetable oil is made of rape seed oil, not oil squeezed out of actual vegetables.

bod1467

But CRESS?

I'm with OP on this ... if I buy a plant labelled as something (cress, parsley, basil) then I expect it to be what it says, not "something similar".

peter_the_piper

bod1467 wrote: »

But CRESS?

I'm with OP on this ... if I buy a plant labelled as something (cress, parsley, basil) then I expect it to be what it says, not "something similar".

Like Oregano which is , allegedly, mixed with other dried leaves. Thanks OP, that's one more thing to check.

bod1467

I was referring to actual plants rather than the dried versions in jars, but yes - the same should apply.

HappyMJ

meritaten wrote: »

answer - When its sold by Tesco!

I picked up a punnet of cress on a visit to Tesco last week. I love cress and today wondered why 'some' of the leaves looked a little different to others.
well, upon reading the label I find that although its LABELLED cress its actually 80% rape. Surely this is misleading - it should be labelled RAPE!

it tasted similar, but I have now chucked what was left as I am intolerant to rapeseed oil and certainly don't want to be eating the actual plant. I did wonder what on earth was causing the intermittent bouts of Runs, as I mainly live on Salads and the proteins I know I can tolerate.

the label states it was grown by Jan Bentley in the UK.

I am so annoyed! at myself for taking at face value that it was actually CRESS and at Tesco and Jan Bentley for making me ill over the last week!

who the heck would think to check the ingredient list on a salad ingredient? if it wasn't for the fact I hadn't used much and it was growing nicely on my kitchen windowsill - I wouldn't have!

I think I will grow my own now from seeds from reputable growers - last punnet of cress I will EVER buy!

It's not just Tesco.

It's all the cress you buy in any supermarket.

It's all grown by the same supplier and they supply all the main supermarkets.

http://www.wsbentley.co.uk/

According to the website. Salad Cress is a blend of English Salad Rape and Garden Cress, hence the name Salad Cress.

peachyprice

I do agree that it should be clearly labelled, you don't expect an ingredient list on a vegetable product, a veg is a veg after all.

However, if it's always been so (since the 60's according to their website), and you've always eaten shop bought 'salad cress', surely it would have upset your tum before now?

Malthusian

So it seems the feminists were right. All cress is rape.

meer53

I live half a mile from them, i'll go have a word for you ! Have you contacted them ?