Madsen Pirie

A BBC story reports that Castle View School in Canvey Island, Essex, has banned the serving of triangular flapjacks.  Apparently a boy was hit in the face by one when unruly students were throwing them around.  For once the blame for this idiocy cannot be laid at the door of the Health and Safety Executive.  They have opposed the action.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “We often come across half-baked decisions taken in the name of health and safety, but this one takes the biscuit.

This is quite witty, with “half-baked” and “biscuit” featuring in a story about flapjacks.  And they go on sensibly to point out that if pupils are throwing things at each other, this is a disciplinary problem, not a heath and safety one.  They are correct.  The square flapjacks which are still served could just as easily injure someone, and if it is the sharp edges of triangular ones that concern the school, they should look closely at the knives and forks they allow the students to handle; they could do more damage than a triangular flapjack.  To judge by American movies, ‘food fights’ are more common over there than they are in the UK (maybe they have food to spare).  I don’t think they are sufficiently prevalent in the UK to justify banning food that might cause injury in a fight.

Filed under: Updates |