These headlines appeared in The Sun newspaper on April 17th:
"Tesco in 'magic' drug rap. Shoppers blasted Tesco for slapping stickers with the word 'magic' - on MUSHROOMS."
The story was then revealed:
"Once a legal alternative to LSD, magic mushrooms are now a Class A drug. Yet the message 'magic in pasta' appears on the supermarket giant's 250g packets of closed cup mushrooms.
Customer Jenny Amphlett, of Stafford, said: "It seems completely frivolous."
Another shopper in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, said: "This is clearly a joke by someone in the marketing department. It is inappropriate to make light of such a serious subject."
But a Tesco spokesman insisted: "There's absolutely no sinister connection here whatsoever. It is simply a handy tip for customers on what dishes suit our vegetables."
In the Metro freesheet newspaper, Jenny continued: "I couldn't believe it when I saw it, and it worries me that Tesco is promoting or condoning drug use.
"It could be that someone in the product- marketing team is playing a prank - unless they were really naive enough not to be aware of magic mushrooms.
"Whatever the case, it seems completely inappropriate for a family supermarket like Tesco to associate itself with drugs."
She added: "There are so many people trying to overcome drug addictions and there are problems with young people getting into drugs, but here we have a store that is making fun of it. "
Stalker reckons that this is one instance where Tesco is unfairly getting a bum rap!
Just wait til they see the latest Mushroom Bureau publicity.
The Mushroom Bureau has launched a consumer healthy eating booklet - 'Mushrooms - The Magic Ingredient for summer' as part of a wider PR campaign targeting younger consumers.
