Last month I was in the unfortunate state of suffering debilitating shoulder pain. Apparently, my neck was the cause – C5 and C6 to be exact.
Popular advice is heat treatment or the alternative, icing it. The precise icing method is a packet of frozen peas.
I have always wondered why peas? Does this mean that nothing else in the freezer works? The mixed veg, country crop, corn, cauliflower, butternut, Mexican, Asian, or French stir-fry – happily sitting and freezing away, just waiting to assist in a medical emergency are no good. Neither the actual Medipac with hot or cold options. Not fit for purpose because they are not peas?.
Peas are fattening
I have not had the little green legumes in my freezer for the longest time. They are more calorie-dense than many other vegetables and for this reason, I have avoided them.
So despite common wisdom, there were and never will be any frozen peas at hand, notwithstanding their high-level status in being the go-to for a muscular injury.
Peanuts, on the other hand, have taken it in the neck in the past few weeks, due to excess levels of aflatoxin, profusely reported on and causing Pick n Pay, a large supermarket chain in South Africa, to pull product from its shelves. https://www.foodfocus.co.za/home/Industry-Topics/food-safety/Pick-Pay-Recalls-Three-Brands-of-Peanut-Butter
High levels of toxicity
These include their own brand of peanut butter and variants of Eden. Too much aflatoxin is dangerous and known to cause grievous bodily harm and even death in the most severe instances. The peanut butter disaster is quite serious; customers are urged to return the nut-based spread for a full refund with or without proof of purchase. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-02-11-more-peanut-butter-brands-recalled-over-toxin-fears/
Luckily my recent acquisition of the offending food was not among these brands – and I always have a jar in my grocery cupboard.
If treatments for shoulder pain included a smear of peanut butter and a towel-wrapped pack of frozen Mexican stir fry held against the offending muscle, my ailing shoulder would have healed in no time and saved me about R2 000 in medical bills.
