It's time to ban high capacity mayonnaise jars, Spadea says

The big story today, which dominated my Thursday morning show, is the crisis faced by one young cat in Readington.

Distracted by the delicious smell of mayonnaise, the hungry feline got stuck in the jar. Thankfully, concerned citizens stepped in and the cat was saved. But what if they didn't? What if the cat remained stuck? How long before the animal starved? It's a serious point that needs to be made and discussed.

How many incidents have to involve curious, hungry cats before we address the issue of jar capacity? Do we need to be reminded of the incident last year involving a cat and peanut butter? How much mayonnaise do people at home really need to extract from the jar in one helping? Why not require a limit on mayonnaise capacity?

Let me remind my pro-mayonnaise friends that this is not a suggestion to confiscate or ban Mayonnaise outright. This is simply about making sure that we achieve a common sense balance between the delivery of a delicious condiment to your turkey sandwich and the safety of our feline friends.

Many will argue that a law banning large capacity Mayo jars would turn many honest people into criminals overnight. It's a fair concern so I propose establishing a timeline for turning in those dangerous mayo jars and perhaps refunding the money spent with taxpayer dollars for those facing a hardship with the loss of the condiment. But speaking of financing the new law, can you really put a price on the life of cats and other animals that may face certain death simply because they were hungry?

Actually while we're on the subject of mayo, maybe it's prudent to discuss other condiments as well. Relish seems to be available on those same wide mouth jars as is mustard and sometimes ketchup. Leaving the wide mouth jars in the hands of professional chefs and restaurateurs makes the most sense. It's understandable that in order to make a large quantity of potato salad, chicken salad or even egg salad, it's more convenient to be able to scoop out a large amount of mayonnaise. But for the average New Jersey family, which only numbers 2.68 people, a squeeze bottle should be more than sufficient.

Although most New Jerseyans are responsible mayonnaise consumers, some are not, as is clearly the case with the cat rescue in Hunterdon County. In order to protect stray animals, some of our callers did prefer the more sensitive "undocumented" to refer to the at-risk cats, it's critical that we do everything we can. Even peanut butter is risky, but have no fear, it's available in a squeeze container as well.

Clearly we cannot wait for Washington to act. Congress has been slow to react on many things and to seeing national action to save our cats is unlikely this year. Trenton must lead the way. Although the state may likely get resistance from the powerful Jar lobby, all the money and the propaganda from the National Jar Association (NJA) shouldn't deter us from doing the right thing. Follow the movement on Twitter.

Please let us know if your place of work or school are planning a walkout. We suggest wearing white...for the mayonnaise of course.

Hopefully we've brought some awareness to the issue and while the legislators in Trenton are wrangling over the budget and the potential government shutdown, they'll take a moment to consider the safety of cats across New Jersey. #EnoughIsEnough Pass #HellmannsLaw now! (not a reference to a great company, simply the name of the victim stuck in the jar.)

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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