They’ll Take Their Chances

I was just getting ready to put dragees on the star cookies my husband and I decorated for our son’s engagement party when I read the dreadful news that they are not for human consumption (“A Tempest on a Tea Cart,” by Andy Meisler, Style, Dec. 18). Well, I don’t think four or five dragees once a year are going to kill anybody compared to the preservatives on apples, so we put them on anyway! But thanks for a fascinating article.

Jo Ann Michetti

Rancho Palos Verdes

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As a member of the California bar, I cringed as I read the article on dragees. Although I understand and appreciate lawyer Mark Pollock’s fervor in pursuing consumer rights and protecting the public from harm, I disagree with his method. Rather than pursuing shakedown lawsuits that include small companies and local mom-and-pop bakeries, perhaps Pollock should explore the idea of policing through legislation rather than through cash settlements, especially since dragees are legal in this state. Life is inherent with risk, not all of which can or should be fixed through a lawsuit. This sort of litigation is what gives my profession an often deserved bad reputation.

Judy Bae

San Diego

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As a competent and capable mature adult, I am growing very weary of the Mark Pollocks of this world who make decisions on my behalf. My choices in this world are getting fewer and fewer. If I choose to decorate and eat baked goods with wonderful dragees on them, then it is my choice, not his. Can’t Pollock find anything more constructive to do with his time?

Mimi Norman

Simi Valley