From the 2011 edition of The Green Bag Almanac and Reader, the quirky and very eclectic “law review” edited by the inimitable Ross Davies at George Mason Law School, comes this tidbit from the “Chronicles of Grammar” section:
The BBC News reported (4-17-10) that Penguin Group Australia had destroyed 7,000 copies of a newly printed cookbook because of a typographical error. In one recipe, the prescribed ingredients included “salt and freshly ground black people” (the intended word having been pepper). Bob Sessions, head of publishing, said: “Proofreading a cookbook is an extremely difficult task. We’re mortified that this has become an issue of any kind, and why anyone would be offended, we don’t know.” There was no further word on Penguin’s continuing use of this foot-in-mouth representative as a spokesperson.