Apparently the Broccoli People are no more.

On boxes of frozen broccoli, the Cascadian Farms unit of General Mills had a long tradition of including little faces at the ends of the florets on the package photo, so tiny that you needed a magnifying glass to make them out. This was a tradition-a way for graphics designers to sneak the images of loved ones onto the packaging.

Well, the tradition has been phased out. A spokesperson for General Mills e-mailed me:

“I understand that the tradition of hiding names or faces on Cascadian Farm packaging began years ago. It was an unspoken tribute by the package design department to the friends and family of Cascadian Farm. The faces won’t be included on our redesigned packaging (rolling out now).”

What a shame.

This first came to light on the food blog Bread & Honey.Click herefor the post (it includes a link to an updated post). Don’t miss the comments; they’re priceless.