Any avid reader of Bulletproof knows about product recalls. We write about them all the time. But have you ever heard of a recipe recall? Such was the case three weeks ago when a chef in the United Kingdom mistook the name of an edible weed for that of another herb that is, in fact, poisonous.

What’s worse is that the name of the publication that published the embarrassing and potentially deadly mistake is Healthy & Organic Living.

Fortunately, no one was injured due to the bad advice that celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson gave when he said that the weed henbane (which can kill humans in extreme cases) works great in green salads. And it’s likely that the publication’s fast action in correcting the mistake – elevating public safety over its own reputational concerns – is to thank for that.

Rather than shy away from the mistake once it was realized, Editor Kate Collyns issued a correction on the magazine’s website, sent a letter to all subscribers with the September issue, and will print a correction in the October issue. Importantly, the correction comes with a personal apology from Worrall Thompson and from the magazine staff.

Furthermore, the magazine responsibly used the media attention garnered by the mistake to help it distribute its warning as widely as possible. “We welcome the media interest,” Collyns said, “as it gives us the opportunity to protect more readers from picking the wrong herb by mistake.” Even Worrall Thompson, who was on holiday at the time, made himself available for interviews to help warn the public away from henbane and offer his public apology.

Collyns’ quick action and willingness to admit to and apologize for this mistake is a textbook case of how to respond in such a crisis, particularly when public health and safety is at risk. The reputation of Healthy and Organic Living magazine will no doubt take a hit from this fiasco, but the publication’s openness about the mistake and its rapid and spirited response will help blunt any criticisms that come its way.

This is a great example of running to (as opposed to running away from) a crisis. Who knows, with all the publicity, it might just gain more subscribers. After all, when was the last time you thought about Healthy & Organic Living magazine?