Eating one packet of crisps a day is the equivalent of "drinking" almost five litres of cooking oil every year

[Tutter]

[bowk emoticon]

Eating one packet of crisps a day is the equivalent of "drinking" almost five litres of cooking oil every year, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has revealed.

The findings will shock the parents of half the UK's children who admit to consuming at least one packet of crisps every day.

The figures have been released as the BHF launches the second phase of its Food4Thought campaign, ahead of World Heart Day, which aims to expose the amounts of hidden salt, fat and sugar that lurk within many common snacks, takeaways and ready meals.

A shocking new advertising campaign will feature a young girl drinking from a bottle of cooking oil, with the caption "What goes into crisps goes into you".

Around 2,500 schools across the UK will also be sent teaching resources in the shape of over-sized burger boxes, in a bid to make children more aware of the potential damage that certain foods can do to their hearts.

Professor Peter Weissberg, BHF Medical Director, said: "The BHF believes having a daily dose of such a high-fat, nutritionally poor product is a threat to children's long-term health.

"Daily unhealthy snacking is a worrying habit. Rising rates of childhood obesity and cases of type 2 diabetes paint a particularly grim picture for the future.

"The BHF wants to expose the truth lurking within these foods and to help children and parents make healthier choices."

The industry body the Food and Drink Federation described the British Heart Foundation's campaign as "scare tactics".

FDF Communications Director Julian Hunt said: "We welcome anything that raises the debate about diet, but scare tactics are a waste of time. One of the great things about our industry is that we strive to give consumers genuine choice, whether it is a better for you version or a completely reformulated standard product."

has this thing kicked off yet?

[FrannyandZooey]

Oh yikes. Great sound bite. Am emailing dp as we speak

[charliecat]

Ive just read this, think the dds will be without crisps today.

[Tutter]

i am struggling to re-read headline without gag reflex kicking in

[codwiggle]

i love the bhf they were so helpful to us when dh was diagnosed.

try twigletts- MUch less fat and also so spicy you cnat eat many
or those huge pretzels the sell in waitorse
dh has high choilesterl so crips are pretty much out here
pringles are the worst

[codwiggle]

lol
i love me
bu god they are fattoid

[codwiggle]

'em

[Mascaraohara]

blimey, I never realised. I am banning crisps.

[HuwEdwards]

god fio, read that seriously for a nanosecond

[gegs73]

Pah! They spoil all my fun. DS only gets a pack of crisps once every week or so if he's lucky. Whereas I am very unhealthy and like to eat them every day. Think I'll be cutting down from now on.

[TinyGang]

OMG when they put it like that it really puts it into perspective.

We have crisps, but not every day. I don't put them into the school lunch boxes, mainly cos of avoiding too much salt, but all that oil too....yuk!

I think those 'lite' crisps can be a bit misleading too. Makes them sound almost good for you, but they're only a little bit better than full-on crisps.

[iota]

I am willing to bet that I ingest more than 5 litres of olive oil a year

[Kaloo20]

Good publicity for BHF - don't believe the cooking oil quote

[iota]

think of all the olive oil use din cooking, salads, tapas, mediterranean cuisine......

[RanToTheHills]

ugh - ds told me that one of his friends (who's 6) has a packet in his lunchbox every day.

[expatinscotland]

crisps are great food if you're on the p*ss, however.

[codwiggle]

ooh yes grea for drink

[SenoraPostrophe]

but so what if it is 5 litres a year? A year is a long time.

for once I think the industry man is right

[hunkermunker]

Olive oil's a lovely taste though - cooking oil less so... I know I wouldn't drizzle cooking oil over my salad!

Fio...

[iota]

it's still oil though Hunker- and you wouldn't want to drink it neat from teh bottle would you?

[Gingerbear]

iota, I agree, I consume vast quantities of olive oil.
So long as crisps are cooked in unsaturated oil and have no trans fats, what does it matter? The potatoes have vitamin C and you can get no salt ones.
I love those vegetable crisps you can get - the ones that have beetroot in - Terence Stamp ones??

[hunkermunker]

I wouldn't eat raw oats or flour either, but I'll cheerfully consume porridge and bread!

[iota]

thankyou GB - Not that we eat massive quantities of crisps anyway, but I thought 5L p.a. was a daft thing to be shocked about

[iota]

hunker I think you missed my point:

A shocking new advertising campaign will feature a young girl drinking from a bottle of cooking oil


oooh how shocking