to find myself shouting IT'S NOT ABOUT THE HORSE MEAT

[ICBINEG]

It's about companies not having the faintest idea what is in the food they sell!

Drugs, contaminants, carcinogens, allergens etc.

If you don't even know it is horse not beef then how can I trust it doesn't contain milk and hence will not kill my DNephew if I happen to feed it to him?

The same goes for toys. If you don't know who actually made the parts and from what then how do you know it isn't smothered in lead/anything else that is extremely harmful to children?

I predict a future filled with product and toy recalls followed by lawsuits until retailers wake up to the fact that we WILL blame them when a burger/toy they sold us harms the health of our children.

[countrykitten]

GOHW great post. I completely agree with you.

[ICBINEG]

All right all you superior 'I cook from scratch' types!

Do you make your own oils? vinegars? sauces? breads? cereals?

Would you local butcher actually stake his life on the meat he sells never having come into contact with peanuts or milk protein or any of the other life threatening allergens?

Or are you in fact just as likely to be putting unknown substances down your gullet as the ready meal gang?

[samithesausage]

In the bse scandal, they claimed human remains entered the animal feed chain in the form of bone char. Apparently the people making the char used remains fished out of the gangees as well as bones from cattle, horses, buffalo etc! Yuk!

[NormanTheForeman]

I don't think it's impossible that small businesses will adulterate their products, but it's far less likely. If I go into my local butchers, he is able to tell me where all his meat comes from (and most of it is very local). I know that the mince is made from beef and the beefburgers are made from his mince, as I have seen him making them. And I know similarly that most of the veg in the greengrocers is local as he goes out in the van and picks it up from the actual farm only a few miles away.

But I'm lucky that I have enough time and money to use local small businesses and cook from scratch. Lots of people rely on supermarkets because they are cheap and convenient.

[ICBINEG]

And what about toys? How does cooking from scratch help you when neither yourself nor the retailer can have any confidence that a toy made from bits made in china does not contain lead paint?

There is a much bigger problem here than can be fixed by cooking from scratch.

[DontmindifIdo]

You know what, this is also a class issue. It's expensive to eat at butchers, fishmongers etc i do, and I know I could knock at least £40 off what we spend weekly just by going to the supermarket instead for our meat. I could knock even more off by buying cheaper meat products than whole meat and making from scratch.

It's poor people who have been fed shit and there's a horrible middle class sneering attitude that it's somehow their fault for picking cheap food and assuming it will be what they think they are buying.

How much do people think you should pay in order to get the truth from food suppliers? I trust my butcher is telling me the truth that the bacon and mince I bought from him earlier is organic from local farmers. Would that be more shocking if it's a lie because it was expensive? Can I assume I'll get the truth because I pay for it, rather than everyone getting the truth regardless of what they pay.

It was on the news earlier that they are now testing these foods for drugs given to horses that aren't allowed in farmed cattle for fear about human safety, but hey, it's only poor people who'll have eaten it, so it's ok, right? They shouldn't expect to look at a list of ingredients and expect it to be the truth because they aren't spending a lot of money. It's ok if we feed any old shit to the poorest, most vunerable people in society, right?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Well said DontmindifIdo.

[NormanTheForeman]

Well, I do think it's a bit of a worry that things like oils/butter etc could be contaminated. It's pretty difficult for most people to make those sort of things from scratch or buy them from places other than supermarkets.

[ICBINEG]

I think cereal will be a big one. So many ingredients and so many places to hide things that aren't really supposed to be there.

Also clays in soups.

[NormaStanleyFletcher]

As one who has intentionally eaten horse when in France (horse steak is delish) yadnbu

[ICBINEG]

dont you make a good point...but fwiw I don't think you are particularly more likely to get honesty for your money. I just think the higher value brands have more invested in the lie and will fight harder to cover it up.

[OldMacEIEIO]

I think I realised about the findus a few months ago when my 3 dc's would not eat it and my dp tried it and fell off his stool in disgust.
Three refusals and a fall, it was a dead giveaway

[Whoknowswhocares]

'Food beyond compare
Food beyond belief
Mix it in a mincer
And pretend it's beef
Kidney of a horse
Liver of a cat
Filling up the sausages
With this and that'

All together now, to the tune of Master of the House!

[PetiteRaleuse]

You are right OP in that cooking from scratch won't fix the problem. But it will help. And is something that everyone can do or learn to do.

[SPBInDisguise]

"poor people who have been fed shit and there's a horrible middle class sneering attitude that it's somehow their fault for picking cheap food "
Excellent points, made by both you and the OP. As a vegetarian I do NOT feel safe (and that's aside from the fact my DH and children eat meat). Even if you avoid the obvious processed food such as ready meals, much of what we buy is processed in some way (obviously to varying extents) and I for one would find that hard to change, unless we ate potatoes and vegetables every day.
Baked beans. Dried pasta. Sausages. All processed. This is an issue that will disproportionately affect the poorer but it is not down to making bad choices IMO. it's all about the at best poor standards and practice, and at worst sheer criminality and evil, of food processors.

[SaladIsMyFriend]

YANBU and I totally agree with only buying food that your granny would recognise.

My dad used to work for a major manufacturer of meat products (processed cold meats, sausages etc.) and the things he used to tell us about what went on in the factory would put you off processed food for life.

[TroublesomeEx]

ICBINEG I completely agree with you.

I'm a 'cook from scratch' type. But you're right, I don't make everything myself. I do go to shops and buy the ingredients. So I do make my own sauces, but I use shop bought ingredients to do so.

By doing so, and not buying ready 'meals', I believe I'm limiting the amount of crap that goes into my food, but I am well aware that I can't avoid it completely.

It's worrying really. Especially when my feeling is very much that if you buy a cake, what you're eating is only a facsimile or a close approximation of a cake. There are a heck of a lot more ingredients listed than I would ever put in a cake!

[SPBInDisguise]

my grandma would ahve recognised a burger! And a lasagne. How old are you lot!

[exexpat]

She might have recognised 'burger' or 'lasagne', but would she have recognised the ingredients in the mass-produced Findus/value ones?

[NormanTheForeman]

I don't think it's at all ok if we feed shit to anyone. But I do think people will have to accept that a reasonable standard of food costs a bit more to produce, and I also think supermarkets should not be able to make more than a certain level of profit on food. They seem to think it's fine to use cheap, unregulated products if it means they can make a larger profit.

I cook from scratch mainly because I prefer home made food. It may mean I am less likely to be eating stuff I wouldn't want to eat, but it doesn't make it impossible.

I think that all food retailers, both small local businesses and large supermarkets should be made to be fully accountable for everything they sell.

[TheMightyLois]

This is nothing to do with food being processed or not, it's to do with foodstuffs getting in to food that shouldn't be there. Obviously it's never going to happen with whole fruit and vegetables, but could easily happen with bread for example.

Processed food is grim and but that's another debate.

[countrykitten]

Try and stick to the rule that whatever you buy should only have one or two ingredients. We do this and my god it opens your eyes to all

[SPBInDisguise]

No exec, but not sure I would either! And I agree, that is the problem. Innocent etc are big on their honest ingredients etc, I hope others will do the same.
(innocent also v expensive compared to its competitors)

[ICBINEG]

folk yes indeed...I recently started baking with my DD and have been amazed at how few ingredients you can actually make a cake with. The ingredient list a mile long is a dead giveaway that there may be trouble...

But even then we are not using butter/marg we made ourselves, and the flour comes from wherever....and milk!

[SaladIsMyFriend]

My grandmother would have found burgers or lasagne "exotic", but then I am indeed very old.