To think this food tech teacher is wrong?

[MagentaSpunkTrumpet]

DS is yr7 and currently doing a block of food tech lessons. I've just found a list of ingredients for this week which includes "low fat soft cheese (low fat only!)"

AIBU to think that yr7 children should not be being steamrollered into using low fat options? As a family we are fortunate to have good health and metabolisms so we are able to eat well while avoiding all need for such things ie- we use full fat milk, real butter etc.

I therefore will need to specifically buy low fat soft cheese which, in itself is not a problem (I also have to buy bread mix when I would always make bread from scratch) but it sits uneasily with me that DS is being taught that low fat is inherently "better".

I may well be being unreasonable and will probably stick the regular stuff in a pot and trust that the teacher will be none the wiser but on the other hand, I'm wary of becoming "that mother"

Maybe it's that the recipe works better with the low fat version than with the full fat version, not that it's the "healthy" version?

Maybe it's related to how the recipe emulsifies? Or perhaps to ensure the fat content across the dish is low enough to fall into 'healthy eating' classification?

I would probably roll my eyes too, as we only have organic, which doesn't come in a low fat version in our supermarket. But I'd probably buy low fat, non-organic version to take to school.

Depends I suppose what he's making though I tend agree that "low fat" options just tend to have more sugar and salt so particularly healthy. I woul by full fat and decant it into Tupperware she'll be none the wiser!

Yabu what if the actual recipes needs a low fat cheese for it to work right?
You don't know why the teacher has put low fat cheese so you could potentially ruin your ds's cooking!

I would send in full fat and a note to say why.

Hmm, I did consider that aspect but I'm struggling to think of a situation where that could potentially be the case (I'm actually in the dark about what the recipe is as that crucial item has been ripped off)

And if it's to do with an overall fat content then surely the need for low fat cheese to bring it within healthy boundaries means it's pretty damn unhealthy to begin with?

Genuine Q - what kind of recipe or method would work better with low fat cream cheese?

YANBU, a little bit of real butter, or cheese, in moderation is great. Rather than the watery stuff.. Clearly I am 'that mother' as much rather give my kids real sugar rather than sweetners too!

Something where you had to melt it perhaps?

I know cheesecake (not the baked type) doesn't tend to work with the low-fat version, so there could be something where it goes the other way.

What are they making with bread mix and low fat soft cheese?
I'd send what I have if I usually bought full fat I'd send that. Soft cheese is something we don't use. Same goes for bread mix.

I bet your DS would rather just take what everyone else is taking...

For all you know it could be a comparison with different groups doing full fat/low fat/fat free versions. I remember doing a comparison exercise with cupcakes with different quantities of some ingredients or different types of flour.

What is the recipe? And how do you know they aren't stopping people bringing in fat free soft cheese (such as a 1% quark) rather than stopping people bringing in a "full fat" soft cheese. Soft cheese itself is a curious ingredient to name, what do they actually mean? There's lots of soft cheeses.

Just send full fat cheese I'm sure they won't care. What is it they're making? Equally they could have a parent complain that it's too high in fat or calories.

It will be inedible and grimey so it doesn't really matter.

Don't let him stand out like a sore thumb and be the Maverick with the full fat soft cheese. That's such a difficult sensitive age to be. The teacher will probably make a deal out of it since it specifically says MUST BE LOW FAT.

No idea why they'd do that outside of health reasons but agreed with you that full fat is always better. Even in the case of shit drinks, sugar is better than sweeteners. But still, it's just for school, he'll survive.

What recipe on earth requires 'bread mix' and low-fat soft cheese?

YANBU btw.

OTheHugeManatee Cheese Sandwich!

Actually, that's a good point fredfred. I was thinking of cream cheese, but you could argue that Brie is a soft cheese.

I'm a food tech teacher and on a personal level I totally agree with you, we have butter and proper stuff at home. However at school, many of our recipes come from a central resource and already have low fat put on them, some bod somewhere thought it was a good idea to have all the recipes as low fat as possible to be as healthy as possible.most of our kids ignore this though and just bring in what they want.
The only exception would be if they were doing a low fat vs full fat comparison

I now need to know the thought process behind this .

I always have full fat butter, cream cheese etc but had some philadelphia light the other day at a relative's house. OMG, it was disgusting, I have no idea how people can eat it.

I've used breadmix once, it was so salty it was inedible. If they are making bread, it's not that hard to measure out flour, yeast, salt, fat etc is it? I thought they were going back to real cooking in schools?

If the product is supposed to be identical in appearance and taste to the full fat version, how would they know if you decanted the amount needed to a little tub?

Unless they are experimenting with how low fat versions really cook and taste and they will be doing a full fat version the next session.

Yanbu. "Low fat" versions of foods are bollocks. The full fat versions are healthier.

The plot thickens.....
Closer examination of the list makes me think it may be some type of pizza (tinned tomatoes, chorizo, peppers) and I vaguely recall talk of some assessment where the students put what they'd learnt that term into action. Worryingly I may have done the teacher a disservice and this could actually be a recipe of DS's own creation (the chorizo is a big giveaway)

It still absolutely does not explain the need for low fat soft cheese (I'm guessing it's a Philadelphia type cheese they mean?!) Sadly DS won't be home till 4 for me to interrogate him

It doesn't really matter. Having less fat in it doesn't make it unhealthy. Full fat philadelphia has exactly the same ingredients, only more of the fat. None of the "extra weird ingredients or more sugar or salt" conspiracy theory. It still has the stablisers (carageennan and locust bean gum). Just less fat. That's all.