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AIBU?

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Original poster

New costa meal deal is irresponsible

281 replies

Habanero · 09/04/2018 13:14

Costa have just launched a lunchtime meal deal with a toastie, crisps and a coffee. The one pictured on the ad with a cheese and ham toastie and a latte contains 754 calories, 34g fat, 15.4g saturated fat and 2.1g salt. You can cut off a bit of the calories and fat by opting for lower-fat milk, but it’s still a third of an adult’s daily calories with no source of fibre and no fruit or veg. This sort of thing normalises overeating: by making this a “meal deal” the company is presenting this as a normal lunch option, psychologically nudging people towards consuming an energy-rich, nutritionally poor midday meal.

Clearly it’s a first world problem and we all have choices and don’t need to buy this, but it’s the normalisation of overeating like this which I think has done more than anything to raise obesity levels. AIBU?

OP posts:
ShatnersWig · 09/04/2018 13:32

For fuck's sake, will people stop trying to tell other grown adults what they should or should not eat. How much more nanny state are we going to get? I can see the principle behind the sugar tax but much further we're going to have to have a bloody Food Police.

If I want to have a fucking sugary drink and a syrupy flapjack and a hot sausage roll tomorrow, that's my bloody choice.

HateSummer · 09/04/2018 13:33

They’re relying on the fact that people will eat responsibly. They’re a business making money.

LaurieMarlow · 09/04/2018 13:34

The size of the coffees you can get in Costa, Starbucks etc is ludicrous and the slices of cake are huge as well.

And yet it's perfectly possible to go in and just buy an Americano.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2018 13:34

This thread is making me want to head down to Costa to have one.

JaniceBattersby · 09/04/2018 13:34

Sounds lovely

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2018 13:35

Wait for me Janice

expatinscotland · 09/04/2018 13:35

I wonder what would happen if all these people who are so interested in policing what other people eat and what businesses sell to customers put their energy into some real issues like increasing homelessness and mental health issues and increasing violent crime due to decreased police force and government cut backs.

Don't want to buy what Costa sells, don't. It's that simple.

I'm more concerned with big businesses skiving out of paying their fair share of tax.

VladmirsPoutine · 09/04/2018 13:35

Meh, yanbu but people are entitled to make their own choices.

Sn0tnose · 09/04/2018 13:35

I think you need to stop thinking that people are being misled and psychologically manipulated into eating crap and realise that people know that it's crap, but want to eat it anyway. Nobody in their right mind would think that a meal consisting of a cheese & ham toastie and crisps has any aspect of healthiness in it or that Costas is the place to go for a healthy, nutritious, delicious lunch. If you don't want to eat it, then walk away for which I wouldn't blame you, it sounds disgusting

Takfujuimoto · 09/04/2018 13:36

YABU.
You don't have to buy it, no one does.
We've got the sugar tax, that's going too far as it is IMO, I don't think its up to the government to censor or discourage the eating habits through taxing or restricting business practices.
Education and nutrition from a very young age and being consistent with the messages and lessons seems to be a better answer.

DGRossetti · 09/04/2018 13:37

And yet it's perfectly possible to go in and just buy an Americano.

The weight started falling off me when it dawned on me one day that a large cappuccino was >250 calories, and a large Americano

PortiaCastis · 09/04/2018 13:38

They're not forcing anyone into their shops or ramming food down people's throats, what people have for lunch is their own business. Personally I never go near a costa or any other coffee shop but that is my personal choice and what anyone else does is up to them

DannyLaRuesBestFrock · 09/04/2018 13:40

Went to a steakhouse in the US once where a children's apple sauce eating competition was being advertised. Via flyers in the loos

My dd would be in seventh heaven Grin

ReanimatedSGB · 09/04/2018 13:41

Eat what you want and let other people eat what they want. A lot of 'healthy eating' advice is ridiculous bullshit anyway (the horrors of the 'clean eating' movement are well-documented.)

5plusMeAndHim · 09/04/2018 13:41

you can have fresh fruit instead of crisps

user1492958275 · 09/04/2018 13:42

How much was it?

Hope they do it on the drive through so I don't have to get out the car

MustObey · 09/04/2018 13:42

The same could be said for any meal deal from any high street chain / supermarket (boots, Tesco, Morrisons, subway) it’s all about choice and balance, we all know the guidelines we all know what is healthy and what isn’t and as grown ups we choose what to eat and when and we choose how we educate our children about it as well.

I personally do not want to live in a society where the choice is taken away from us...if I fancy that for lunch I will have it and other days I will have a salad and water....I don’t want anyone telling me what I am allowed and when

Coldilox · 09/04/2018 13:44

More annoyed by the fact that the packet of crisps in the advert had been opened upside down.

RoadToRivendell · 09/04/2018 13:44

^The weight started falling off me when it dawned on me one day that a large cappuccino was >250 calories, and a large Americano

PretABoire · 09/04/2018 13:45

Do Costa even sell any vegetables?

I am tall, active and muscular and have a BMR of around 1450 calories so that would be just over half of what I could eat in a day without putting on weight. I don't hear much being said about about BMR but I do find it alarming that so many sedentary people think that 2000-2500 is healthy for them.

I think this is 'normalising' healthy eating in the same way that any advertising 'normalises' anything - it's more an issue with society than individual advertisers.

It is slightly odd to me that "coffee" from these shops seems to mean "a whole jug of fatty milk with a shot of coffee in it". Have an espresso or americano instead of latte/cappuccino/mocha and it makes a huge difference. The toastie may as well be a burger for all the fat and processed meats. As long as they aren't pretending it's healthy I don't think it's an issue, there are undeniably even worse food choices out there.

ZoeWashburne · 09/04/2018 13:45

Oh dear, Habenero. You are going to lose your mind when I tell you about a place called "McDonalds".

applesisapple5 · 09/04/2018 13:46

I think anyone eating at Costa knows what they're like; I got a 'blueberry' muffin for breakfast and was buzzing, sooo much sugar. Bloody lovely though!

NutElla5x · 09/04/2018 13:46

There is a thread on here where a mum feeds the equivalent of this to her 4yr old for lunch and she is being berated by posters for underfeeding him!....you gotta love Mumset.

CuntPuffin · 09/04/2018 13:47

Costa in 1/3 of your calories in one of your 3 daily meals shocker. Stop the presses, this should be headline news!

That leaves two other meals for the remaining 2/3 of your calories and plenty of scope for the fruit/veg component to be therein. I can't get excited. It is doubtful that many people eat at Costa every day. Diet doesn't have to be balanced at every meal, only in general across all intake, and not necessarily every day.

LaurieMarlow · 09/04/2018 13:49

My understanding is that whole milk is pretty good for weight loss?

My understanding is that saving 250 calories is good for weight loss.

It's not just the whole milk, it's the sugar levels. If you're watching your weight, a latte isn't exactly a good choice no matter how you try to spin it.