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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think Jamie Oliver shouldn't be so smug about getting artificial sweeteners in ribena

241 replies

jnfrrss · 01/05/2018 22:25

www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/01/sugar-fat-junk-obsesity-uk-hugh-jamie-parliament-health-committee

He's calling it beautiful that the sugar tax that he campaigned and persuaded the government to implement "a beautiful thing" as ribeana has half the sugar now. But it's still just as sweet as it's been replaced with artifical sweeteners so don't see how its improving anything, could be making it woorse.

OP posts:
OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 02/05/2018 07:08

I say this every time on these threads, but when I were a kid, there were no huge bottles of pop, a can was a rare thing, a family size bar of chocolate was just that and lasted a bloody long time. If you had a glass of sugary squash it was not a pint glass. Why not try and re educate people in ways of moderation rather than greed? I know the idea of food as treats is frowned upon here, but I mean it not as rewards but as in something unusual we consume very occasionally. That's how we should be dealing with sugary drinks and sweets.

TroysMammy · 02/05/2018 07:09

Jamie Oliver might be thinking of children's diet but he hasn't been thinking of his own. He's a bell end and I wish he'd just shut up and go away. Does he have that much clout with the government that this travesty to Ribena is all his own doing?

YaBasic · 02/05/2018 07:11

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/apr/29/jamie-oliver-criticism-affect-me-childhood-obesity

I read the interview a couple of days ago and thought Yep MN will have a field day. I think the thread is really OTT and says more about you OP starting it than him.

Raglansleeve · 02/05/2018 07:12

Do I blame Jamie Oliver for the cynical ploys of food manufacturers? No.

TammySwansonTwo · 02/05/2018 07:13

Totty drinks work faster and sometimes when they’re hypo they won’t eat / will vomit if they eat which exacerbates the issue. We have prescription sachets but they’re very difficult to mix when on the move, which is why doctors like to suggest something that could be purchased anywhere in an emergency. If you’re caught out now, Coke is the only option in most shops and not ideal for a baby / toddler!

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 02/05/2018 07:13

Another JO bashing thread

And his kids names are bought into it which is just lovely 😊

I thing people hate him so much that they forget the fact we have an obesity crisis

What have you lot done to combat obesity ? I await your accomplishments with baited breath

muttleydosomething · 02/05/2018 07:17

Jamie must be really badly-informed. I've read several articles in the press over the past few years which state that artificial sweeteners have been found to trick the body into overproducing insulin in just the same way that sugar does. They do not protect people from diabetes at all.

For me, the best way is to be able to choose when to have sugar and limit it myself. Juice is not allowed in my house, but as a special treat on a trip it would be great to be able to give my son actual "heritage-style" ribena that doesn't taste horrible, I agree.

jnfrrss · 02/05/2018 07:18

He's been celebrating that artificial sweeteners have replaced sugar. There is no evidence that this will improve health at all. Some studies have shown really sweet drinks without the associated calories makes obesity as it causes hunger.

I'd have respect for him if he acknowledged that artificial sweeteners weren't the answer and instead of going against yazoo did something about artifical sweetneners

OP posts:
reallyanotherone · 02/05/2018 07:23

Artificial sweeteners are healthier than sugar. End of. There are thousands and studies online if you want to look them up rather than telling us what you reckon

I agree there are no studies that prove adverse effects of sweetners, although i’ve not looked in a long time.

However i am not convinced they are a benign molecule. The fact that xylitol causes a catastrophic insulin storm in dogs is proven.

But like you say, the answer is to stay away from sweeteners and high sugar drinks.

SusanneLinder · 02/05/2018 07:24

Agree with sugar tax. Put up the drinks prices, no issue. But let us who want to have sugar in our soft drinks have them and let us pay more. I am not obese, and I would like the choice.

Raven88 · 02/05/2018 07:26

I will never forgive him for taking Turkey Twizzlers away. I'm veggie now but I missed them.

jnfrrss · 02/05/2018 07:30

Artificial sweeteners are healthier than sugar full stop, Google it

Literally the first result in Google says it's a complicated issue and does not say that at all www.health.harvard.edu/blog/artificial-sweeteners-sugar-free-but-at-what-cost-201207165030

OP posts:
Raven88 · 02/05/2018 07:30

Forgot to add.

Sweeteners can lead to headaches if you use them regularly then suddenly stop. They aren't a healthy alternative.

MissTeri · 02/05/2018 07:38

You don't need soda and squash.

You don't need holidays, more than two sets of clothing, daily showers, pets ... the majority of stuff people have/do is not a need but life would be pretty dull if we only ever had/did what we need wouldn't it? Hmm

Grandmaswagsbag · 02/05/2018 07:47

Sorry I thought the idea that artificial sweeteners were harmful chemicals was outdated and proven wrong? Its not a good idea to glug ribeena either way but artificial sweeteners are the lesser of two evils. Given that tooth decay is one of the biggest reasons for hospital admissions for children in the U.K. (shameful waste of resources and terrible for children to be going through that) I can only see this is a good thing. People have been told to limit their kids sugar intake, they haven’t and problems are still on the increase, so in my mind it does make sense to simply replace the sugar. If the public won’t listen to health advice then they will have to be babied. It’s a national crisis after all.

Mightymucks · 02/05/2018 07:47

I love the way people complain about Jamie Oliver being ‘bashed’ when he has made a career out of bashing people, mainly the poor, and has repeatedly lied and misled to do that.

Take the ‘women putting burgers through school railings’ story he used to publicise his show.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/education/2006/sep/20/schoolmeals.schools

The Mum’s weren’t doing that because they were against healthy food. They were doing it because the school banned pupils from going out then didn’t take into account the impact of extra pupils and changes to breaks and a lot of pupils were being fed nothing at all so their parents brought food for them.

If he doesn’t want to be bashing he should stop his relentless bashing of poor people.

ghostyslovesheets · 02/05/2018 07:51

mmmm yes I love a glass of vodka and water - just yummy - or Gin and milk Hmm

OP the last link also states that sugar is just a bad

and this Obesity caused by excessive calorie intake is a more likely cause of cancer than artificial sweeteners

jnfrrss · 02/05/2018 07:55

It does say likley though, so it's still not conclusive like some posters were saying and that's just cancer. AS might cause dimentia as they sure affect my head.

OP posts:
jnfrrss · 02/05/2018 07:56

And of course AS might also be responsible for excessive calories.

OP posts:
Marmitesoldiers · 02/05/2018 07:59

How ridiculous to have a thread that bashes JO for trying to make this country more healthy. For some reason people can’t take personal responsibility.

When we have 27% of the nation clinically obese and 36% on top of that overweight, we can’t rely on people to make good decisions for their children. People with unhealthy diets rarely encourage their children into healthy eating. I can’t believe people are moaning because they can’t give their children more sugar.

Obesity is the single biggest factor after smoking implicated in many cancers, and that’s not someone telling me down the bus stop, that’s on the Cancer Research website. Obesity raises blood pressure and increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks and type 2 diabetes.

Sometimes you have to take action to ban things for everyone’s health and well-being because people make bad choices. Hospital admissions for heart problems, for instance, have reduced by over 40% since the smoking ban. This would not have happened if people were just told to smoke less or not smoke in public.

People in this country take less and less responsibility for their health and well-being. Minor issue, don’t try and sort it yourself, go to doctors, or worse, A&E. Overweight and causing high blood pressure, don’t go on a diet and start exercising, no, much better to take expensive drugs to manage the horrible symptoms.

But none of you JO bashers care about facts. Demonstrated by someone saying he voted for Brexit, when a quick google shows a copy of his Instagram account encouraging us to vote Remain.

I could just weep with the half truths and ‘nanny state’ tropes in this thread. Please at least do some proper research and understand that excess sugar leads to excess weight which results in health issues.
As a pp explained earlier, it was the trick in the US by food manufacturers that sugar was better than fat in processed food that has contributed to the massive obesity crisis there. We are sadly going in the same direction.

happinessischocolate · 02/05/2018 07:59

I thing people hate him so much that they forget the fact we have an obesity crisis

Genuine question; where are all these obese kids? My dc are in secondary school and I can honestly say there's no more overweight kids than there was when I was at school 40 years ago.we are deep in the shires though so maybe it's a city thing?

Iwasjustabouttosaythat · 02/05/2018 08:07

Literally the first result in Google says...

OP, do you always get your information from literally the first thing you come across? Might explain a lot...

Thirtyrock39 · 02/05/2018 08:13

Obesity caused by excessive calorie intake is a more likely cause of cancer than artificial sweeteners.
This 100%

Thirtyrock39 · 02/05/2018 08:14

Well said Grandmaswagbag :- tooth decay and removal is at epidemic levels and sugary drinks are the main cause of tooth decay

exexpat · 02/05/2018 08:17

There is no clear evidence that artificial sweeteners cause cancer, but there is growing evidence that they cause changes in the gut which can increase glucose intolerance (i.e. promote type 2 diabetes) and increase obesity - lots of scientific studies around, e.g. www.nature.com/articles/nature13793.

They are not something that you should want children to be consuming in increasing quantities.

Personally I think supermarkets and pound shops offering huge quantities of doughnuts/biscuits/chocolates/sweets for a pound is more of an issue than soft drinks, but that would be much harder to stop.