To wonder exactly what Ultra Processed Foods are? As in a list?

[tentosix]

So watched the TV program 'what are we feeding our kids' and horrified like most parents, but why didn't it list them? Or give a better idea than having loads of ingredients. Is sugar bad for you in moderation (I have a teaspoon on my morning porridge). Bread? White/brown/whole meal/seeded?

McDonald's are just beef aren't they?

Nuggets I get, and presumably hash browns?

I need a list just to get me started

@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine it's not that pasta and sauce is an issue. It's which sauce you bung on pasta.

[quote PastMyBestBeforeDate]@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine it's not that pasta and sauce is an issue. It's which sauce you bung on pasta.[/quote]
I hope so! I do get the fancy waitrose ones with very few ingredients (then DD won’t eat them unless ketchup has also been added, but that’s another issue 😂)

The Loyd Grossman tomato and basil one is OK and my autistic dc eats it. It's a small win against the UPF stuff that's her preferred diet.
I'd go for your Waitrose sauce with a bit of sugar over adding ketchup.

Re: not having time to cook from scratch, there are recipes that are quick and easy. Plus prepping at the weekend, and batch cooking if you have the freezer space.

Look at the 'Full Time Meals' initiative for ideas.

I think so long as someone’s great grandma would have recognised it then it’s proper food.

It’s not just about chemicals etc though it’s also about everyday ingredients you would have in the cupboards and the quantity of them.

E.g. salt, if you’ve ever looked at the salt content of some products which you might cook, then you season them as well…

One single stock cube for instance contains between 0.9 and 1.6g of salt depending on the brand. Chuck a couple of those in your gravy and you’re almost up to your daily limit of 6g.

@AlternativePerspective

It’s not just about chemicals etc though it’s also about everyday ingredients you would have in the cupboards and the quantity of them.

E.g. salt, if you’ve ever looked at the salt content of some products which you might cook, then you season them as well…

One single stock cube for instance contains between 0.9 and 1.6g of salt depending on the brand. Chuck a couple of those in your gravy and you’re almost up to your daily limit of 6g.

But you wouldn't eat all the gravy in one day if you were making enough that it needed 2 stock cubes?

@Allington

Re: not having time to cook from scratch, there are recipes that are quick and easy. Plus prepping at the weekend, and batch cooking if you have the freezer space.

Look at the 'Full Time Meals' initiative for ideas.

That's how my parents did it. When one gets into some system, it becomes easy. No need to cook from scratch every single night though.

@TooExtraImmatureCheddar

I think so long as someone’s great grandma would have recognised it then it’s proper food.

We would have super limited diet 🙈

In the smile 1960's you could buy Angel Delight, I'm pretty sure that is ultra

Angel Delight is even marketed as food of/from the Gods, it doesn't count

@Blueskythinking123

I over the years we have become reliant on processed foods.

When I think back to my childhood ( I'm 46), my mum predominately cooked from scratch. Our cakes were homemade and we had very few biscuits and sweets.

I'm not sure when the shift to convenience processed food happened...

The shift happened when women were expected to work (and house and living costs meant that it was then a necessity for most) At the same time technology allowed for greater food processing and the convenience was needed because there was no woman at home all day anymore whos job it was to cook. It’s gone from there

Oh crikes. Even seeded expensive bread is ultra processed!!
Can anyone recommend a lower level UP sliced loaf? Is there one?
Or do I need to get a bread maker?
Mine love wraps normally.

I’m trying to change the daily UP foods we eat. Still wanting treats here and there. But worry about the UP products we all consume daily or twice daily. Like bread

Oh crikes. Even seeded expensive bread is ultra processed!!

What surprises me most is how many people are surprised by what is now considered ultra processed. Does no one ever take a look at food labels? Companies don’t keep these ingredients a secret - same with calories, it is literally plastered on the packaging. The information is all there and has been for a long time so I think we need to take a bit more responsibility for ourselves.

People complained when their bread or rolls etc went hard after couple of days. Well, now they don't...

Do supermarkets not have the slicing machine available? I spice it myself, but get why people wouldn't and shops used to have slicing machines, didn't they?

@Blueskythinking123, IMO the shift happened when so many processed foods became available. When I was a child, the vast majority simply weren’t. But then I’m ancient enough to be able to remember (just) the grocer’s shop where sugar came in a blue bag and he’d slice the bacon and cut a piece of cheese for you. Apart from a few sweets at weekends, a tin of peas or baked beans was probably the most processed item we ever ate.

There were certainly packets of biscuits, but my DM would never buy them, except for birthday parties. 🙁

@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine I can’t agree with this.
Quick, simple meals to cook in less than 15 minutes from fridge to plate that you can get ingredients for in your delivery -
omelette and peas,
salad with salmon,
jacket potato with tuna/cheese/steak and veg
Greek salad
Veg and chicken stir fry with rice

It’s not difficult.

[quote GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]**@Blueskythinking123, IMO the shift happened when so many processed foods became available. When I was a child, the vast majority simply weren’t. But then I’m ancient enough to be able to remember (just) the grocer’s shop where sugar came in a blue bag and he’d slice the bacon and cut a piece of cheese for you. Apart from a few sweets at weekends, a tin of peas or baked beans was probably the most processed item we ever ate.

There were certainly packets of biscuits, but my DM would never buy them, except for birthday parties. 🙁[/quote]
It's bit of an egg/chicken thing isn't it.

My mum from mainland was really surprised at the aisles of ready meals here (talking actual ready meals not jar sauces thing). We obviously have some, but shops never have them in that quantity. It doesn't sell that much there outside of tins like lentils and sausage for camping, as far as I know. She was just walking up and down the isle looking at all the different ready pre packed foods with one eyebrow up when she saw stirfry and pointed out it takes minutes to make. tbf there also isn't habit of takeaways like here so that was fun too.

It's actually interesting to see the differences between relatively close countries. (Not just in food, even things like which way windows open😁)

My takeaway from the programme was not just how much shit is in the ultra processed foods but because of their deliciousness and ease of eating we eat far too much. I do make most things “from scratch” and I’m fairly confident that our meals are ok. I’m v lucky though that I work compressed hours so use my days off to batch cook, and I have space for a chest freezer etc. However, my dcs go through Jaffa cakes and those golden syrup cakes in the green packet like they’re going out of fashion. I do bake, but it’s so much easier and cheaper to chuck a couple of those in the trolley. I buy brioche and crepes for them to eat as they walk to school because in my head it’s better than nothing and our mornings are chaos. I should get up earlier and make scrambled eggs. I should make more salads with homemade dressing, I should make all my own cakes and biscuits and the effort of it should naturally reduce the quantity. The ultra processed foods are just soooo easy.

One single stock cube for instance contains between 0.9 and 1.6g of salt depending on the brand. Chuck a couple of those in your gravy and you’re almost up to your daily limit of 6g.

Are you suggesting gravy for one person would require 2 stock cubes? People lose their minds about this stuff.

[quote Slimmingstar]@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine I can’t agree with this.
Quick, simple meals to cook in less than 15 minutes from fridge to plate that you can get ingredients for in your delivery -
omelette and peas,
salad with salmon,
jacket potato with tuna/cheese/steak and veg
Greek salad
Veg and chicken stir fry with rice

It’s not difficult.[/quote]
Ah, but you not allowing for the fact that many children won’t eat a lot of foodstuffs. Plus little of what you mentioned is vegan, which for various reasons we mostly are. I agree I could do better, but generally it’s a case of what can I cook whilst in meetings, so that needs very little attention.

I love the idea of having time to prep food at weekends, but the friends I have who do that spends hours on it and have big freezers. With time out for school run, bedtime for DC, overseeing homework etc, I work 7am - 10pm Monday - Friday, catch up with more work on Saturday (DC with her father), do a bit of cleaning / tidying and get an early night, then Sunday morning is a lie in until DC is back, and I try to spend the day focused on her, although we will sometimes spend a couple of hours with one of my friends too. I’ve tried to get her into cooking with me on a Sunday and she’s really not keen, she wants some time to be about her, and I can’t blame her.

@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine

I love the idea of having time to prep food at weekends, but the friends I have who do that spends hours on it and have big freezers. With time out for school run, bedtime for DC, overseeing homework etc, I work 7am - 10pm Monday - Friday, catch up with more work on Saturday (DC with her father), do a bit of cleaning / tidying and get an early night, then Sunday morning is a lie in until DC is back, and I try to spend the day focused on her, although we will sometimes spend a couple of hours with one of my friends too. I’ve tried to get her into cooking with me on a Sunday and she’s really not keen, she wants some time to be about her, and I can’t blame her.

I don't mean to be rude - or derail the thread - but what on earth are you doing working those kind of hours? It is surely unsustainable in terms of mental and physical health. We all have the occasional time period like that but if you consistentently have no time to prepare food, take a walk or hang out with your child, there's something not right.

It is tricky. I just made a salad for lunch. I put in cucumber, red pepper, celery and tomatoes - all unprocessed. Pumpkin seeds - no ingredients list so I assume they are in the processed category because they have been dried. Hummus - only has normal ingredients so I think processed? Tinned sweetcorn just says sweetcorn and water, but tinned lentils have a firming agent so are they ultra processed? Then I had sundried tomatoes which have a long ingredients list including antioxidants and acidity regulators, so they must also be ultra processed. So on the surface a pretty unprocessed meal but when you look more closely quite a lot of processed foods involved.

*@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine**

Slimmingstar
@TeaAndBiscuitsAndWine I can’t agree with this.
Quick, simple meals to cook in less than 15 minutes from fridge to plate that you can get ingredients for in your delivery -
omelette and peas,
salad with salmon,
jacket potato with tuna/cheese/steak and veg
Greek salad
Veg and chicken stir fry with rice

It’s not difficult.
Ah, but you not allowing for the fact that many children won’t eat a lot of foodstuffs. Plus little of what you mentioned is vegan, which for various reasons we mostly are. I agree I could do better, but generally it’s a case of what can I cook whilst in meetings, so that needs very little attention.*

Children eat what they’re given. It’s why began children eat vegan food, children raised on chicken nuggets eat chicken nuggets and children raised on real foods eat real food.

They don’t starve themselves - it’s because we seem to think that when children get a bit fussy when we introduce UPFs at parties and the like, that we should continue to give them ‘what they like’, forgetting they ate all of our carefully prepared purées and homemade shepherds pies the week before. Parents are to blame for fussy eaters (broadly, obviously some have additional needs and that is different), not children. What did our ancestors do?! Die out because they didn’t have sausages and chicken nuggets with their smilie faces and baked beans?

I have to agree with @SilentMigraine

It's also obvious in restaurants. Here kids menu is nuggets and maybe spaghetti. What we do elsewhere are half portions. So you as a kid eat the adult food, but in right size. We all had that food we loved as kids and it wasn't probably the best😁 but yeah. Even when growing up we eat most of the time (90% I would say) what our parents eat.