Paper straws in drinks cartons FFS!

[QueenOfMe]

So DC came home for the 2nd time in a row yesterday with half a carton of Innocent smoothie all over his shirt and the rest of it leaked in his lunchbox. Had the same with his lunchbox drink, Capri Sun, so I had to stop using them.

Why, oh why would they put papers straws for drinks cartons which need to be pierced!? They are almost impossible to open. When I tried one myself I got juice all over the table after 10 minutes of trying to open it.

I’m all for saving the environment but not when it’s not workable!

Similarly Tesco have paper bags now for loose fruit and veg. The damn things rip as soon as you put more than one thing in them. If you’re picking up jacket potatoes for eg. you can only put one in a bag. Same with apples and bunches of bananas! I’ve complained many times but have been told they won’t be changed back to plastic!

It’s bloody ridiculous or AIBU?

A stainless steel straw thin enough to fit in a Capri sun would be a lethal weapon in school. Plus very dangerous to drink from for younger kids

Who do some people think they are, honestly. The OP didn't ask if it was healthy, get off your high horse and go back to your water.

My local five guys and burger king both still have plastic straws

Hopefully they’re just using up what they already had. I saw this article the other day which is awful: www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/10/takeaway-food-and-drink-litter-dominates-ocean-plastic-study-shows

@HollysBush

Surprised people saying jacket spuds don’t need a bag, what if you buy 8? They’ll be all over the place! I have reusable veg bags. And op, I’m afraid a refillable bottle is the way to go.

All over the place where? They aren't that small that you'd have trouble locating them, if they roll about just put other stuff around them

Here come the holier than thou crew with 'why give juice?'

@QueenOfMe I wholeheartedly agree...

My 6yo takes an innocent smoothie on her packed lunch and now really struggles with the paper straw, and she won't drink it when it's decanted

we stopped buying the cawstons juices because of the paper straw

I do have metal foldable straws and reusable plastic cutlery but i carry those with me for outings when there are paper straws and wooden cutlery as other wise the kids wouldn't eat...

i don't want to send an expensive metal straw with a y1 child to get lost though

paper straws are shit they really don't fulfil the job of a straw, reusable ones are probably to big for smoothies and capri sun the silicone ones are probably to flimsy as well, personally i would probably just send a reusable bottle of juice of squash from now on to be honest

@TinyTear aw diddums, the 1 million seabirds that die every year due to ingesting plastic straws would be devestated that your dd can't have her Innocent smoothie

Better to be holier than thou than completely self-centred and lacking an awareness of the world around you.

Has anyone seen what's in an innocent smoothie? Literally just fruit. Nothing bad. Unless we now classify fruit as bad cos of sugar content. It's cheaper making your own smoothie but no need to shame op or anyone else for buying ready mades for saying they are bad.

@Booksandtea84

Has anyone seen what's in an innocent smoothie? Literally just fruit. Nothing bad. Unless we now classify fruit as bad cos of sugar content. It's cheaper making your own smoothie but no need to shame op or anyone else for buying ready mades for saying they are bad.

I think Innocent Smoothies are totally fine to give, but just that if they no longer work in a packed lunch then just put something else in instead and save them for home?

@RancidOldHag

Get a reusable, washable silicone straw for use with cartons.

Take your own reusable bag/s for loose fruit and veg

Silicone straws are bendy and won’t pierce a carton!

Some people probably don't have children who won't eat if some foods are from a certain brand or shop or a very specific flavour or won't use wooden cutlery and would rather go hungry and thirsty until they are home for their familiar things...

As i don't particularly want my daughter to not eat/drink while at school and on days out I compromise...

And I won't feel guilty over my plastic straws as 5 smoothies a week aren't the issue - as a family of 4 we recycle and compost so much we put out less than one small bin bag or rubbish a week...

I am here to say I stand with @QueenOfMe because these newfangled straws are not fit for purpose

@Booksandtea84 the sugar in a smoothie is much more available than in a whole fruit because of the blending process. And in a juice even more so because it doesn’t have any of the fibre. This is why smoothies and juice only count as a maximum of one of your five a day.
www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/smoothies

@Booksandtea84

Has anyone seen what's in an innocent smoothie? Literally just fruit. Nothing bad. Unless we now classify fruit as bad cos of sugar content. It's cheaper making your own smoothie but no need to shame op or anyone else for buying ready mades for saying they are bad.

Smoothies aren’t great because you lose the fiber and you are concentrating the juice down so you get this sugar hit (albeit natural sugar). Innocent smoothies have around 4 teaspoons of sugar in them. They also lose their natural vitamins pretty quickly, so are supplemented with vitamins. It’s much much healthier to give whole fruit to kids and have them drink water, but apparently it’s massively unreasonable to say this. Basically, the fewer processed foods you can eat, the better.

^ Not that I am saying not to give them if DC won’t have any other fruit! Just that they do have a different effect on the body than whole fruit

@Justcallmebebes

These drinks are full of sugar and bad for us let alone the environment. Can you not send him in with squash in a plastic reusable bottle?

Bananas don't need to go in a bag, plastic, paper or otherwise. Ditto jacket spuds

Not sure about OPs school but our school won't let you send in squash - it's fruit juice, smoothies or water same as the hot lunches. And anything in lunchboxes has to be in packages with the ingredients on so they can be checked if there's a worry about allergens.

The problem we would have with decanting smoothie into a reusable bottle is the school give a very strict list of acceptable snacks, including specifying the brand of children’s smoothie they deem acceptable. I wouldn’t put it passed them to confiscate something they couldn’t verify!

@CrazyCatsAndKittens there’s nothing wrong with what you are saying, but sometimes parents will do anything to get more fruit or liquids into their kids. DC doesn’t drink much water at school, just doesn’t bother, so particularly in the hot weather I sometimes send a smoothie for snack so I know they are getting some fluids.

@PattyPan @CrazyCatsAndKittens I completely understand re whole fruit vs smoothies. I just don't see why OP has to be shamed for giving her kids an innocent smoothie. In the grand scheme of things they are pretty healthy and life savers considering so many kids refuse whole fruits. At least they aren't adding refined sugar to the recipe. That's my point.

anything in lunchboxes has to be in packages with the ingredients on so they can be checked if there's a worry about allergens.

What about sandwiches?

I agree that smoothies are high sugar so on par with a coke. As long as you’re happy for your kids to be drinking that I have no issue with it.

They also lose their natural vitamins pretty quickly, so are supplemented with vitamins.

Innocent smoothies dono't have added vitamins. They are just fruit, no concentrates.

[quote Jennyfromtheculdesac]@CrazyCatsAndKittens there’s nothing wrong with what you are saying, but sometimes parents will do anything to get more fruit or liquids into their kids. DC doesn’t drink much water at school, just doesn’t bother, so particularly in the hot weather I sometimes send a smoothie for snack so I know they are getting some fluids.[/quote]
I do understand. My son has ASD and has a very restricted diet. I just think it’s worrying that parents think fruit juice or smoothies are healthy. I mean it’s great advertising, but water is absolutely the best drink out there. I lived in Japan for a while and all Japanese children drink either water or tea whereas so many British kids won’t drink water. I think it’s more down to habit. It’s just a shame. But, this isn’t what the thread is about, so sorry for the derail.

[quote Booksandtea84]**@PattyPan* @CrazyCatsAndKittens* I completely understand re whole fruit vs smoothies. I just don't see why OP has to be shamed for giving her kids an innocent smoothie. In the grand scheme of things they are pretty healthy and life savers considering so many kids refuse whole fruits. At least they aren't adding refined sugar to the recipe. That's my point.[/quote]
I’m absolutely not trying to shame her, but if it’s not practical for her kid to have smoothies at school, maybe try something else because they aren’t going to reintroduce plastic straws any time soon. So, what else can you do?

When I tried one myself I got juice all over the table after 10 minutes of trying to open it.

Really? I've had no trouble piercing a capri sun with the new straws in about 1 second.

Also came here to say reusable straws, you can pick them up all over. I’ve personally never had an issue with the paper straws piercing the carton or DS2 getting them all over himself. My main issue is DS pushing them inside!

Capri sun also have a screw top version now but that’s quite dreadful to manage.