"He eats meat, but can't eat any processed meat."

[Flangelica]

If someone said this to you when you asked about dietary requirements for a child, would you think they were massively w*nky/snobby, or is it socially acceptable and fine?

I don't eat meat, but I apply pretty much the same rule.

It sounds an excellent rule for personal use but since this is about telling another parent what your child can eat, a bit vague and non committal, tbh.

What do you call processed meat?

I would define it as cured meats and hams*, luncheon meats, bacon, sausages, and most pre-made meat products (frozen kievs or nuggets for example).

I wouldn't include mince, or things like home-made chicken kievs or home-made burgers (which will be made with fresh meat).

I don't eat meat at all though, so it's all academic to me!

(* Although there are some very minimally processed traditional style hams, but I'd probably still include them)

If a pack of meat has a literal glossary of ingredients used, then I won't touch it. Meat from a standard British, grass-fed cow is fine.

I don't eat meat, only fish, but apply this same rule to what we eat here. I have kidney disease which has been stable for over 30 years thanks to eating a clean, whole-food pescatarian diet. My kidney consultant says I'm the only patient she's ever had in nearly 40 years, that has managed that. Our bodies don't need a ton of fake crap that puts extra pressure on organs to filter out, just good, clean natural food, whether that includes meat or not.

This thread

I was heartened that it wasn't going the usual race-to-the-bottom MN food thread ("I sling an out of date processed cheese slice in their general direction, and a felt tip dipped in sugar for pudding, and they can FUCK OFF if they don't like it"), but it's gone the other MN food thread direction, and now posters are 'genuinely baffled' about whether or not air-dried prosciutto is standard playdate fodder.

I mean IS IT A TURKEY TWIZZLER OR EFFING ARTISAN CHORIZO??? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE???

I mean IS IT A TURKEY TWIZZLER OR EFFING ARTISAN CHORIZO??? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE???

😂😂😂

You might want to reread your own post then as it reads very much as if you are saying that artisan procesed meats are different to cheap processed meats and that no-one is talking about the former.

But the context is "processed meats" as in all, not as in cheap crap only. There's no differece

You might want to reread your own post then as it reads very much as if you are saying that artisan procesed meats are different to cheap processed meats and that no-one is talking about the former

For goodness sake

My point - such as it was - is that this thread is VERY LIKELY not about artisan charcuterie, so we don't need to debate that 'end' of the processed meat spectrum.

Some of those products contain nitrates, and are heavily processed, others don't and aren't. But it's a little academic, as this thread isn't about those products.

That's it. Ta-da.

That's not what I was arguing at all. I was just saying that artisan meats are kind of irrelevant to the discussion. They are still processed meat, obviously?!

Artisan meats have only come up on this thread because several posters have said "how dare you say processed meat is cheap crap - what about Serrano ham?"

I always used to ask for a few if the guest child's favourites, and serve one of those. That comment wouldn't have bothered me at all, the child probably wouldn't eat sausages if you gave them to her/him and I'd rather they eat!

I had chronic iron-deficiency when I was vegetarian so yeah, meat does feature in most of our evening meals. Not big portions, just some heme iron. I need it.

What most kids are fussy about is that they barely touch vegetables. They may agree to let you put just one type of veg on their plate, but more than 3 pieces & they won't eat it all. That means the only items on plate that we provided, if so fussy about the meat, might literally be potatoes.

Also realising, I don't believe even once have we ever had a vegetarian kid visit for a meal. Nor vegan, fruitarian, pescatarian... Had an Organ-transplant-recipient guest once.

macaroni cheese

Dihydrogen monoxide is also important in making wallpaper glue. Nasty stuff. Be careful of it!

So is potato starch.

Umm you have made my day.

I like those odds.

I'm off to try and find a way to order some fancy prosciutto to celebrate (which will be a real challenge here, I'm not sure prosciutto even exists in this country, but if it does, I'm going to find it!)

I'd be the same as your DC's playdate's mum. Since I had bowel cancer in my forties I try very hard to keep processed meat out of my children's diet. Nitrites in bacon, salami, some sausages etc is thought to be a significant factor in colorectal cancer. I don't eat smoked foods either, for the same reason.

It's not difficult to avoid processed meat though. The age at which adults in the Uk first present with bowel cancer is getting lower and lower.

Same here my mum had pancreatic cancer. Also two children with a health condition which is affected by what they eat. Mainly high GI foods not always processed. Mashed potato and banana are high GI and they have an affect on them.

I like a good mix up, for lunch today we had goats cheese fondue with chanterelle mushroom served alongside flaming hot wotsits and a kwenchy kup!

@lljkk @FourTeaFallOut Oh you're both just hilarious 🙄My point is if there are lots of ingredients in the process of making meat, it's not meat. Methylcellulose is a bulking agent. Unless farmers are putting wallpaper glue in their grass, bulking agents aren't needed to make meat. Just livestock, a slaughter house and a packaging facility.

I like a good mix up, for lunch today we had goats cheese fondue with chanterelle mushroom served alongside flaming hot wotsits and a kwenchy kup

Same Last night I had homemade ravioli with ricotta and wild mushrooms, followed with tinned rice pudding and a Twirl. The night before it was a Pot Noodle followed by homemade lemon and vodka sorbet.

I will say that pre moving abroad, I ate some processed meat (bacon/prosciutto/the odd crappy takeaway/salami) and cheese, as well as probably quite a lot of accidental sugar in the form of pre-made pasta and curry sauces, ready made sandwiches and salads and pastas from supermarkets for lunch, etc. I suffered from IBS and also agonising stomach acid very regularly.

Since moving abroad to a place where i literally couldnt get these things (wasn't being deliberately wanky, but had to give up ready meals and convenience food and even cheese (!!) and start cooking fron scratch, much to my dismay) my symtoms literally disappeared. I haven't had a single day where I've had IBS symptoms or stomach acid.

I returned to the UK a few years ago for a visit, almost immediately (day 3) symtoms started again. I thought I'd been eating healthily!

I think the problem with the UK is that there are a lot of extra ingredients and ... Just crap ... In a lot of food that we think isn't so bad. Although I miss the food every day and the convenience of it.

So you think. But I'm on this thread, and thats what I mean by processed meats. I am not the only one.
You're making the classic MN mistake of thinking everyone is talking about what you think they are a talking about.

It's a nebulous concept and you havent a clue what other people are thinking of when they see the term.

Homemade sausages with pork mince and herbs ok, but chorizo and Parma ham not ok?

You need to look on the label, what’s in it! We looked at Parma ham - it just has pork and salt in it. So as processed meat goes, it’s ok - although people with some medical care problems should cut down on salt! DDs in their 20s have high cholesterol already, thanks to the family history, and need to follow a cholesterol lowering diet! BHF recommends lean meat, so fatty pork mince sausages should be avoided by them!

Iirc, chorizo does contain preservatives, so it’s better to eat a minimum amount?

Curing salts often contain sodium nitrite. If it's not marked as free of nitrite then it probably contains it

It depends. Proper prosciutto di parma contains no nitrates. Supermarket parma ham almost certainly will. Bacon can be full of nitrates or nitrate free.

People are talking at multiple crossed purposes. There is no definition of "processed meat" or indication of why precisely people may want to avoid it. IF its nitrates and/or possible carcinogens, people are confused about what contains them and what doesn't.

Processed meat and junk/crap food are not synonymous.
Processed meat and nitrates are not synonymous.
Processed meat and carcinogen are not synonymous.
Nitrate free meats can refer to chemical nitrates but vegetable based ones can still be used and are still an issue.
British sausages do not contains nitrates but hotdogs do.
Cured and smoked meats are where the real risk is.

In short no-one on here really seems to know what the hell they are talking about or what risk they actually understand.