To not have known that deli chicken is a level 1 carcinogen

[nevertearusapart]

Am feeling fairly stupid about this but only just realised that deli chicken / turkey are considered level 1 carcinogenic processed meats so linked to negative health effects incl. cancer. The examples used are typically ham, sausages, bacon, salami etc so I just assumed red meat for some reason. The deli chicken that we eat was labelled 100% natural and only contained chicken, potato starch, salt and vinegar but it now looks like it’s almost bad as the rest.
Does everyone know things like this and what do people put in kids lunches? (And yes I know it’s all about daily / excessive consumption etc etc)

Wtf... those are foods. All foods. If "level 1" is the highest level, and they put ham there, they've left no room for, say, chewing tobacco and absinthe.

What do people put in kids' lunches? Well my dd lives on salami, as I did as a child, and we're both slim, healthy and fancy free.

I think you're overreacting. Put the Google down and don't overthink food

A level 1 carcinogen? One wonders why the government permits the sale of such toxic foodstuffs. Perhaps they want to finish off the plebs to reduce the poplulation…

Yes, I knew that. I freshly cook any chicken for packed lunches the night before or buy rotisserie and keep it in the fridge. Much healthier and tastier than packaged. We’ve never been a family for processed meats like ham etc so we just don’t really eat them.

I buy pre packed, cooked deli chicken for the dog and have no idea how any human eats it to be honest! Slimey, full of water and always smells revolting

My child only eats ham sandwiches. It is a problem, but I really need him to eat.

Yes, I do know that, and we are vegetarian.

If you're asking for sandwich filling suggestions, we eat a lot of cheeses, hummus, nut butters, and eggs.

You'll be fucked off when you read about the pesticides on fruit and veg being carcinogenic too.

Chicken, cook a whole one or two for sandwiches, but then the bread...
And if you're not using proper butter...

It's all a bit doomy tbh

I’ve really reduced down my processed food in the last year or so I would recommend this app, you just scan the barcode and it gives you a red orange or green

you can see I’ve been having a look at things to see how bad they are.

I don’t know when I looked at soreen. I’ve never had it in years.!!

@Ohfuckwhatdoidonow agree on the doomy!!

Then you click through and. Eekkkk

And suggests alternatives

@Webbymeister I just downloaded that app at the weekend, really eye opening. And yes, I know that had fairly binary ratings as doesn’t take proportions etc into account but really brings home that ‘premium’ doesn’t equate to ‘better ingredients’

Samdwich fillings for my kids at school are a real pain. They don't get that long to eat and I've tried alternatives to sandwiches but its difficult. Hot food jars are difficult for a 5 year old to manage.

My kids don't like cheese or egg.
Hummous & nut butters are banned (this is irritating).
Eldest will eat tuna.
Youngest won't. We end up doing a lot of charcuterie. I don't love it but I don't have much choice.
I buy better quality options with fewer additives and cook our own good quality ham joints/use leftover chicken or beef from sunday roasts, but I've made peace with it to be honest, their diet generally is good with plenty of green veg, pulses, fruit, wholegrains and generally unprocessed home made stuff so its life.

@Arrivapercy maybe the better quality options with fewer additives is the way to go. Hummus, pesto and nut butters are lunchtime banned here as well

@Ohfuckwhatdoidonow not a chance I’m going down the fruit rabbithole, they need to eat something other than cheese.

@nevertearusapart yes, imagine my delight to discover that lazy girl microwave rice is okay

Yes I know this stuff but honestly it’s all got a bit much for me. Everything’s carcinogenic it seems. The air we breathe, the shit we clean with, my kid’s ham sandwich. I don’t have the bandwidth to go through every area of our lives and cut things out. I cook lots from scratch and we try to make fairly healthy choices but that’s as far as I can take it.

We have massively cut down on our processed food for this reason. If I'm doing sandwiches I'll make tuna, egg, cheese or cook some chips breasts and make them into coronation chicken etc. I often make tuna pasta or halloumi and couscous as my DC don't much like sandwiches (weirdos).

All those suggesting tuna - just be wary of the mercury content!

The deli chicken that we eat was labelled 100% natural and only contained chicken, potato starch, salt and vinegar but it now looks like it’s almost bad as the rest.

I was under the impression that processed meats were bad because of the additives and nitrates/ nitrates. Do I have that wrong? I would have thought that chicken is fine too.

@Emotionalsupporthamster well, it’s up there with air pollution and smoking but different degree of risk I guess.

@LegoHouse274, @Amoregelato and @HighlandCow78, any chance that you know how long it takes to reverse the risk?

Ok, so whose going to tell me what's wrong with marmite??

(add lettuce, cucumber)

I presume it's high in salt, but other than that???

(im exceedingly low carb so sandwiches aren't part of my regular diet these days, but I do miss marmite sandwiches)

@muggart thanks for posting, feel less lonely now! Apparently it’s the processing that releases the nitrates/nitrites, regardless of whether it’s with potato starch, salt or additives.

I wish there was a reset button on parenting!

Oh blimey i didn’t know that. But it must be better than ham. Its white meat made without nitrites. The sort i buy is not ultra processed. I appreciate fresh is better but there arent many other options for DS.

Yes it's any processed meat unfortunately. In my DCs' sandwiches I pretty much always put egg, cheese or chicken breast (fresh chicken breast and just chuck it in the oven or air fryer) on homemade bread. Luckily they love all those things.