To think processed and pre cooked food is way too common in this country?

[HotPotLove]

Before you all start yelling at me, I know that there are of course millions of households that eat a healthy diet, cook from scratch all the time, carefully choose ingredients etc etc. But my feeling as a foreigner (have been living in the UK for almost a decade though) is that ultra processed food, pre cooked and ready meals etc are very much normalised here and part of most people every day life. It’s pretty obvious just by looking at the supermaket aisles really.
Curious to know if people are generally trying to stay away from these and make healthier choices or whether it is generally so embedded into our lives that we are not even noticing?
Second disclaimer is that I am not pointing any fingers, infact I often buy these myself but what makes me think about this is that I would have never bought these types of meals when living back in my own country (also less available than here overall)

There is a lot of moral panic about food and what other people eat

there is also a lot of faux-naivety from the OP

i totally understand why more people eat ready meals now, the world is changing and not many families have a stay at home parent who lovingly cooks up a home cooked meal that is on the table by 6 (to make sure kids are ready for their evenings activities in time)

the only reason I do not eat a lot of ready meals is that I find the portions very small and most of it is not that nice in my opinion. Charlie Bighsns is nice but I would eat a portion for 2 on my own easily (this may trigger more pearl clutching I am sure, so will add in that I am a healthy weight)

the only reason we never get food delivered is cost and the fact we are too rural for food deliveries

but I totally get why anyone would if they can afford it

cooking fresh food every day is a chore and requires time and headspace that not everyone has

Of course. But look at the listed ingredients in UK-sold stock cubes vs French-sold and you’ll see what I mean. There’s a LOT more bulking agents, chemicals, emulsifiers and flavourings in UK versions, because they make the item cheaper to produce.

I agree. This is a result of government policy in the 80s, though, when Thatcher was PM. She altered the domestic science curriculum, which had actually taught cookery, to an 'industry based' and 'job orientated' thing called food science, which involved very little cookery but a lot of stuff about marketing. This seems to have been both ideology driven - she thought education should be teloelogical - but also industry orientated. There was encouragement to eat ready meals and processed food - convenient for 'busy mums', who were being pushed into the work force. And here we are.

There are a large number of food additives which since Brexit have been banned in the EU but are now allowed in the UK including:

Azodicarbonamide (ADA)
Commonly used as a dough conditioner in baking, azodicarbonamide is banned in the EU due to health concerns, including potential links to respiratory issues and cancer. However, it remains authorized in the UK, leading to its presence in some baked goods.

Potassium Bromate
This additive is used to strengthen dough and improve bread texture. The EU has banned its use because of its carcinogenic potential. In contrast, the UK continues to permit its use in food products.

Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA)
BHA is used as a preservative in various food products. While banned in the EU due to concerns over its potential as a carcinogen, it is still allowed in the UK.

Sunset Yellow FCF (E110)
A synthetic food colorant associated with hyperactivity in children, Sunset Yellow FCF is banned in the EU. However, it remains authorized in the UK, though products containing it must carry a warning label.

Permitted residue levels for many items are now higher in Great Britain than under the EU regime.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/19/revealed-far-higher-pesticide-residues-allowed-on-food-since-brexit?utm_source=chatgpt.com

I lived in a small town just outside Munich, Germany for ten years, and the type of pre prepared food we have in the UK was not available there. Supermarkets are tiny and are mostly cheese, chocolate, beer/wine, vegetables and meats (fresh and preserved). Packaged food is dried pasta in sauce or tinned fish, pickled vegetables. A few frozen pizzas. No ready meals in trays or huge banks of freezers full of prepared items.

Like most other people in the town we shopped at the market twice a week for meat and vegetables (and pottery and crafts - bliss!)

People still ate their main hot meal of the day in the work or school canteen and ate bread, cheese, ham etc at home or went to a restaurant. No breakfast cereal but plenty of coffee, cakes and pastries from the bakeries.

There was a fancy department store in my town that had an ‘American’ section. They were charging €15 for a 500g box of CoCo Pops.

It is a fact that there is a lot more prepared food available here (Scotland), and a lot more ‘treat’ and ‘junk’ food, especially crisps and pop. I have no opinion about its availability or whether people choose to consume it.

I am a veggie and there are very few nice tasting ready meals that are vegetarian so I don't buy them very often as although they seem a good idea now and then I always regret them as taste pants!

But, they serve a purpose for many people. I think a lot of people who live alone and esp elderly (My father in law ate only TV dinners when his wife died as couldn't be bothered to cook for one) buy them. My partner buys them a lot at the mo, as he's living in his late dads house sorting out his affairs and again, too lazy to cook from scratch every night.

And don't forget 'batch cooking'. Preferably of organic banana bread and sweet potato goulash.

Okay, that's fine.
But you would be saying something about her country purely as a childish response, not for any other reason. Your post says far more about you than it does about me, I think.
The word cultural doesn't only relate to geographical borders.

Ah, Scotland, the home of the deep fried mars bar!

When I went to Edin uni, fresh stuff was really poor there, vegetables, salad and fruit would last a day or two, max. I hope it's improved?

You probably need to view British (English?) food culture in the context of industrialization (and post-industrialization) too. Also differences in climate (growing food) and land ownership - the latter also related to industrialization. Climate has also resulted in a different rhythm of daily life - including during the winter. This conditions cultures of consumption too.

No, it wasn’t childish. It was illustrating a point.
I didn’t use the word ‘cultural’ so I’m not sure why you’ve given me that nice, yet obvious, platitude but thank you!

You’re not wrong but you did disclose you’re a foreigner so expect your opinion to be invalidated.

The issue is the food culture combined with lack of affordable good quality fresh ingredients. But even so, mid quality fresh ingredients are far better than a pot ramen with nuggets.
It also can’t be about lacking time because broadly speaking people finish school and work earlier, not to mention a good percentage of parents working PT.

It’s easy to whip up a one pot chicken pasta, beef pasta, fish rice, etc.

You aren’t wrong. If you compare our aisles to other countries is genuinely quite shocking. The abundance of seafood, fresh cooked bread and whole foods is eye opening in Spain/portgal/france. The sourdough isn’t ’artisan bread’ for £6 a go there, it’s just bread! We make very different choices in our household and had to learn a lot about nutrition, ultra processed food and home cooking as an adult. But I read all labels on everything we buy now, home cook every night and our choices are informed now, as are many of our friends, so I do see it moving in a better direction.

But pasta is just (normally) white flour and water. It's constantly bandied about as a better option to something ready made. It's not. It's cheap and cheerful, not massively filling and lacking in many nutrients. The nutrients it does have are only there because the flour has been fortified (and does that maybe make it a UPF?). Then the rest of that recipe, a bit of oil, cheese and a tiny portion of veg. It's not nutritionally superior, just because you've slaved over it.
I've seen people stressing on MN about not being able to buy UPF free tinned tomatoes fgs, it's just another form of food obsession.

Yet there are plenty of videos on social media of people cooking and explaining such terms , what to use, what/how to substitute, and why doing xyz a certain way. You can find out how to make about anything from any culture just by typing it into a search engine.

Yes, it is not taught in schools, but it isn’t like the knowledge isn’t accessible if one chooses to look for it.

Yes, people in the UK eat too much processed foods and yes, in most other countries people eat far less.
In some other countries people have better childcare, corner shops with fresh ingredients, multi generational living, more annual.leave, and generally make daily meals a.priority.
I eat far too much processed food although I love cooking. I just have no time.

Absolutely, yes. Our batch cook will be borscht this weekend. One meal to eat fresh, three meals for the freezer.

Why is reverse snobbery so fashionable here these days?

@MrsSkylerWhite i make a nice one out of a tin of toms! Bit of garlic olive oil and simmer for 5 mins to thicken. The store bought ones have lots of salt and sugar so I would also add some some salt and sugar and it’s very tasty but still healthier. Add sweated onions and stock and blend it and you have a nice tomato soup.🥫

It’s time. At least it is for me. I have 3 kids and work full time, they all have clubs and activities in the week I literally don’t have time to cook from scratch when they’re falling through the door starving at 6pm. Yes I could batch cook on the weekend but I’m normally knackered and have other higher priority household tasks that need doing. Yes I feel guilty for the amount of UPF we eat, I do try but my kids are also fussy buggars. Feels like an uphill battle! But I do agree.

Carbs, quality oil, vegetables, cheese all provide decent nutrition.

A bit silly to be suggesting otherwise.

We probably eat ready meals 3 times a year - M&S curry instead of take away.
We do eat ready made quiche and pizza but not often.

I think it's sad how crap the food is in the UK. The fruit and veg is much less flavourful than in France / Spain. Bread is either shit or really expensive.

Is it Ok to just put the tomatoes and pasta in the pan, or do you have to throw them?

It’s always the same on these food threads - the people banging on about home cooked food and how simple it is, always do a lot of throwing 😂

What you are saying though is exactly what I meant when I said that the UK has an issue with food culture to start with. In Italy (and I am sure in many many other countries all over the world, not just Europe), even the poorest people have some basic food knowledge, in fact I'd say that it's perhaps even more common across lower income classes as they are more accustomed to cook from scratch, can't afford to eat out or have lots of ready meals etc. I come from a very humble family, nobody was educated (I am not talking about uni, not even high school), low income etc but yet eating healthy food, cooking our own meals with the best possible ingredients available to us, eating tons of fruit and veg has always been a staple in our home. Same for many other people in a similar situation I know back home. It is a food culture issue, not an income issue.

Yes and scarily when it started it was sold as convenient and there was little understanding it was unhealthy. And now it’s normal.

I rarely go into supermarkets but when I do I'm shocked at the amount of fizzy drinks, crisps, ready meals, biscuits etc. Just food with very little nutritional value.

I went into a French supermarket and what was on offer was so different. The ready meals were there but more the type you'd find in an artisan market here rather than in Sainsbury's.