to think that the amounymt of junk food in the supermarkets is f*cking RIDICULOUS

[sallyseton]

whole AISLES dedicated to sweets, chocolate, crisps, cakes, biscuits etc!!! is sthere something wrong here or is it just me?

no wonder half the country's fat if every time we go shopping we're bombarded with all this. packaging is often designed to be most appealing to children, too.

there's an argument that supermarkets promote this food as unlike say, a potato, these foods do not go off quickly. so it is more profitable for them.

i am not a food nazi, i like chocolate etc as much as anyone else, i just think the choice on display is ridiculous and we all as a country probably eat too much of it.

there's a very good argument that says that if you want cake or something, you should make it yourself. that way you can see what goes into it (and no additives or preservatives) but because of the hassle involved it really will be a treat. i might try it.

oh, and nefore anyone flames me over using the word "junk" food, yes i do believe that the kind of preservative filled crisps etc you find at the supermarket are junk food, almost no nutritional value, unlikely to fill even the smallest
child up, abd the packaging will be thrown away and fester away in the earth, certainly not biodegradable.

i do feed my child crisps btw, but the
slightly healthier "baked" ones, and i am certainly not
judging anyone, feed your child anything you damn well please i just dont think we should have such a surfeit of crap in the supermarket!

ps i bought some light mayonnaise yesterday, it had a little sticker on it saying it was a good source of omega 3 and 6. MAYONNAISE!!! you have to be f*cking kidding me. these food companies are all damn immoral liars.

LOL a friend (American) and I were bitching this morning that there isn't enough silly food in UK supermarkets, where is the spray cheese I ask you? Why are there only 10 types of shampoo, I can't make an accurate decision without at least 30 to choose from!

This isn't really that complicated you know. What you do is you shop the perimeter, veg/milk/meat/bread is usually on the outside with all the other stuff in the middle.

Also, it is possible to say "No" to children even if they see something they really want, hard to believe for many people but there you.

Rather than traffic-lights or 'guideline amounts' especially I like the advice penned by Michael Pollan in his book 'In Defence of Food' which was to avoid any product with more than six ingredients or with ingredients you didn't recognise or couldn't pronounce. If you apply that simple test to most items on the supermarket shelf you'll find you come home with a much healthier selection of goods.... veg, fruit, meat, fish, pulses, bread, dairy, oils .... and you've left all the nasty processed stuff behind.

The problem that I have noticed with people in the UK is it is an "All or Nothing" sort of thinking.

So you are either a raging binge drinker or a teetotaller, you either eat a pile of junk constantly or a health food fanatic, a chain smoker or hate all smoking etc.

Junk food is great, it tastes fucking fantastic, it is usually silly and therefore a bit fun, but it isn't a good idea to eat it everyday.

With this as in all things there is a middle way. I like sugary cereal and salty crisps, they are yum, but in order for them to stay a treat you can't have them all the time.

BEAUTIFUL, with respect, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, lettuce, bananas, oats, apples, pears, flour, butter, cabbage, peanuts, beans, pasta, rice are all pretty darn cheap. And not exclusive to Ocado or M&S.

Cheaper yet at your local market. That way you never have to set foot in a supermarket except for the occasional non-farm ingredient.

Oh man, FLUFF! You can get the Goober one at Selfridges with the grape jam mixed through. Soooooooo yum.

I think there is a lot choice of these type of food because not e evrybody like the same brand, chocolate coated biscuit, plain ones... so in order to please everybody they need a full aisle of it.

It does not mean that we have to buy it or even that we should let our children insist on us buying them.

As a family we do a monthly shopping in the supermarket (add fruit ,veg and eggs when we need them). As it is a fairly big shopping, I need Dh with me so we have to take the 4 dcs with us, I have yet to see the day where they will be the ones telling me what I should buy.

I go with a list and it include both brocolis, lentils and 2 pizze because twice a month I allow myself not to cook a meal from scratch. The pizze are usually on the top of the trolley so they do not look like mush by the time I have piled all my vegs on, if you see me shopping you would probably pot me in the junk eater pile.

After going to a shop called "The farm shop" last week where everything was fresh with lovely looking meats and all the fruit and veg looked "normal" (as in different shapes and sizes rather then supermarkets "shiney" looking fruit.) You come out realising just how crap supermarkets are really.

American supermarkets send me into a rage every year that I go home...you think it's bad here, OP...it's about 100 times WORSE in the States. 'Bagelfulls' sent me over the edge last summer when I was home...rectangular bagels pumped with cream cheese, right there in the frozen foods section. Yes, Americans have become SO lazy, we can't even spread cream cheese on our fucking bagels anymore!!!!

Spray cheese should be illegal. Ditto agent orange coloured mac and cheese.

OP...you don't know how bad it COULD be!!

YABU - some of us are not good at baking you know!

Mac and cheese is supposed to glow in the dark isn't it?

What about that excellent cream in a can, you can get chocolate mousse in a can in Oz, so you get a can of mousse and a can of cream and spray them directly into your mouth at the same time. Sometimes it even comes out your nose.

You guys stress out over the most bizarre things, if you don't want the stuff don't buy it, obviously enough people do want it so they stock it. Is nice that you feel all superior and stuff, but thinking that you are superior and actually being superior are not the same.

People know that it isn't good for them but they choose to eat it any way. I do all sorts of things that are not good for me, is my body, I shall do what I like with it and I shall decide what my kids eat, not the government and not some cat bummed faced woman who can't control herself when presented with junkfood so needs it all removed in case she loses control.

Someone will want it banned next.

YABU. You don't have to buy it. It's supply and demand really. I'm responsible for what I buy and feed myself and my family and so is everyone else. I don't feel the need to buy a load of crap just because I walk past it in the supermarket.

the great thing about the whole aisles dedicathed to junk rather than it mixed all over the shop is you can totally avoid those aisles if you choose too, its down to the parent that dictates what is a treat for their child, not the packaging, if a child says i want ... you can always say no!
also ita rubbish that some peole think that veg is more expensive that fruit and veg! our market veg last longer and tastes better than supermarket veg, you are only paying for the produce not packaging there, i get a whole bowl of fruit for £1 so for £10 a week i could get copious amounts of fruit and veg, if your loyal to a certain seller and go everyweek they normally knock a bit off 2, yes healthy foods in farm shops and waitrose and m and s are dear thats because its a fashionable way to shop, once my veg is in bowl nothing says if its ocado, market or aldis!

I agree that crisps, chocolate, cakes etc aren't ideal and obviously shouldn't be too much of a regular thing. But cutting them out completely and making them a 'bad' food is also an unhealthy mentality towards food. Everything in moderation.

Obviously a lot of convenience foods are crap, but I don't see the problem with oven chips (the mccain ones, just potato and sunflower oil - obviously orange curly fries arent going to be great) or 100% cod fish fingers - it is easier and not everybody has the time/knowledge/money to make everything from scratch. It is more expensive to make nutritious things from scratch for every single meal. When you are feeding four mouths on £60 a week, its just not possible, Ive tried.

LOL, lady - sorry! Don't fuck off on my account.

Don't buy it then.

Don't go to supermarkets then if you live in a city.

I didn't for years.

True, we do have the choice to buy it or not. The problem is, it's often presented as a 'good' option...cheap,filling, maybe even healthy. Both the US and the UK are getting fatter. Which costs us money...when all these obese folks, who may not know any better than to buy all this shit, start experiencing health problems, we are the ones who have to pay for it...one way or another.

I don't believe in banning it, and I believe in moderation, but I struggle with the fact that REAL, healthy food is expensive, while the shitty stuff that will eventually kill people is affordable to all.

Please Riven I'm sure you know what I meant

Obviously your health will benefit without crisps and things, all I mean is that never allowing yourself anything which might not be super healthy, can in some people become obsessive food. Of course its better to never have those things, but to ban them would just cause obsession and curiosity in some people, especially children.

And having a bag of crisps every so often is not going to do you any more harm than having a few drinks every weekend. This isn't directed at you Riven, I am just elaborating on my point.

I know how to cook, I cook plenty of things from scratch. But some people really wouldn't have a clue.

Had a ridiculous email exchange with Waitrose. Asked about the ingredients in their baked on premises bread that soya allergic DS ate. They said they weren't 'legally obliged' to list ingredients.

Although it's true, (for bulk items) think when you can't find out what's in your food, it's time to start re thinking....