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Original poster

The Processed Food Industry.......what EXACTLY are they trying to feed to the nation?

129 replies

PuffTheMagicDragon · 10/03/2005 10:01

I've posted this on a food thread, although my thinking was sparked by the trailer for next week's "School Dinners" programme by Jamie Oliver.

He will be showing children what goes into their "non Jamie" school dinners. I saw a few seconds of it, which involved pouring a pink sludge (some kind of "meat" product) into a big bucket. The kids clearly weren't impressed.

Whilst ingredients have to be listed on packaging, it can be difficult to visualise them eg "reformed meat".

Should supermarkets etc be required, by law, to show photographs of the main basic ingredients in highly processed foods?

OP posts:
secur · 10/03/2005 12:37

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Gobbledigook · 10/03/2005 12:38

EEw, hotdogs are HIDEOUS! I'm doing hot dogs for ds1's bouncy castle birthday party but I think I'm going to buy decent sausages and just do them in the oven and put them in buns. I cannot bring myself to heat up those horrible tinned things - bleurgh!!!

secur · 10/03/2005 12:40

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DaddyCool · 10/03/2005 12:41

actually ... i always eat hot dogs (but i'm nearly 30 and i'll do what the hell i want!)

i buy the 'Herta' frankfurters. i think they're a little better than the tinned/jarred ones.

Gobbledigook · 10/03/2005 12:42

oh good - I was hoping it woukd work! Will be quite funny going to the butchers for 30-odd sausages!!

secur · 10/03/2005 12:45

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DaddyCool · 10/03/2005 12:47

secur - as far as i know all franks are made of 'leftovers'. i'm talking specifically about the pinky brown, smokey flavour ones.

secur · 10/03/2005 12:49

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secur · 10/03/2005 12:50

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DaddyCool · 10/03/2005 12:55

yes, i hate to think what goes into the 'smokey flavour'.... but i do love a hot dog (with ketchup and french's american mustard and just a tad of mayo with the bun just ever so slightly toasted.....)

Spongebob · 10/03/2005 13:13

Dont know if anyone saw but the minister for health was on TV yesterday morning and he was asked the question "why are vending machines that sell crap allowed in schools"? He defended them by saying that it offered the children a choice and that it was down to them!!! :0 to make a healthy choice. Also vending machines were good as they raise money for the school..I suppose the more they raise, the less the government have to give eh?

secur · 10/03/2005 13:15

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DaddyCool · 10/03/2005 13:17

crazy isn't it 'squarepants'. what a stupid man. most kids would choose the unhealthy option even if they quite like the healthy option as well.

dramaqueen72 · 10/03/2005 13:22

well if it has to be hotdogs (ugh) i give my lot veggie hotdogs. dh swears you cant tell the difference. there so little meat in 'real' hotdogs anyhow.

Spongebob · 10/03/2005 13:24

Of course they would DC. I would have when I was a kid! (and maybe now too ) ....But the excuses the Government make are for fools. A while back, I used to work in a home for adults with severe learning disabilities, this was eventually closed down and several of the clients were placed in group homes to give them "independance" to care for themselves (nothing to do with the cost of running the home of course) I occasionally see a couple of the clients wandering aimlessly around town, looking neglected, scruffy and "lost"! Sad isnt it, but money is what makes the world go around, not always peoples welfare.

GeorginaA · 10/03/2005 13:40

If we're doing interesting read links, can I offer up this one ? A good explanation of how we've got to be such a junk food society.

I have to say though, I do kind of sit on the fence in a "everything in moderation" kind of way - we'll have a mix of "junk" and homemade (although I do try and buy the better quality junk with less additives!) But I don't think that should apply in schools unless it's just one day in the week that junk is offered rather than an option every single day.

secur · 10/03/2005 13:51

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hunkermunker · 10/03/2005 13:53

Why not put fag machines in schools too - the kids ought to have a choice, after all...

Bozza · 10/03/2005 13:59

Agree Secur. Thats largely how I see it. DS goes to lots of birthday parties at soft play and eats whats on offer there - crisps, chips, white bread sandwiches, cakes etc. So lots of processed,starchy food. I try and give him lots of fruit and veg on these weekends and not so much bread/potato etc so that he has a balance. And if I fail to do so, believe me, he quickly becomes constipated.

GeorginaA · 10/03/2005 14:13

Agree secur.

Admittedly I went to a private school so the goalposts are different, but we had three choices each day:

a main meat dish
a main vegetarian dish
salad (again two types - some with cold, meat some without)

dessert was a choice between a "standard" dessert (like apple pie & custard), fruit or crackers & cheese (and that's where I picked up my ryvita addiction!)

The meals weren't outstanding but emminently edible. We had theme days (like Mexican or Chinese) but if you didn't like that the salads were always your old standby. I can't see that a huge pot of chilli con carne, rice and baked potatoes would cost the school that much more per head?! We always had chips on Friday, but something nice with them and not overly processed like a decent jumbo fishfinger and beans/peas or similar.

Oh, AND we had real plates!

For those with packed lunches there was a kettle available so you could bring in cup a soups etc if you wanted to.

I actually begged to have school dinners there...

secur · 10/03/2005 14:33

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Original poster
PuffTheMagicDragon · 10/03/2005 14:45

V interesting article GA - she's the author of a book mentioned further down by moondog.

I just want everyone to be able to make a truly informed choice - it needs a very brave government indeed to take on the offending food manufacturers and supermarkets.

I've been in Tesco this week - lots of "buy one, get one free" offers, but you can guess where the focus is concentrated - highly processed chicken dippers, sausages, smiley faces, pizzas etc. Yes, they do bogofs on other foodstuffs, but highly processed foods account for the lions share.

OP posts:
ks · 10/03/2005 14:58

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ks · 10/03/2005 15:00

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OldieMum · 10/03/2005 15:01

A large part of the problem in the Jamie Oliver programme last night was his battle to change the children's food preferences. I had an insight into how these are formed a few days ago. I wanted to buy DD (aged 2) some play-food in Toys-R-Us. Almost all of it consisted of plastic chips, pizzas, hotdogs and burgers. About a third of the display was taken up by little plastic bags full of burgers and chips, labelled McDonalds. Eventually I found a basket of plastic fruit and bought one, but even that had plastic burgers and doughnuts lurking underneath the fruit. I don't want to sound like a smug, middle-class Guardian reader, but DD wouldn't even recognise a plastic burger, as she has never seen a real one. But why is this such a common part of toddlers' diets that they can sell more of it than plastic fruit and veg? And why are McDonalds given such an opportunity to insinuate themselves even into children's make-believe games?