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

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

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?

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Good point OldieMum. It wasn't long ago (1950s up to 1980s) that food companies put sugar, salt and additives in baby food jars and this rubbish was feed to babies at a few days old. These babies then grew up into adults living on takeway pizzas and ready meals - a captive market.

fed (sp)

hmm, secur, 'fruit stix'? what exactly is in them?

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very high in sugar according to this report here - although not of the refined kind

To pick up on something moondog said earlier. Cookery lessons in schools these days are rubbish.

My ds has made:
Pizza (take in a pre-made pizza base and add the toppings)
Melting moments
2 types of flapjack
and
fruit salad.

Agree that 'choices' should be limited - except for fruit and veg - why give a choice called 'healthy options' which they do at ds's school? Shouldn't they all be healthy?

Secondary school is too late to change children's eating habits. Pre school and primary is where the habits are learned.

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Simple fruit isn't branded though, is it? It doesn't need to be wrapped in plastic (although it is in supermarkets, so that we don't need to be subjected to natural odours).

ok maybe not a fat tax but make fruit and veg and more healthy options cheaper maybe give vouchers to parents for 10-20% off fresh produce

I heard a talk once by a farmer complaining about the price he was paid for fresh milk, he said he had to buy a young calf raise it feed it and milk it twice a day all for 50p (or whatever a pint of milk is) of this 50p he was paid the equivalent of 2p per pint.

In contrast a supplier can take some potatoes deep fry then add some artifical flavouring and charge over £1 for a 6 pack!

Junk food does cost more than fresh thats why I don't understand why it's popular (I do actually it tastes good).

moondog - I'm in food safety and have seen the lovely pink mush that makes wafer thin ham being made.

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sign Jamie Oliver's petition for a start
write to your MP
I think I will. Did you see my link to Guardian article today ? lots of good ideas there about school dinners

boycott the supermarkets (that's hard though, they've already put most of the competition out of business)

Not wanting to stick up for supermarkets but I don't agree with boycotting them after all they don't forcibly put the food in peoples trollies people do have a choice. You can just as easy get junk from a corner shop or any fast food place.

I think better labelling is a way forward I believe there was some new directive from the EU that stated that the actual part of the animal had to be declared instead of say 20% turkey (this was premummy brain so I may be wrong) but the govt and food industry were having problems with the wording ie they did not want to put entrails on a packet, connective tissue was also causing problems as you can imagine so you would have something like
30% chicken breast meat
10% heart, lungs and kidney
20% connective tissue etc

They felt that the British consumer was not ready for this type of labelling.

At the end of the day it all comes down to money the processed foods companies have it and can spend it on advertising you don't see advertisements for apples. I believe the govt want to tackle the problem but don't want to upset these companies.

On another note was with a few other mums today and one of them had just been for her DS's 8 month check and the HV had said to her "oh he can eat anything now have you tried those pasta shapes like Bob the Builder babies love them" I said they are full of sugar and salt turns out the salt content was less than 1g but still they are full of rubbish in the end she bought some spaghetti and passata and was going to make her own but this is HV's giving out this advice to young mums!

Yes, and at the end of the day, I just don't have time in the present stage of our lives to shop elsewhere

I can get a full weekly shop delivered , and a 5 mins walk to a Tescos for top ups, or I can get my car out, burn lots of fuel, drive to a congested town centre, fight for a parking space, pay for parking and then walk to several different shops and struggle to carry it back to the car, etc...

I, and the environment, pays over the odds for the latter. I am trying hard to cook more stuff fresh so I know what goes in stuff, try and cook double of things so I have a stock of quick easy meals in the freezer for when I can't be arsed, but at the same time don't crucify myself if we have spaghetti hoops with bread and butter for lunch one day...

depressing HV story!

Supermarkets have the monopoly so have put most of the competition out of business and are responsible for limiting the choice of food we buy. They charge suppliers for any promotions that they run - so yes, the biggest processed food manufacturers can afford advertising. It's been recommended before but Shopped by Joanna Blythman really does make your jaw drop.

that is, I tried boycotting supermarkets but couldn't find anywhere else to shop without taking days off work because there aren't any markets or ordinary butchers and only one greengrocer within 20 minutes of where I live.

Seetkitty my MIL buys the BTB shapes for DS when he goes to stay. Personally I would prefer it if she didn't but feel it is not worth the argument. She actively enjoys making him something different. So when we all went to lunch we had soup and sandwiches and DS has pasta shapes and white toast - neither of which he would have at home. She's not all bad though - she sent us home with a huge and delicious homemade parkin on Sunday. Don't know why she thought that we also needed 11 shop bought buns mind you (from pack of 12, DS had eaten one and DD had declined hers ).

Sorry off-topic I know.

That's the thing, isn't it Bozza, it's not worth the argument when it's a one off (although, you're always welcome to roll your eyes in the privacy of your own home if that floats your boat ) as we still have control over most of their diet at home.

Having junk food options (and even the healthy stuff isn't that great) every day for lunch at school concerns me simply because it's just such a HUGE proportion of their diet. That I would fight for (and yes, I have signed the petition!).