Supermarket 'Value' ranges

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Did anyone else read this article at the weekend? What really shocked me was not the rubbish that goes into value foods (pig skin in sausages etc) but that for such a minimal amount the supermarkets could improve the quality. It really upsets me that in the current climate there are people who have no choice about buying value ranges for their families and the supermarkets don't appear to care about the quality of the food.

There is a legal definition of a sausage wrt the meat that goes into it but the proportion of connective tissue (ie skin) and fat is quite high before they have to be declared on pack, I can't remember the exact proportions but will look it up. Technically any part of a pig counts as pork and cheap sausages have the cheaper (ie fattier) cuts in them. If there is more connective tissue or fat than the proportions allowed, they have to be declared outside the generic "Pork". Half decent sausages won't have skin, fat etc declared seperately on the label as the proportions will be less than those prescribed in law.

It's not really that interesting tbh - like any job there are good bits but I spend a lot of time ringing people up telling them to send me things that I should have had days ago! My customers are the supermarkets and are very demanding.

pmsl at the idea of an online chat, good material for insomniacs

I considered value rice krispies last week, thoguht the children wouldn't notice and I could save nearly a pound, until I turned over the packet and read the salt content and sugar in bloody rice krispies was almost double in the value range rather than kellogs.

Pork can be up to 30% fat and 25% connective tissue and still be called just "Pork". It sounds shocking but many pork cuts are fatty - not sure about the connective tissue myself [vom] but when you consider that many cuts are sold with skin on them for crackling then it isn't so hard to understand. After all they do say that the only part of the pig you can't eat is the oink

Slightly reassuring fact which I had forgotten until I re-read the regulations - if there is any mechanically recovered meat in the sausage then it must be declared on pack regardless of the proportions of lean meat/fat/connective tissue.

What makes me mad is that we've always had two different types of food in this country, value type food and premium type food.

It's only now though that the middle classes are having to eat the value food that they're moaning about it. They were perfectly happy for those on low incomes to eat it previously.

but that's a non-point, surely? if the middle classes weren't chattering about it, nothing would change anyway. revolutions are started by the middle classes.

There was a programme on a few months ago about the Disgusting Food We Eat (the title was something like that. Unfortunately the presenter was a very annoying bloke.)

There was a type of sausage with such a low meat content it could not be called a sausage. They were called 'Bangers'.

Cheap meat is crap. Everyone should know that.

Cheap veg, fine.

The last few tins of Sains value chopped tomatoes have been just tomato liquid. Absolutely no chunks of tomato at all

i saw that, it was a better programme than it looked, i thought.

lidl ones are great, tinker. do you have one nearby?

Jay R is doing a progamme about this on the telly in the next week or so. People need to be told over and over again so that more people stop buying it.

yes, aitch, it was an interesting prog, I thought. Kiplings, water-injected chicken, pie factories, all that. Shame about teh presenter.

pointy - was that the one where he made Mr Reilly's Pies? I loved that programme. Have to say, I'll never eat in Wetherspoon's again after they refused to divulge the contents of any of their "meals"

I do shop at Lidl and Aldi as well. I'll just buy from wherever I am but won't get the Sains chopped again. The whole ones are ok.

i thougth the presenter was better than he appeared as well, he put out some good solid info on bbc3, which is a feat in itself.

Name, I don't understand your comment re 'they were perfectly happy for pooe people to eat it.' Who exactly?

There have been many programmes and books about poor quality food. It's just about repeating the message, this time to tie in with the next big food season on C4. They need a fresh twist so teh credit crunch has been chosen./

I use asda value passata

yes, Reilly's pies!

agree the presenter did a good job, just in an annoying style which (based on workplace chitchat) put a lot of people off. He just came across as a comedian.

I think he is a comedian. I like him. He did another one about the housing market - Norfolk & Holmes was his company. Took me a while to work it out.

ah well. That would clarify the situation.

Butter is butter whatever the wrapper, value or finest. I have this on the authority of someone who worked at the St Ivel factory, putting the different wrappers on.

I would never buy value sausages however skint I am - I would rather go without sausages.

But this is not new is it? We've known for ages that some value food is good and some of it is crap. We also know that people can often turn a blind eye to what's in their food if they can't afford any better.

or also if they just WANT it, i dread to think what was in saturday's takeaway, but i don't care to ask.

Monosodium glutamate

I prefer Tesco value baked beans to Heinz.

Their value Black Bin Bags are useless though

I was told that we must avoid things with the word 'style' on them. i.e. if the carton says 'juice' then there is a legal requirement as to what percentage of juice and water it should have.
But if it says 'juice style drink' then it can be 99% water and the law cannot touch the company.
'Feta cheese' means it is made from sheep's milk and in a very specific way. But 'feta style cheese' is usually from cow's milk with very little sheep's milk.
Basically if the factory adds the magic word 'style' then they get away from law and can sell anything

Its the flavoured/flavour thing