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Telly addicts

Did anyone watch "What are we feeding our kids?" on BBC1

445 replies

MarchXX · 28/05/2021 06:08

Here's link.

i astounded that there has been little to no research of the effect of UPSs on our brains and bodies. The results on Chris (after one month) were dire indeed.

Chris's brain scans before and after were shocking but not surprising as UPF food manufacturers spend multi££££millions on research to find the perfect bliss point to skewer and keep new addicted consumers eating their products again and again.

I was interested in the huge increase in our consumption of UPF foods since 1980 but would have liked to see the difference from 1970 or 1960 because when I was a child growing up (in 60s) there was virtually no UPF foods in our home, all meals were cooked using fresh meat/fish, eggs, veg and fruit with some dried/tinned goods and no ready meals/takeaways. Eating out (or takeaways) was a very rare treat indeed and snacking between meals was frowned upon and not encouraged.

The representative from the food industry was, not surprisingly, reticent about their role in the deteriorating health of our nation's population. Nestle's success in infiltrating remote communities with their UPF-packed supermarket-boats and creating new addicted consumers (and an obesity epidemic) was an eye-opener but not at all surprising seeing as their role in exploiting breastfeeding mothers in third world countries is well known, too.

Anyway, did anyone watch it. What did you think?

OP posts:
HeyGirlHeyBoy · 28/05/2021 21:41

Oats are fantastic surely? Lower blood sugars, slow release energy and excellent for heart health. I have no interest in any bread products but love carbs in the form of oats, potatoes and some rice, pasta now and again.

Onawheel · 28/05/2021 22:46

Thanks @21Flora &@hairydog.

Yes I think cold pressed rapeseed oil is ok but good point about no value in it.

21Flora · 28/05/2021 23:48

@Onawheel there is value in cold press rape seed oil!

Did anyone watch "What are we feeding our kids?" on BBC1
Happyschool · 29/05/2021 01:58

I strongly back the buying whole ingredients and using quick recipes as family life is busy. There are so many easy cook books to help with simple ideas, which I do need.

The canned tomato v Lloyd Grossman debate isn’t as simple as I’m a bit wary of the tins when tomatoes are so acidic- I googled it and found a better explanation but it’s only from google so I am only throwing it in as a question ! I tend to use Passata in a glass bottle or fresh tomatoes .

Copied from a quick google search :
Fredrick Vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A, gives us the scoop:

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

Happyschool · 29/05/2021 02:02

Rapeseed is one of the most sprayed crops , both for pesticides and weed killer I believe. I’m being a real doom monger but I looked it up when my DC and others local to us developed a cough for months with it growing nearby and this was mentioned to a neighbour by the GP. I notice not one insect on it near us and I actually paid a ridiculous amount £3.50 to buy organic and use it less than I did as it’s now 3x the price of my normal oil

1forAll74 · 29/05/2021 04:06

It wasn't surprising to me,when I watched this programme, at the steady decline of what lots of people like to eat these days. Being an oldie, I don't remember many people who were overweight and obese years ago, and no children either. in my case, I can remember, all the years from the 1940's. through to the 1960's. when people did not eat junk food, or much processed food. In the 1940's we were lucky to even have one packet of biscuits a week, or many sweets, with the rationing stuff.

Fish and chips from the chippy. were a Friday night treat. and the first burger bar in town, the WIMPY, opened in about 1964 in my town.

People either walked or cycled everywhere, as not many cars about.

A lot of people grew all there own veg in those earlier years.My late Mum. and Grand mother, seemed to be always making soups, and stews, to fill the family up, and people didn't seem to be needing any snacks between meals at all.

The food manufacturers, are going to keep on churning this junk food out, all the processed rubbish, if people keep buying it, as it's true, that people get addicted to stuff, even though it's deemed bad for health.

I only remember one person who was overweight in my family, and that was my Late Father,, he always wanted a stack of potatoes with every meals, and then he would eat any leftover food, from other peoples dinners. he had a heart problem in later years, and had a heart attack one morning when getting out of bed, and my Mum found him dead on the floor.

TheoMeo · 29/05/2021 05:46

I can't believe all the herbicide, insecticides sprayed onto food is harmless. That just wouldn't make sense - the spray kills insects and kills fungi but has no effect on humans??
But I doubt we can go back to safer farming and produce enough to feed the world.
I read that one of the worst fruit for spraying is blueberries.
I can only think that that is because of where it's grown because it grows easily in the garden here in the UK with no spraying for anything.

Pinkblueberry · 29/05/2021 07:01

"You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

Are Italians genetically except from this then? One of the healthiest older populations who statistically love their tinned tomatoes?

chocolateorangeinhaler · 29/05/2021 07:22

I dislike these programs as the implication is that kids poor diet is the parents fault. To a degree it is. But it's never
Mentioned that as a nation we are time poor but cash rich. Who's got time at 8pm to cook a meal from scratch. It would be 10pm before you had finished eating it. It was easy to do in the 80s as everyone finished work at 5pm and nobody had anything to do apart from go home. With after school activities, flexi working, WFH there isn't really a finish time from work anymore and when you do finish your so exhausted the thought of making a white sauce from scratch is an absolute no.

Fluffycloudland77 · 29/05/2021 08:26

@Sandra15, Thank you! I was wondering yesterday why the only liver recipe you see is pate or liver and onions & then you pop up with a stroganoff. I will be buying liver this week.

I have a yoghurt maker because I use soya milk and it’s not hard to do.

I disagree with the family on that program saying healthy food is expensive. A lot of veg is very cheap especially now with wonky fruit & veg being sold. It takes more planning than convenience food & that’s the problem.

Today I’ll use a soup maker to do parsnips soup, then spinach & potato soup for lunches next week. I’ve made wholemeal rye to go with it & then I’ll soak dried beans for a vegetarian chilli. I’m no culinary genius either I just really don’t want to eat myself unwell & I hate cooking so I’ve taught myself to get it done in as short a possible time.

Jahebejrjr · 29/05/2021 08:42

@chocolateorangeinhaler It’s hard to see how it isn’t the parent’s fault if they are the ones feeding their children?

4PawsGood · 29/05/2021 08:44

@chocolateorangeinhaler Who's got time at 8pm to cook a meal from scratch. It would be 10pm before you had finished eating it.

There are many meals you can make from scratch in around half an hour.

Nonmaquillee · 29/05/2021 08:45

@IHaveBrilloHair

Granny lived in a different era. I don't think that's a fair thing to say.
I agree - if your granny doesn’t recognise something as an ingredient, don’t buy it. It’s actually really simple.

Cake for my grandmothers would mean eggs, flour, sugar, butter. Not margarine (UPF). Pick up a cake in a supermarket and spot these ingredients. They’re hard to find. So don’t buy it.

Re tomatoes: buy the cheapest fresh tomatoes. Wash really well. Slice and put in roasting tin with olive oil, salt, perhaps garlic. Roast on a low temp. Whizz up and you have a perfect pasta sauce or soup. Those jarred sauces are expensive in comparison and absolutely vile. No self respecting Italian would use them (I am part Italian despite my username 😊).

Nonmaquillee · 29/05/2021 08:47

[quote 4PawsGood]**@chocolateorangeinhaler* Who's got time at 8pm to cook a meal from scratch. It would be 10pm before you had finished eating it.*

There are many meals you can make from scratch in around half an hour.[/quote]
Absolutely agree.

It’s a choice - yes, your kids can go to after school activities but what is the payoff? Perhaps one or two a week when you can prepare a really simple quick meal but if you choose to do this every day then you’re going to run yourself ragged.

4PawsGood · 29/05/2021 08:50

That’s really interesting about the food bank choices, Essential

4PawsGood · 29/05/2021 08:52

Also, it seems to have become unacceptable to eat the same food two days in a row. Maybe we’d be better doing that rather than eating something more processed on the second day when we’re pushed for time.

beepbeepbonk · 29/05/2021 08:56

I watched it off the back of this thread and I thought it just to be stating the bloody obvious. If you can't see that a frozen doner kebab is absolute shite then I mean, come on...

It all boils down once again to people not knowing how to prepare food, you can make quick easy healthy meals if you know how.

NicknamesAreLikeKleenex · 29/05/2021 08:57

There must be a lot of non-self-respecting Italians shopping in Italian supermarkets then Nonmaquliee. Actually I do prefer Italian brand pasta sauce. DD is on a quest for the type we bought when we went on a self-catering holiday but irritatingly we didn’t take a note of the brand so every time I go to a posh deli I try one at a ruinous price to see whether we can track it down.

beepbeepbonk · 29/05/2021 09:00

Also, I'm sure I was taught the "mother" rule of food, look at the ingredients and you should be able to trace them back in one or two steps to their original form, so eggs, milk, flour are easy enough to trace back, colouring, stabilisers and refined starch extract... not so much.

Arbadacarba · 29/05/2021 09:00

Who's got time at 8pm to cook a meal from scratch. It would be 10pm before you had finished eating it.

Yes, I understand this feeling, having worked those sorts of hours. I think the move away from 9-5 type hours over the last 40 years is likely also to be a factor in the obesity crisis. It can make it difficult to fit in proper meals at reasonable times, and you are more likely to turn to snacks.

A slow-cooker is a good option if you're on late start/late finish because you've time to prep the ingredients before you leave for work.

There's also the batch cooking and freezing so often recommended on MN if you CBA to do that at the weekend.

Fortunately I'm on 9-5 at the moment and WFH so cooking from scratch isn't difficult. I'll have to look at other options if/when that changes.

Arbadacarba · 29/05/2021 09:05

If you can't see that a frozen doner kebab is absolute shite then I mean, come on...

I misguidedly bought one during last year's lockdown - it was one of the most foul things I'd ever tasted, and that was when I was eating lots of processed foods.

See also those ready-made cheeseburgers that you microwave. Bleurgh.

MarchXX · 29/05/2021 09:17

@chocolateorangeinhaler

I dislike these programs as the implication is that kids poor diet is the parents fault. To a degree it is. But it's never Mentioned that as a nation we are time poor but cash rich. Who's got time at 8pm to cook a meal from scratch. It would be 10pm before you had finished eating it. It was easy to do in the 80s as everyone finished work at 5pm and nobody had anything to do apart from go home. With after school activities, flexi working, WFH there isn't really a finish time from work anymore and when you do finish your so exhausted the thought of making a white sauce from scratch is an absolute no.
I really sympathise with parents and the lack of time we seem to have nowadays. I think we have been led by the nose over decades by very clever food manufacturer marketing to believe that the UPF foods we are encouraged to buy and use daily are healthy, quick, really tasty and wonderful for our family = the perfect dishes. Far better than slaving over a hot stove to make some boring alternative.

Somehow nutrition is lost and the skills our parents and grandparents had to making little go a long way, nutritious bone broth bases to make soups and stews, using cheaper 'wonky' veg or veg in season is lost too.

Does anyone remember the adverts encouraging kids to 'eat xxx between meals without ruining your appetite'? Why? Because the norm was not to eat snacks between meals and clever marketers had to find a way to change that behaviour. They were very successful, too Sad.

"Once you pop you can't stop!"
"A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play!"

I despise cereals with a passion now. A waste of time and calories, particularly those incredibly high in added sugars. Just look at the ingredients! Then, they add some virtue-signalling 'vitamins' to make them appear 'nutritious'. Gah!

OP posts:
Nonmaquillee · 29/05/2021 09:18

[quote Jahebejrjr]@chocolateorangeinhaler It’s hard to see how it isn’t the parent’s fault if they are the ones feeding their children?[/quote]
Quite. Kids eat what parents give them. Particularly when young, they have no idea if something is good for them or not.

The food culture in the UK is in a pretty sad state. Whilst I fully empathise with people who genuinely have absolutely no spare cash even to build up a store cupboard of oils, spices etc, and who have absolutely no access to fresh food or no local market (one of the towns closest to me which has really high rates of obvious deprivation has two weekly markets with fruit and veg stalls - you can get a huge bagful of stuff for around a fiver, so it’s a great shame that not all towns in the UK have this), what I don’t begin to understand is the people who don’t lack money to buy food on a regular basis who I see in Aldi or Tesco or wherever with their trolleys piled high with a mountain of beige shit. I KNOW that it’s cheaper to buy three potatoes to make mash rather than a bag of “smiley faces” 🤢 or a bag of pasta, block of cheese and a bit of milk and make macaroni cheese rather than the equivalent ready meal etc etc....but so many people seem to want to make excuses about it being too time consuming or costly to cook from scratch...so perhaps those people should crack on...

We can keep making excuses OR thinking of the truly saddest, worst-case scenarios (what if people have no hob? Or no pans? Etc) which I feel very very sorry for, but for the vast majority of people it’s really not at all difficult to cook good food quickly and easily from scratch.

Nonmaquillee · 29/05/2021 09:23

@NicknamesAreLikeKleenex

There must be a lot of non-self-respecting Italians shopping in Italian supermarkets then Nonmaquliee. Actually I do prefer Italian brand pasta sauce. DD is on a quest for the type we bought when we went on a self-catering holiday but irritatingly we didn’t take a note of the brand so every time I go to a posh deli I try one at a ruinous price to see whether we can track it down.
Don’t bother with a deli ripping you off a fiver for fresh tomato sauce. Just make your own at a fraction of the cost.
ivykaty44 · 29/05/2021 09:32

Industrial food started in all earnest in the 1970s and industrial food manufacturers started selling “ snack” & “convenience”

4 decades later we see on an interview that profit comes before health for these companies 😂

It’s not about eat less nice more, it’s literally about the food wiring your brain to seek more and it’s poisonous. One month on an 80% ultra processed food diet to replicate what 20% of youngsters are eat, and it’s changed his brain 🧠

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