Foodies In The News

[Amber]

Not sure I agree with everything on this list of junk foods…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3d33l53r9o

[Stokey Sue]

It’s utterly ridiculous - if they can’t distinguish between the “junk” score of cocoa pops or Krave and porridge oats they obviously aren’t trying.

[RockyBVI]

I agree that the extent of the list renders it a bit worthless in that people may reject the concept in general as a result of it including things generally thought ok. I also think that it’s a bit pointless. How many young people watch proper tv with the adverts. None I know. It seems a bit ‘point scoring’ without any analysis.

[miss mouse]

How many young people watch proper tv with the adverts. None I know. It seems a bit ‘point scoring’ without any analysis.

I don't know what the viewing habits of the young currently are. We (tend to) say we are not influenced by advertising, the advertises claim we are as all parties would. It's all a bit of a mess.

[Earthmaiden]

It does say online advertising. I'm not against that even though the list does seem odd in places. I doubt that ads for plain porridge oats are often aimed at children.

The best place to find all kinds of 'junk' food is the supermarket aisle. Any child who is taken shopping or older child who goes to a shop, can see what's on display and looks tempting.

I find it interesting that the reduction in sugar in soft drinks has had such an effect. I haven't studied it but have the impression that sugar has been replaced with forms of artificial sweetener in many items. Many artificial sweeteners are now deemed very questionable for health so that doesn't seem great. I do notice that the junior school aged children I know happily drink plain water all the time, even if it's been carried round all day and is no longer chilled.

[WolfGirl]

I use an old fashioned self-basting domed enamel roaster. Marvellous.

I have one of those too Suffs. My mum had one and bought mine for me when I married OH. That was 1976. I used to use it for all my roasts but now it’s just for chicken as I tend to roast other meats uncovered these days.

[herbidacious]

Some of those things are indeed silly.

re ads, several streaming servies - Netflix and Amazon prime, for example - have now introduced with ads and without ads prices. I have kept my low price by not opting out of ads, otherwise the price would go up a lot. So ads are there now too. Also for youtube.


It seems to me that ads do work, but clearly not every ad is going to work on everyone. And sometimes they work in a general way. See an ad for one chocolate bar and go out and get another brand/type.
One thing I notice about FB ads for clothing is that when companies highlight particular products, if you click on that product it's usually sold out. I am inclined to think that that's advertising working directly and very well, rather than some cynical ploy.

[miss mouse]

Many artificial sweeteners are now deemed very questionable for health so that doesn't seem great.

They have been for quite some time. I believe that they are cheaper than sugar so so a double win for the food industry.

[KeenCook]

Interesting re blueberries. I have noticed recently that they have often been UK grown. https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... sales-boom

[Earthmaiden]

Me to. I only became aware of them after my visits to the USA and have grown them successfully in my garden ever since so wondered why ours were always imported. To have a longer growing season, as they mention, would make a difference. I wonder what they do to get an acidic soil.

[Stokey Sue]

I feel sorry for the Ready Brek kid

I never know what to think about artificial sweeteners. Most of the “science” people get hysterical about come from rat studies in which ridiculous a doses were given, but this just obscures any evidence from humans, which is poor, because sweeteners are such a small part of the diet, even if you have Donald Trump’s Diet Coke habit. Hmmm. I know I can taste both saccharin and stevia, yuk, which leaves me with the occasional dose of aspartame

[Earthmaiden]

I feel sorry for the Ready Brek kid

He must surely have reached adulthood by now .

[Badger's Mate]

Why is Stevia considered an artificial sweetener? Unless I have misunderstood, Stevia is a sweet-tasting substance extracted from a tropical plant. Sugar is a sweet-tasting substance originally extracted from a tropical plant.

[Earthmaiden]

It's all quite confusing. For a while, coconut sugar was acceptable whilst cane or beet sugar wasn't. As far as the human body is concerned, they are all sugars.

This article has an annoyingly inconclusive ending https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/swe ... an%20sugar). It does bring up some interesting points though. With regard to sugars, are we worrying about calories, blood sugar levels, tooth decay or other factors? There seems no clarity.

I thought that the plus point for Stevia (which I don't dislike) was that it was plant based but you use it in lesser amounts than cane/beet sugar. Usage should go hand in hand with reducing all added sugar intake.

[Badger's Mate]

There are all sorts of reasons why people don’t want sugars. As far as I can see Stevia hasn’t got any of those disadvantages but doesn’t have quite the same flavour or versatility as sugar and doesn’t quite work as a sugar replacement in every way that sugar is used. However, sugars aren’t deadly poisons, it’s perfectly OK to consume some, just not too much. I’m blessed with a lack of sweet teeth but lots of folk aren’t.

[Badger's Mate]

It’s interesting to me that the TV advertisements for sugar-free soft drinks often seem to feature fast food - there’s one (I think for a cola brand) showing all manner of stuff with fat dripping off it being shovelled into mouths and washed down with the product being advertised. It leaves me totally cold and even slightly discouraged, but I am clearly not the target demographic.

[Stokey Sue]

Why is Stevia considered an artificial sweetener? Unless I have misunderstood, Stevia is a sweet-tasting substance extracted from a tropical plant. Sugar is a sweet-tasting substance originally extracted from a tropical plant.

Yes, “artificial “ is not the right word - the correct term is “non-nutritive sweetener” a substance that gives the sweet taste without the calories of sugars or other carbs. Some scientists think they all have the same effect on the body, artificial or not, because of the way they fool your senses rather than the chemistry. I honestly don’t know. I just dislike the smell and taste of stevia.

I notice that I left out a key word in my previous post - the excessive experimental doses were given to RATS which is why it’s not clear if the results apply to humans.

[scullion]

you did mention that it was in studies on rats, sue.

i'm one of those that can't abide the taste of aspartame - on the rare occasions i'd buy fizzy drinks i would go for the sugar variety, i'm afraid.

[Earthmaiden]

As one who rarely buys soft drinks I do wonder about the quantity of sweetener some people get through and what the effects might be. I passed a house recently where recycling was awaiting collection. I have reason to believe that the two large bags of plastic 'pop' bottles and bin full of cans were consumed by one person in a fortnight. Quite probable if they don't drink hot drinks or water. We've been talking about alcohol free beers here recently. What are they sweetened with generally?

[Stokey Sue]

We've been talking about alcohol free beers here recently. What are they sweetened with generally?

They aren't sweetened, as beer is not sweet, though shandy obviously will be. Normal beer has a very low sugar content - remember Holsten Pils - all the sugar (from the malt) turns to alcohol? Either the alcohol is removed or they have fancy ways of brewing that don't put it in at all. The ingredients on the can I have are water, barley, yeast and hops - 53 calories per serving(a lot less than the alcoholic version as there are ~55 kcal per unit of alcohol (10ml/8g), so if the beer is 5% the alcohol would contribute about 90 calories