Ultra-Processed Food

[ECCOnoob 1,040]

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Every attempt by consumer groups, poverty action groups, healthier living groups are thwarted by Government inaction.

 

For every pound spent on food education, a hundred thousand is spent on advertising fat.

fessionals 

'Pizza ... ' only sell fat, they claim that salad is free, but you have to buy fat first.

 

Fat is cheap so colour it, shape it, form it, flavour it out of all recognition, add addictive additives, advertise illegally and immorally, promote brainwashing behaviours etc, etc.

 

Life is hard enough without having to face down a barrage of professionals who are paid to get to buy things you don't want and another bunch of professionals who are paid to get to buy things that hide the contents and an indifferent government who block simple systems that would help you choose.

 

 

You talk as if freedom of choice and self-responsibility do not exist.

 

Most ordinary folks on the street know full well that eating pies is less healthy for them the eating lettuce. They know the general principles of a healthier lifestyle is to eat less and move around more. They know full well that a balanced nutritious diet combining 5 fruit and veg a day is what the doctor orders. This is pretty much standard advice since year dot.  However personal taste dictates that such rules are generally boring, unappetizing, unpleasant and avoided.

 

Private Enterprise knows that. They know what makes money, what doesn't and tailor their businesses accordingly.  Us consumers then lap it up choosing what restaurants we want to eat in.

 

Of course those evil corporations and their grubby advertising men produce more fatty unhealthy food adverts than the government spends on on nutritional education but the obvious reason for that is that they are being paid for by private investment as opposed to having to produce advertising using taxpayer monies which most ordinary people on the street would argue should be better spent funding things like nurses and carers and schools. 

 

Perhaps if the message is so needed, maybe some of those overpaid sports stars and airhead celebrities who everyone seems to worship, could give up their time and do a bit of promotion on healthy eating and the benefits of vegetables. But of course they are just as greedy as everybody else. They will much rather be paid by Pepsi or or some sweatshop trainer manufacturer to have their face and name plastered all over the place.

 

As for singling out Pizza Hut, I really don't know why. The salad is hardly their key product is it. It is a side dish at best. Everybody knows that Pizza Hut sells pizza and by its very nature, being a dough product covered in cheese and meat - it is obviously going to contain fat.

 

However they go to Pizza Hut because they want a pizza. People are not going there to pick up a salad and freshly blended avocado and kale smoothie.

 

Now perhaps if some very trendy, popular salad restaurant opens up which specialises in superfoods but just happens to sell a slice of pizza on the side, and that business miraculously becomes popular in reputation making billions across the globe with multiple outlets then... yes they're may be an argument here.

[apelike 10]

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Every attempt by consumer groups, poverty action groups, healthier living groups are thwarted by Government inaction.

And when the government try to do something this happens.....

 

https://thetab.com/uk/2021/05/14/plans-to-show-calories-on-menus-is-detrimental-for-those-with-disordered-eating-205441

 

People simply need to take some responsibility for themselves as they know the risks involved, they know that being obese is bad for them and the NHS and yet we just get "It's not our fault" when obesity kicks in and health problems arise.

 

Just before the OP originally posted I was reading this on the BBC:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57419041

 

I just wonder how many of those people are obese because of genetics alone as it seems odd that its not included in the data especially as obesity has been on the increase for decades.

 

Apparently the woman in the article, Sarah, now wants the government to make comments about body shape and size illegal. 

 

 

[Bunny Marsh 18]

But if you read the article Sarah went on a health and fitness regime and actually lost 8 and a half stone, so she was obviously doing something right, but her problem must have been she couldn't stick to it.

[El Cid 219]

10 hours ago, apelike said:

I just wonder how many of those people are obese because of genetics alone as it seems odd that its not included in the data especially as obesity has been on the increase for decades.

 

Apparently the woman in the article, Sarah, now wants the government to make comments about body shape and size illegal.

There could be some that are mentally unable to do anything to keep their weight down. I personally would be embarrased to walk down the street with ripples of bulging fat.

A am trying to lose a little weight because it may relieve the pressure on my bad knee. I like easy food, the traffic light system on food is a help, there was disagreement about that.

The government could ban certain foodstuffs from food that has a green traffic light. It helped to reduce sugar in fizzy drinks, the government can do more.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

12 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

 

 

However they go to Pizza Hut because they want a pizza. People are not going there to pick up a salad and freshly blended avocado and kale smoothie.

 

 

We have a long way to go if some people still think that the alternative to added fat is:

"... a salad and freshly blended avocado and kale smoothie."

Even further to go if people assume that the vastly overpriced dough, cheese and meat are anything like dough, cheese and meat you would use at home.

I am still amazed that people still think that the addition of cheap sugar to childrens  food was not to attract and promote addictive behaviour.

 

The franchise model of these "fast food" outlets includes creating the limited choice, ingredients and products that keep attracting children of all ages.

I would like to think that most people go to restaurants for the range and quality of food and drink, the atmosphere and the company. I do appreciate that children and teenagers  enjoy the "fun" element  of sharing and the atmosphere

 

At least the British chip shop offers more choice and the British restaurants offer a massively greater range of food styles than anywhere else which enables families and friends, including children, and learn about food. 

 

 

[ECCOnoob 1,040]

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

We have a long way to go if some people still think that the alternative to added fat is:

"... a salad and freshly blended avocado and kale smoothie."

Even further to go if people assume that the vastly overpriced dough, cheese and meat are anything like dough, cheese and meat you would use at home.

I am still amazed that people still think that the addition of cheap sugar to childrens  food was not to attract and promote addictive behaviour.

 

The franchise model of these "fast food" outlets includes creating the limited choice, ingredients and products that keep attracting children of all ages.

I would like to think that most people go to restaurants for the range and quality of food and drink, the atmosphere and the company. I do appreciate that children and teenagers  enjoy the "fun" element  of sharing and the atmosphere

 

At least the British chip shop offers more choice and the British restaurants offer a massively greater range of food styles than anywhere else which enables families and friends, including children, and learn about food. 

 

 

I never said it was the alternative, I was just trying to emphasise why people go to a restaurant like Pizza Hut. You talked about their salad offering as if that is their primary product. It isn't. At best it's nothing more than a sideline and for the majority of customers it won't even get a look in.  Customers know exactly what to expect when they choose to go there and that is a fatty product. I really don't think more food education is going to change that simple concept.

 

Yes I do think the fat and chemical laidoned ingredients of somewhere like Pizza Hut are the same that people use at home. Most average people are driven by price when it comes to their groceries shopping. They are buying bulk made, additive filled, water filled, fat filled, artificially flavoured, mechanically reclaimed, factory processed goods shipped in from all over the world. Everything from bread, greens, meets, even prepared vegetables have been subject to additives. Let's not forget that for some of the poorest customers it is far cheaper buying a box of pre-made frozen pizzas for £1 than it would ever be to start making one from scratch with fresh ingredients.

 

Not everyone is privileged enough to have the luxury of ye Olde butchers, bakers and greengrocers with their abundance of fresh, natural, organic products readily available to them.  The link between commercial restaurants and home ingredients from supermarkets is hardly such a stretch.  Most of it comes out of the same factories from the same companies. The only difference is quantity.

 

As for your comments on restaurants generally, I really do think you are being a bit naive, in fact almost nostalgic in your view. Whilst those circumstances you state might be the case in twee little Derbyshire villages or maybe for the suburbanites living in Hampstead, that average man in the street certainly has nothing like that in terms of their choice.

 

Take a look at your average High Street's in the average town and what do we see. It is carbon copy fast food outlets, chicken shops, national chains, franchises and branding. Every pub restaurant with the same menu just in different colours and fonts. What are they all offering?   Processed and often centrally made foods which are just reheated and slapped on a plate. Now in the world of deliveroo and other such apps, the distribution of that ultra-processed "restaurant food"  is even quicker.

 

This issue certainly not limited to what you call children's foods. Neither is it just a factor at a  tiny handful of scummy corporate fast food brands.

 

Like supermarkets, ALL restaurants are driven by price. They know what  their markets is, they know exactly what people will pay and they will therefore adjust the quality, source and use of their ingredients accordingly. Of course there are some independent restaurants or premium level chains who will cook fresh with fresh quality unprocessed goods but if a customer base is limited it will be far far outweighed by the chain restaurants, chain pubs and fast food outlets who can offer cheap plentiful filling food for the masses - who care not a jot about the source, processing or treatments of their food as long as it's cheap.

 

I don't know what sort of "British chip shops" or "British restaurants" you frequent on a regular basis but the lovely image you portray is certainly not my reality.

Edited June 18, 2021 by ECCOnoob

[Annie Bynnol 612]

5 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

I never said it was the alternative, I was just trying to emphasise why people go to a restaurant like Pizza Hut. You talked about their salad offering as if that is their primary product. It isn't. At best it's nothing more than a sideline and for the majority of customers it won't even get a look in. 

 

 

Right from the start you missed the point about salad at Pizza Hut. 

They do not sell salad.

It's not a sideline, they don't charge.

You cannot buy it.

Therefore if you are taking a family or adult friends you have to eat added fat. 

 

If we were talking about teenagers  and alcohol, we would be encouraging them to go to pub and bar with family and learning and observing about the variety of alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks. Instead all they see are variaties of whisky.

 

Parents succumb (too easily) to the persuasiveness of children when it comes to family eating,

Advertising to children is forbidden and yet all kinds of gimmicks, product placements, celebrity endorsements, influencers etc, are used to sell the fat to children. 

The Government stands back and only when pushed into a corner does anything eg sugar tax.

Despite support from some supermarkets they refuse to introduce a "traffic light" system which would cost them nothing and enable parents and children to make choices.

 

 

 

 

 

[apelike 10]

5 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Right from the start you missed the point about salad at Pizza Hut. 

They do not sell salad.

It's not a sideline, they don't charge.

You cannot buy it.

Therefore if you are taking a family or adult friends you have to eat added fat. 

Me bolded.

 

No that's wrong as Pizza Hut do not add any fat to their product's even in their pizza dough. What it does contain is some vegetable oil and the normal amount of sugar to allow the yeast to do its work. Their sauces also do not contain fat and use vegetable oil but they do have some sugar. 

 

Too much misinformation and a quick google would confirm that.

 

In fact I don't see many restaurants or chippies for that matter that don't use vegetable oil. I myself though not being a vegetarian prefer lard!

Edited June 18, 2021 by apelike

[the_bloke 17]

20 hours ago, apelike said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57419041

 

I just wonder how many of those people are obese because of genetics alone as it seems odd that its not included in the data especially as obesity has been on the increase for decades.

 

Apparently the woman in the article, Sarah, now wants the government to make comments about body shape and size illegal. 

 

 

I'm not sure what the article is trying to prove to be honest. Her genetics don't mean that she is going to be obese, her genetics have receptors and genes that increase the risk of obesity. That's why she put weight on easily and that's why she can lose it again. Her genetics aren't hard wired for her to be obese, else she'd never lose weight.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

1 hour ago, apelike said:

Me bolded.

 

No that's wrong as Pizza Hut do not add any fat to their product's even in their pizza dough. What it does contain is some vegetable oil and the normal amount of sugar to allow the yeast to do its work. Their sauces also do not contain fat and use vegetable oil but they do have some sugar. 

 

Too much misinformation and a quick google would confirm that.

 

In fact I don't see many restaurants or chippies for that matter that don't use vegetable oil. I myself though not being a vegetarian prefer lard!

Fats and oils only differ in their physical properties and not so much in their chemical properties eg health.

Historically  "Fat Manufacturers" used animals and "Oil  Manufacturers" used animals and plants.

Many vegetable oils are solid and are as beneficial/harmful as their animal equivalent.

I can assure you that the chemistry of foodstuffs used in large scale food manufacturer is not the same as what comes out of a field, barn, ocean etc. or available on supermarket shelves.

[ECCOnoob 1,040]

17 minutes ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Fats and oils only differ in their physical properties and not so much in their chemical properties eg health.

Historically  "Fat Manufacturers" used animals and "Oil  Manufacturers" used animals and plants.

Many vegetable oils are solid and are as beneficial/harmful as their animal equivalent.

I can assure you that the chemistry of foodstuffs used in large scale food manufacturer is not the same as what comes out of a field, barn, ocean etc. or available on supermarket shelves.

Who on earth do you think supplies the Supermarkets.  I really don't belive there is such a vast difference as you make out.  

[apelike 10]

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Fats and oils only differ in their physical properties and not so much in their chemical properties eg health.

Not exactly sure what you mean there. I know that hydrogenated fats and oils have different chemical properties but that has nothing to do with causing obesity. 

 

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Historically  "Fat Manufacturers" used animals and "Oil  Manufacturers" used animals and plants.

Many vegetable oils are solid and are as beneficial/harmful as their animal equivalent.

Its hydrogenation which makes them solid and that change is known to have an effect on the heart because it can cause cholesterol problems.

 

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

I can assure you that the chemistry of foodstuffs used in large scale food manufacturer is not the same as what comes out of a field, barn, ocean etc. or available on supermarket shelves.

I never really thought it was, it's just as to what degree it is different and what that difference actually means when it comes to health. As stated earlier the percentage difference may seem large but in reality it is actually very small.