Food industry "profoundly irresponsible"...

tomvw

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Muramasa89 said:
tomvw said:
Alright, I'll admit that Cola might have been a bad example. But honestly, most of the food I've seen has a pretty clear mention of the fat-, sugar- and protein-percentages. And I've never seen anything with "Genetically Engineered Meat" in the ingredient list.
I do live in the EU, so it might have something to do with regulations on labeling.
It's becomming more common in the years, the percentages, especially where I am in the UK, and even some ready meals are doing it (hurray! There's really no excuse that way to blame the Food Industry) but until it's compulsory to be on every product, people will be oblivious and can't be blamed. The government in the UK are making the percentage guideline more aware, which I feel a step forward. Companies shouldn't play on people's ignorance for a quick buck.

The 'Genetically Engineered Meat' in generally in tinned meats (i.e. hot dogs) and cheap burgers/sausages/chicken pieces (I can buy 60 burgers for £2. Great some might say, but it's not even real meat, and completely unhealthy for you).
I heard the EU was working on improving the laws/regulations regarding labels, mostly to do with readability (bigger font, color-coding and such). A positive evolution, I think.

I rarely buy tinned meat (except for Zwan), so it's possible I haven't come across it yet.
 

Muramasa89

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tomvw said:
I heard the EU was working on improving the laws/regulations regarding labels, mostly to do with readability (bigger font, color-coding and such). A positive evolution, I think.

I rarely buy tinned meat (except for Zwan), so it's possible I haven't come across it yet.
Positive indeed.
I had some tinned hotdogs the other day, I wish I kept the tin now, as an example.
 

crimsonshrouds

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Ah... socialism at its stupidest.

The nanny government is in and you can no longer have any cookies.
 

Dags90

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I think your disdain is misplaced, BGH122. I'm pretty sure no medical doctor will be drafting, or even voting on legislation in the UK*. It says quite clearly in the beginning that she wants ministers to sort out the details.

She's airing their dirty laundry, challenging them to improve their products and threatening to push for legislation if they fail to improve. Should the time come to draft legislation, her and other medical doctors will be a small part of a large team of people.

There's no one to blame for bad legislation other than those who decided whether or not it passes.
 

tomtom94

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May 11, 2009
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crimsonshrouds said:
Ah... socialism at its stupidest.

The nanny government is in and you can no longer have any cookies.
No, that was never said. What was said was that the ridiculous levels of fat, salt and sugar used to bulk out cheap products nowadays need to be controlled.
 

Veritasiness

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In a capitalist society, it is the burden of the consumer to sway corporation's hands by refusing to eat junk. If they want junk, they will get it.

It's not the company's fault it's doing the things that make it money. That's it's *job*.

I don't live in the UK, and can't speak to the whole nanny state thing, but similar issues happen in the US and that's how I would deal with them.
 

lostzombies.com

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It's purely down to intelligence/common sense.
Muramasa89 said:
lostzombies.com said:
Now, I'm sorry but IMO this is just arse slappingly insane. Food companiess aslong as thye are not putting posion in their food have NO OBLIGATION on how much someone eats their food. The only irresonsible person in the the whole equation is the person who gets the food:exercise ratio wrong.
The food:exercise ratio isn't the problem. People don't read labels, don't know what stuff is unhealthy (companies hide what things really are with other names: such as 'Genetically Engineered Meat' (also has other names)), and people are fuck lazy. Lazy people + fat food = fat people. It IS the companies fault since they're knowingly selling health problems to people, playing on the fact a lot of us don't have the time to make a home-made meal and most aren't educated in what causes problems in food.

I don't see by ANY stretch of the imagination how someone can blame the food industry fpr people being fat. Personal choice is the only reason why people are fat/thin. When the day comes when food companies sit you down and force you to eat their food, fine, call the waaambulance, but right now? Fuck off.
Then you miss the picture. Go to your local Iceland. Mine would be a perfect example, but every fucking isle is loaded with cheap shit, and if you bother to read the labels and ingredients in particular the quick/ready meals, you'll notice people don't have much of a choice in food selection (apart from 'Chicken Korma or Vindaloo???')
That's the thing which gets me though, it seems directly linked to intelligence. People can eat healthy and it is FAR cheaper than the readymeals you mentioned. Grab a sack of pasta that will last you 3 weeks, its a couple fo quid, vegetables again are cheap, if you can't afford them grow your own. Protein is also cheap, you don't have to have steak you can have tuna etc or chicken. You can buy large amount of incredibly cheap food that is very healthy for you.

Instead you see like you said the ready/microwave food which are still more expensive that a meal comprised as shown above and they are filled with crap.

It's purely down to a lack of intelligence/common sense/minimal effort.

I mean literally you can buy a sack of dried pasta that will last you a month for a few quid. If people are so lazy/stupid/ignorant that they cannot figure something out this basic frankly they deserve nothing less than the early grave they dig for themselves
 

Muramasa89

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lostzombies.com said:
That's the thing which gets me though, it seems directly linked to intelligence. People can eat healthy and it is FAR cheaper than the readymeals you mentioned.
Beg to differ. http://www.iceland.co.uk/category/view/2/Frozen+food_Ready+meals
Ready meals are pretty cheap...

Grab a sack of pasta that will last you 3 weeks, its a couple of quid, vegetables again are cheap, if you can't afford them grow your own. Protein is also cheap, you don't have to have steak you can have tuna etc or chicken. You can buy large amount of incredibly cheap food that is very healthy for you.
All true. This is what I do. But you'd be surprised how many people can't throw some chicken and a sauce into a pan, boil the kettle and stick pasta on, freeze the excess for later dates. Even if they can, the quicker it is, the better. I realise the chicken+sauce+pasta mix is quick, roughly 15 minutes, but that doesn't compare to a microwave-in-60-seconds burger/hotdog/rib sandwich/whatever. It's already made for you, and takes less time. I wouldn't say it's intelligence/common sense, but rather people are both lazy and neither have the time anymore (thinking more business type people, as an example).

It's purely down to a lack of intelligence/common sense/minimal effort.
People go for the minimal effort because it's just an easier alternative, which is the downfall. A parents, possibly single in this day and age, might have 2 or 3 kids. They'll go to school. So she has to:
Go to work for most of the day.
Sort her kids out, i.e. dress them, feed them, send them to school, feed them after school, get ready for bed.
Then she has other tasks such as the washing, cleaning the house, dishes, etc.*

A quick ready meal or a cheap burger and chips is a better alternative for her in terms of effort. The companies in the Industry play on the fact people live in these circumstances, to sell them cheap shit that in the long run will kill you. The logical alternative would be for them to change their money grabbing ways.

I mean literally you can buy a sack of dried pasta that will last you a month for a few quid. If people are so lazy/stupid/ignorant that they cannot figure something out this basic frankly they deserve nothing less than the early grave they dig for themselves
It does get boring though, pasta all month. A good method, but plain. AND we do need a balanced diet after all.

I can agree people are to blame, what with the percentage guidelines coming into place more so, but only to an extent. To give them full credit I find a tad naive, people are being given credit for something they're blissfully unaware of, yet the government (mine in particular) still say "EAT HEALTHY!!".

*Doesn't have to be a mother, just an example.
 

lostzombies.com

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Muramasa89 said:
Agreed, I think whatever people eat and whatever the government decides to do, lashings of common sense are needed!

Just the sight of that Iceland/farmfoods stuff makes my stomach turn. I mean I can't see how someone would look at the stuff and go "hmm.....that looks tasty, hey it's also cheap, what could possibly be bad!!!"

Give me basic pasta/rice with bits of tuna or veg thrown in anyday lol
 

Vuljatar

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What a load of shit. This makes me sick.

People who are mentally and physically capable of taking care of themselves should be required to--in all cases. That includes making their own decisions about what to eat, and, if they care about their health, finding out which foods are healthy and which foods are not.. The government can fuck off.

People have the reasonable expectation to receive unhealthy food when they get fast food. McDonalds can make their burgers as artery-clogging as they want, and if a million people get fat and die from eating too many of them it's nobody's fault but the dead idiots'.

Forget "nanny state", we're turning into a fucking nanny world. Take care of yourselves, you fucking idiots! Your life is your own god-damned responsibility, so take control of it or just go ahead and die.
 

Brikson

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Muramasa89 said:
tomvw said:
Granted, some people may not know, but there's a vast majority that just can't be bothered to read the label. For example, I have a 500ml bottle of Cola here, and just by glancing at it, I can tell it's got about 30% sugar. If you can read, it's not that hard.
Cola is known to be unhealthy. And isn't food. The average person wouldn't know what was in said foods because companies purposely hide what is in there using different names, such as 'Genetically Engineered Meat'.

It sure sounds better than what it is: scraps from a chicken carcass, fat, sinew (from various animals too) compressed into the shape of a hotdog.

Edit: not specifically a hotdog. That's just an example.

Edit2: Cola is taught at a young age by parents that it's bad for you. "It'll rot your teeth!" You don't look at it and go "Oh, it's all sugar" because you know, it's because you've likely had it been said all your life, fizzy drinks are a popular hate group.

Now when you look at a ready meal - you don't think "Oh, it's all salt". Well that's what it is. Salt is the flavouring. Without it, it's utter shit in flavour.
Your thing with "Genetically Engineered Meat" I feel is the wrong term. What you describe is processed meats and mechanically separated meats. It is horrible stuff, looks like strawberry ice cream. Not arguing that. Genetically Engineered Meats are meat from animals that wouldn't exist in nature. They are changed to produce things like medicines in the blood, grow faster and more efficient, or even pigs that can grow human organs. Far as I know the FDA still won't let these animals be eaten or there products used by humans.

OT: One of the bigger problems is that people have no idea about serving sizes. Sizes tend to be about a tablespoon of salad dressing, 10-15 potato chips, or a fistful of meat. Few people measure out these things and just slap down the amount of food that looks filling.
 

TheodoreLuke

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It's better to blame the idiot who can't put down the fork, if you overeat and get fat, or are to lazy to move around, it's your fault.
 

Muramasa89

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Brikson said:
Your thing with "Genetically Engineered Meat" I feel is the wrong term. What you describe is processed meats and mechanically separated meats. It is horrible stuff, looks like strawberry ice cream. Not arguing that. Genetically Engineered Meats are meat from animals that wouldn't exist in nature. They are changed to produce things like medicines in the blood, grow faster and more efficient, or even pigs that can grow human organs. Far as I know the FDA still won't let these animals be eaten or there products used by humans.
There is another name for it, admittedly, which escapes me. Something to do with reformed, but I felt GEM fit the bill nicely since it isn't natural either way.
 

Plinglebob

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I know in the UK both Sainbrys and Tesco have % values of you daily intake regarding salt, fat, calories on their packaging and if the government wasnted to extend this to all foods, I'd be happy with it as its useful. I'd also support increased taxes on unhealthy luxery items or subsidies for healthier items. However, trying to limit/ban certain things from going into food is just stupid because no-ones forcing people to eat it.
 

The Hairminator

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Mar 17, 2009
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Well, that's capitalism and commercialism for ya. But then again, it's also up to the consumer to choose what to eat, no one's forcing the food on them.
 

Penguinness

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What I would like is more healthy options when you eat out. I eat healthily (generally) but I'm always having to go out to eat with my girlfriend, family or friends.. and not even the salad is particularly healthy, but I spose I could be awkward and ask them to take all the crap away (and be left with leaves). You don't actually know how much they put into the foods.. but it's enough to give me stomach troubles...

Now, name your most ridiculous daily intake values you've seen on food! Mine would be a pizza I saw which had values for ONE TWELFTH of it (around 20%s I think), which I found funny. It's got too much crap in it so reduce what you'd call a portion instead!
 

xDarc

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If I try to defend my smoking, people will point to questionable studies about the effects of second hand smoke, maybe that one severely asthmatic girl who took a job in a smoking bar and died...

But the effects of second hand fat, in terms of medical costs that inflate insurance premiums and drain government medical programs, are very, very real.

Sorry, if it depended on me, I'd puff my cigarette and say screw the people that such a proposal might affect negatively.

The portrayal of the future in Demolition Man, where anything that might be bad for you is banned, including reproduction without a license and, sex, period- is banned.

Don't worry folks. The worse the global economy gets, the more these laws and movements will go away. They are left-over, tired yuppie movements from the death throes of 90's prosperity.

The prosperity has come and gone, the time to look to the horizons, the time to, as a world, become wealthy, healthy and great- has passed.

Now we're getting busted back down to just trying to survive again, and like prohibition, inhibiting laws go away in times of economic duress and struggles to just live.
 

Shpongled

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I guess the people who don't like the idea of this would be happy with drug laws being removed? Advertising restrictions on tobacco can go, right? If those children want to smoke, let them, it's their own fault. Hell, why should we punish murderers and rapists, i mean if you're stupid enough to get yourself in a position where you're gonna get raped or killed it's your own fault, right?

The point is that humans in general are easily exploited and easily manipulated, anyone that does so, at the expense of the victim, for their own profit, needs to stopped. There needs to be restrictions on these things.

If you ask me McDonalds are equally as culpable as the heroin dealer on the street. More so, in fact, at least i don't have to be exposed to a drug pushers advertisements every time i switch on the tv or go in to town.