You will never, ever, ever

[Sum1Ls]

Buy any food that has been processed after reading this book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NEO1M9M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

And I’m not just talking about ready meals, or a tin of soup or a carton of orange juice. Food manufacturers have a multi billion £ industry which creates a thousands of ingredients which purport to taste like the real thing. For example a cereal bar with ‘oil dispersable technology of plain caramel colour and beetroot red’. Solutions for coating, glazing, polishing, releasing, emulsifying’ and on and on in an endless list.
The author, a very well respected food writer, had to use fake I/d to gain entry to the fair and she was appalled by what she found. The manufacturers have conspired to create labels which comply with the letter of the regulations but totally obscure what they really use.

You’re probably safe buying tins of tomatoes or beans, chickpeas, or olive oil but little else. Do read it. It’s chilling.

[Daisy]

Sum1 - thank you for that link. I shall definitely be reading it because I'm horrified by the long lists of 'ingredients' in quite ordinary everyday foods that most of us buy.

I've done a lot of reading about pet food and what it contains (pretty much every chemical known and virtually no meat!) and how difficult it can be to find what listed ingredients actually are. Then you find that student vets are generally given about a day's training on nutrition and that training is given by a pet food manufacturer it's hard to feel you can get informed, unbiased advice anywhere. The health benefits of feeding your pet a species-appropriate natural diet are astounding, and I'm sure it's the same for us.

I think we should be asking questions about even so-called natural food like fruit and vegetables - how they are grown, harvested and treated so that they store for long periods. When we were children food was seasonal - buying tomatoes, say, at Christmas was a real treat because we can't grow them in the winter in this country, so they used to be really expensive out of season.

[Plantaholic]

I try not to buy anything that doesn't contain natural ingredients and don't understand how you can make non-fat yogurts. I watched a programme some time ago which disclosed how they make low-fat mayo, it was disgusting.

[Nana]

Thanks for the link Sum1 but I'm the sort of person who would rather not know. I try not to think about what's in my sausages, ready made meals etc because I just wouldn't eat. I enjoy a bacon buttie but if I gave thought to the pig I wouldn't eat it.

When I think of what my Mum grew up on (& she died at 98) was bread & dripping, pobs, (hot milk with bread soaked in it), rabbit shot in the fields etc & not having enough food to fill her tummy. She told stories about how she stood by her Uncle's plate waiting for any ' scraps' like a dog.

I know I should eat healthier, perhaps a lot of us do but there's always a reason why I don't. When you have a medical condition & are too exhausted to cook from scratch, sometimes the only alternative is to take the short cut & go the ready meal route.

[Oma]

No one would eat if we knew what's in everything .
No matter how ethical we think we are we don't truly know how the meat we eat is raised and slaughtered
Even fresh fruit and veg are washed in chemicals , Buying from pick your own the crops are sprayed so although seem healthier in fact they are not unless you can afford to buy expensive organic every time

I never buy fat free or sugar free even though im Diabetic , my Diabetic Dr said better to eat a spoon full less than buy sugar free as its all the other sources of sugar and chemicals that go in Sugar free that makes it less healthier ,

We all need some fat in our diet
Im with Nana I love a Bacon buttie I could cut out Red meat all together as I don't eat a lot of it anyway but never could go meat free entirely

We rarely buy Ready meals in fact cant remember the last time we did but I don't think there is anything wrong with them, if you have no choice at least its a meal on the table .

Each week something new is bad for you then its good ,
I say buy what you enjoy and what you can afford , no point getting hung up with all the additives as they are in everything and life is too short to read every label

[Gemini]

We all have to do the best we can, considering our financial situation, available time, personal likes and dislikes etc.

Good to be armed with knowledge, but we have to live in the real world. Balance in everything I suppose is the key.
I think most of us would agree that eating as naturally and 'from scratch' as possible is the best option.
A ready meal or takeaway shouldn't make us feel bad though.

I admire people who can wholly follow something like this though, and people like my SIL who is fully vegan and was long before it became the new trendy thing!

[Gemini]

When I think of what my Mum grew up on (& she died at 98) was bread & dripping, pobs, (hot milk with bread soaked in it), rabbit shot in the fields etc & not having enough food to fill her tummy. She told stories about how she stood by her Uncle's plate waiting for any ' scraps' like a dog.

Nana, whilst my mum, one for five children grew up on healthy homemade food by her mum and wasn't hungry like your mum, her diet now leaves a lot to be desired! She is 90 and exists on ready meals, sliced bread, cakes, biscuits, black pudding, corned beef etc! The only veg she has is when she makes a stew once in a while (tinned steak, frozen casserole veg) The only fruit bananas. She smokes too.
Sometimes you do it all wrong and are lucky. Sometimes you have the healthiest diet possible, never smoke, keep really fit, and die out running. Life is strange.

[Enfys]

I think we have to make our own decisions, read and understand the labels, and just try and do the best we can within our own limitations. With DH’s health issues our diet can be quite restrictive although I do try and vary it as much as I can. Unfortunately, some additives do creep in and there’s nothing we can do about it. To be honest, if he fancies something like a ready meal I am not going to deny it, it’s once in a blue moon anyway. I will continue to make our meals from scratch, try and use seasonal produce and avoid “low” anything. I’ve recently begun to use organic sea salt after watching a programme about table salt, we use very little anyway but thought I’d try it.

[Nanto2girls]

I don't think we will be changing our diets.
We do have a ready meal about once a week, but i do make a lot of meals from scratch.