Supermarkets compromising nutritional content for profit
Discussion
Was watching a prog about slimming and exercise last night and one of the horrifying so-called-facts that came up was that supermarket vegetables now contain only a small fraction of nutritional content they should have! The examples given were staggering with some less than 10%! The blame seems to be pointed at the supermarkets quest for profit, where growers have been squeezed so much!
And of course all our F&V seems to be fiddled with to try to make them last longer... Yuck!
This was presented as fact! It has been eroding for decades, and very few know about it!
Anyone seen this?
If true, it is truly shocking!
....since the old-style greengrocers are generally extinct, most of us have no choice but to buy substandard veggies (or if you have the room, grow your own)... The supermarkets have all of us by the n*ts! - Unless there is a campaign of course? Anyone?
for me, I would happily pay more for decent fruit and veg, where I can be confident it is 'unadulterated', but those days have long gone I fear.
And of course all our F&V seems to be fiddled with to try to make them last longer... Yuck!
This was presented as fact! It has been eroding for decades, and very few know about it!
Anyone seen this?
If true, it is truly shocking!
....since the old-style greengrocers are generally extinct, most of us have no choice but to buy substandard veggies (or if you have the room, grow your own)... The supermarkets have all of us by the n*ts! - Unless there is a campaign of course? Anyone?
for me, I would happily pay more for decent fruit and veg, where I can be confident it is 'unadulterated', but those days have long gone I fear.
Yes, was quite interesting. It's well-known that the food we eat has less nutritional value than they did years ago. One of the problems is that we insist on everything looking right and lasting for ages. You can buy organic if you want but expect everything to look dodgy and substandard.
Does it really matter? Or do you really want to check out the latest that elderly nursing homes have to offer?
Does it really matter? Or do you really want to check out the latest that elderly nursing homes have to offer?
Yes i watched it. Not really a shock when you think about it.
I looked at it the same as i do with eggs. The battery chickens eggs and meat taste and look far worse than free range ones. Then if i get some eggs off my mate who has a few in his garden they are in a different league again. I presume my friends chickens probably produce the more healthy egg to.
I looked at it the same as i do with eggs. The battery chickens eggs and meat taste and look far worse than free range ones. Then if i get some eggs off my mate who has a few in his garden they are in a different league again. I presume my friends chickens probably produce the more healthy egg to.
Get yourself into a farm shop, granted it might turn a few days earlier but it is well worth the effort of getting it straight from the ground rather than from a supermarket once it has been put through a chemical process, especially when you consider the massive benefits when preventing horrific diseases like cancer.
Based on this?
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/44/1/1...
It looks at amounts of certain minerals in veg, which have declined.
However I wouldn't say that it makes the veg totally lacking in nutrients, many of these minerals are available from other sources anyway (meat/dairy is a much better vit and mineral source than veg in any event). And veg still has plenty of fibre, which is one of the main reasons to eat it.
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/44/1/1...
It looks at amounts of certain minerals in veg, which have declined.
However I wouldn't say that it makes the veg totally lacking in nutrients, many of these minerals are available from other sources anyway (meat/dairy is a much better vit and mineral source than veg in any event). And veg still has plenty of fibre, which is one of the main reasons to eat it.
Didn't see the prog and I think the OP is now obligated to find it. 
To my knowledge the mineral content (not nutritional content per se) has been declining in cultivated foods due to over-farming and fertilizers - poor soil quality. The mineral content of some foods has dropped to as little as 25% of what it was only a few decades ago. I'm not aware about anything to do with Supermarkets other than aggressive pressure for goods. Although of course, that's not really Supermarkets, it's the consumer.
I do know that Trans Fats have become a problem. Inventive means to extend the shelf-life of many pre-prepared foods like ready meals, or artificially added to normal foods as a preservative. FYI Trans fats are worse for you that saturated fats.
I also know that many processed foods have added water to make up the weight. Most foods have a lot of water in - easy to work out, add up all the macro nutrients, whatever is left is water. To know what water has been artificially added is more about knowing roughly how much water foods should have, comparing brands and reading the ingredients.
I have heard of the Argon (I thought it was UV light) use on "fresh" fruit/veg. It helpes them look fresh for longer, but it's also the reason the food goes off, seemingly, the moment you buy the stuff. I stick to as much frozen food as possible - freezing doesn't affect the nutritional content or quality like most other preservation methods.
To my knowledge the mineral content (not nutritional content per se) has been declining in cultivated foods due to over-farming and fertilizers - poor soil quality. The mineral content of some foods has dropped to as little as 25% of what it was only a few decades ago. I'm not aware about anything to do with Supermarkets other than aggressive pressure for goods. Although of course, that's not really Supermarkets, it's the consumer.
I do know that Trans Fats have become a problem. Inventive means to extend the shelf-life of many pre-prepared foods like ready meals, or artificially added to normal foods as a preservative. FYI Trans fats are worse for you that saturated fats.
I also know that many processed foods have added water to make up the weight. Most foods have a lot of water in - easy to work out, add up all the macro nutrients, whatever is left is water. To know what water has been artificially added is more about knowing roughly how much water foods should have, comparing brands and reading the ingredients.
I have heard of the Argon (I thought it was UV light) use on "fresh" fruit/veg. It helpes them look fresh for longer, but it's also the reason the food goes off, seemingly, the moment you buy the stuff. I stick to as much frozen food as possible - freezing doesn't affect the nutritional content or quality like most other preservation methods.
mattikake said:
I do know that Trans Fats have become a problem. Inventive means to extend the shelf-life of many pre-prepared foods like ready meals, or artificially added to normal foods as a preservative. FYI Trans fats are worse for you that saturated fats.
AFAIK they're not really a preservative per se, just a by-product of using unsaturated vegetable oils to replace saturated animals fats. You wouldn't add them to foods that would normally not have added fat, rather you'd replace lard or butter with an oil derived fat containing trans fats.They do last longer than animal fats due to the nature of the source vegetable oils used, and they're a lot cheaper to produce (I suspect this is the primary reason for the widespread use). Also there was the previous supposition that they were healthier than animal fats due to being lower in saturated fat, of course once the trans fat problem came out that was revealed to be untrue.
http://www.channel5.com/shows/50-shocking-facts-ab...
It wasn't the greatest of programmes. But it was on C5 so what do you expect.
One of the problems with supermarket produce is the fact that it has to travel so far before arriving in my shopping bag. They have to pick under ripe f/v otherwise it'd be very off before I bought it. So they pick it early. The problem is, most f/v gain their values very close to the ripening stage. So by missing this bit we end up with poor food. The solution isn't organic, the solution is to buy from a farm shop or proper green grocer. I rate locally grown conventionally grown over international organic every time.
They also contradicted that last fact by saying that supplements are not needed as our food sources were sufficiently high in v/m.
It was a good show to put off anyone who was borderline on whether they'd put the effort into improving their health which will be good for the advertisers on C5 selling crap.
It wasn't the greatest of programmes. But it was on C5 so what do you expect.
One of the problems with supermarket produce is the fact that it has to travel so far before arriving in my shopping bag. They have to pick under ripe f/v otherwise it'd be very off before I bought it. So they pick it early. The problem is, most f/v gain their values very close to the ripening stage. So by missing this bit we end up with poor food. The solution isn't organic, the solution is to buy from a farm shop or proper green grocer. I rate locally grown conventionally grown over international organic every time.
They also contradicted that last fact by saying that supplements are not needed as our food sources were sufficiently high in v/m.
It was a good show to put off anyone who was borderline on whether they'd put the effort into improving their health which will be good for the advertisers on C5 selling crap.
dean350z said:
Get yourself into a farm shop, granted it might turn a few days earlier but it is well worth the effort of getting it straight from the ground rather than from a supermarket once it has been put through a chemical process, especially when you consider the massive benefits when preventing horrific diseases like cancer.
Do you know what though, when we get fruit and veg from the green grocers it seems to last longer than stuff from the supermarket, just my experience though.Of course it also tastes much better too and is also cheaper!
Matt_N said:
Do you know what though, when we get fruit and veg from the green grocers it seems to last longer than stuff from the supermarket, just my experience though.
Of course it also tastes much better too and is also cheaper!
That is probably because it's still 'dirty'. Recently I started to get most veg delivered from one of the online organic companies and top up when necessary from local green grocer. Compared to most supermarket fare it has far more soil and mud remaining which seems to help it stay fresher for longer. An extra few minutes rinsing and scrubbing is well worth the effort.Of course it also tastes much better too and is also cheaper!
LordGrover said:
That is probably because it's still 'dirty'. Recently I started to get most veg delivered from one of the online organic companies and top up when necessary from local green grocer. Compared to most supermarket fare it has far more soil and mud remaining which seems to help it stay fresher for longer. An extra few minutes rinsing and scrubbing is well worth the effort.
True.I get my veg from the green grocers in Chipping Sodbury (have seen your GT86 parked up) and the maris pipers always have a solid layer of mud on them!
Flibble said:
AFAIK they're not really a preservative per se, just a by-product of using unsaturated vegetable oils to replace saturated animals fats. You wouldn't add them to foods that would normally not have added fat, rather you'd replace lard or butter with an oil derived fat containing trans fats.
Oh of course. Trans fat added to your Strawberries? Errrr! Though I bet someone is trying this right now...Hoofy said:
Odie said:
Who'd a thought it, a company in a capitalist society doing everything it legally can to make more profit.
This is why Capitalism is destined to eventially fail. The required market share/sale/profit growth is unsustainable.
You know this is PH, right? This is why Capitalism is destined to eventially fail. The required market share/sale/profit growth is unsustainable.
LordGrover said:
That is probably because it's still 'dirty'. Recently I started to get most veg delivered from one of the online organic companies and top up when necessary from local green grocer. Compared to most supermarket fare it has far more soil and mud remaining which seems to help it stay fresher for longer. An extra few minutes rinsing and scrubbing is well worth the effort.
Particularly true for potatoes - keeping them dark makes them last better, and the layer of mud helps with that.Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff