Dispatches: The True Cost of Cheap Food

[Mr Trophy]

Anyone watching this on channel 4? Very interesting.

[sniff diesel]

Mmm, pies...

[Mr Trophy]

Was he adding water into that chicken to make it look bigger?

[anonymous-user]

Mr Trophy said:

Was he adding water into that chicken to make it look bigger?

That's how supermarkets sell them so cheap, because they're not nearly as big as they look.

[pies]

Symbolica said:

Mr Trophy said:

Was he adding water into that chicken to make it look bigger?

That's how supermarkets sell them so cheap, because they're not nearly as big as they look.

When its done on a comercial (sp) scale the chicken bits are placed in what looks like a large washing machine drum and water added until its water % is up to the max allowed

[lord summerisle]

what i am finding annoying is

expensive brand x at x supermarket has so much of something, while the cheaper brand y has a different ammount.


till they get to Lidl.
Lidl only carry one line of x...

and thats it. dont give what the amount is of that one line is to compare to the other supermarkets.

[satchbot]

Was hoping to catch this but can't. Will check in here for the details.

[grumbledoak]

Mr Trophy said:

Was he adding water into that chicken to make it look bigger?

Worse, a mix of water and protein (often pork derived) will allow the chicken to take on more water. And, yes, they do.

Don't buy cheap chicken.

[skip_1]

They are showing Lidl data now.

[skeggysteve]

A few years ago I visited a food factory and saw a machine that they used.

A bit of beef went in and was injected with a lot of thin needles that pumped in water.

The bit of beef came out about double the size.

[skip_1]

Is there any way to know how much water is in the meat you are picking (at a supermarket)?

[moleamol]

I want to watch it but his voice and face really piss me off.

[Hyperion]

Lidl always come out on top. They have much better quality food than Tesco or Asda. In fact it's on a par with, and sometimes better than Waitrose and M&S.

[moleamol]

skip_1 said:

Is there any way to know how much water is in the meat you are picking (at a supermarket)?

Not completely accurately and easily but the ingredients is a good place to start.

[MrV]

None of this is new news though is it

Do they honestly think the supermarkets care about the customer base,its all about maximizing profit and that's it.

[skip_1]

moleamol said:

skip_1 said:

Is there any way to know how much water is in the meat you are picking (at a supermarket)?

Not completely accurately and easily but the ingredients is a good place to start.

But they don't have to say how much water is in up to the limit?

[dpbird90]

Haven't been watching it, but I am guessing Morrisons have been mentioned? I can sg them off to exhaustion as I work there.
I bought a chicken casserole for my dinner last week, for 89p. Microwaved it as per the instructions, left it to stand for 1 minute before eating. It was a mission to find any "chicken" at all, and when I did there were probably about 5 pieces, around the same size as a 1p coin, which were so far removed from what constitutes chicken I honestly think they could have used dog. The "dumplings" were probably cardboard, and to top it all off it was presented "in a rich gravy sauce" which was their wording on the packaging, but it appeared to be more like fried vomit.

[satchbot]

Things like this make me glad to spend more on food and avoid the cheap stuff.

[DoubleYellow]

In the cut-throat industry, turnover and profit come along way before health.

[AJS-]

So long as so many people think that meat comes in plastic packets and good vegetables should look like plastic ones, we're stuck with st food.

Buy from a market, buy from a butcher and this usually isn't a problem.

I realise not everyone can do this, but even many who can prefer to go to supermarkets. The sad fact is most people in Britain are lazy and see food simply as something they need to buy, so they may as well do so as cheaply and conveniently as possible.