It seems that business cannot be trusted to mislead and distort what you are actually getting in food. Consider the following. There is a very good program in NZ called 'Target' which shows on TV3. You can follow the show on their website. On the Tue-29-Sep program they were discussing bread spreads. This was interesting to me because some of my most cherished foods were discussed. There were some surprises:
1. Nutella - This is the most popular spread used by kids in Australia and NZ, and its sold in Asia as well. Probably international. I thought this was a health food because its high fat, and based on nuts. But its misleading because its just 13% nuts, has heaps of sugar, and they use palm oil, which is less healthy apparently. In fairness palm oil is an plant fat, but I suspect its not as good for unsaturated fats.
2. Vegemite - this overpriced spread is popular in Australia and NZ. It really takes good on toast. The problem with it is that its high in salt. The claim that is the highest source of Vitamin B is because they add the Vitamin B. Why B? Probably because excess is readily flushed out in your urine.
3. Peanut butter - This is actually nuts, though it is high in fat so good if you consume a lot of energy. Its actually the best choice because low GI, high source of energy, but you need to watch the salt. Anything over 1mg is added, and it can be as high as 150mg.
4. Honey - This is basically sucrose - a natural liquid sugar with few other nutrients. Basically its like injecting sugar into your bloodstream, but if you're active, why not.
5. Jams - In NZ jams are required to be at least 50% fruit, but the rest is sugar.
These programs are useful for establishing the quality of services and products in the market, so I recommend reviewing the TV3 'Target' website. Its one of the better TV programs in NZ.
This program poses the question of what foods you can eat which are healthy. None of these foods is so bad in small quantities. You can argue that you grew up on them, so why not your children. There is some truth in that, but remember your kids are probably less active than you. Possible spreads - no idea - its good me thinking. Why not avacado, banana -as they spread easy.
It occurred to me as an after-thought that food manufacturers are being unfairly attacked for the lack of nutritional value of their food. The reality is that processed foods need to be 'preserved'. They are 'long life' shelf foods because they contain preservatives like sugar, salt, etc. There is a health value and convenience in being able to buy such foods. If we could not buy and store preserved foods, there is the prospect that the cost of living would rise, and we would also require bigger refrigerators. The surest defence is maximising the use of fresh, perishable , unprocessed foods.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com
1. Nutella - This is the most popular spread used by kids in Australia and NZ, and its sold in Asia as well. Probably international. I thought this was a health food because its high fat, and based on nuts. But its misleading because its just 13% nuts, has heaps of sugar, and they use palm oil, which is less healthy apparently. In fairness palm oil is an plant fat, but I suspect its not as good for unsaturated fats.
2. Vegemite - this overpriced spread is popular in Australia and NZ. It really takes good on toast. The problem with it is that its high in salt. The claim that is the highest source of Vitamin B is because they add the Vitamin B. Why B? Probably because excess is readily flushed out in your urine.
3. Peanut butter - This is actually nuts, though it is high in fat so good if you consume a lot of energy. Its actually the best choice because low GI, high source of energy, but you need to watch the salt. Anything over 1mg is added, and it can be as high as 150mg.
4. Honey - This is basically sucrose - a natural liquid sugar with few other nutrients. Basically its like injecting sugar into your bloodstream, but if you're active, why not.
5. Jams - In NZ jams are required to be at least 50% fruit, but the rest is sugar.
These programs are useful for establishing the quality of services and products in the market, so I recommend reviewing the TV3 'Target' website. Its one of the better TV programs in NZ.
This program poses the question of what foods you can eat which are healthy. None of these foods is so bad in small quantities. You can argue that you grew up on them, so why not your children. There is some truth in that, but remember your kids are probably less active than you. Possible spreads - no idea - its good me thinking. Why not avacado, banana -as they spread easy.
It occurred to me as an after-thought that food manufacturers are being unfairly attacked for the lack of nutritional value of their food. The reality is that processed foods need to be 'preserved'. They are 'long life' shelf foods because they contain preservatives like sugar, salt, etc. There is a health value and convenience in being able to buy such foods. If we could not buy and store preserved foods, there is the prospect that the cost of living would rise, and we would also require bigger refrigerators. The surest defence is maximising the use of fresh, perishable , unprocessed foods.
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Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com
