Who here reads packaged food/drink ingredients list regularly?

[edkwon]

I'll admit that most of my life I didnt bother to because I was

1. young
2. thought my body was invincible
3. didn't give a sh**
4. thought that crap was only for fussy mothers/health conscious hippies.

but nowadays, increasing concern over my own health and learning more and more disturbing stuff about how the mass production food industry works and a lot of the store bought foods we eat are made....i'm scanning the ingredients list pretty frequently now.

Mostly in a conscious effort to avoid food products containing high quantities of high fructose corn syrup (something the rest of the civilized world worries less about because you still all use natural cane sugar as sweetener, goddamn US corn lobbyists) and other preservatives and ingredients as well.

Anyone else always grew up with this habit or recently gotten into it?

 

[Jay]

recently got into it. I look for everything bad, but especially the sodium content, since high blood pressure runs in my family.

I have been eating prepackaged dinners for far too long, so coincidentally starting next week I am going to make my dinners inconvenient and make them myself, eating more poultry and pork, and less beef.

 

[edkwon]

recently got into it. I look for everything bad, but especially the sodium content, since high blood pressure runs in my family.

I have been eating prepackaged dinners for far too long, so coincidentally starting next week I am going to make my dinners inconvenient and make them myself, eating more poultry and pork, and less beef.

The big shocker is how much regular US store bought bread has a LOT of HFCS. People can key in on obvious things like sugared sodas, drinks, desserts and obvious 'sweet' foods, but things that aren't normally considered 'sweet' can really jack up one's glycemic levels unknowingly.

Another reason I try to cut out processed white bread as much as possible. The only time I really eat it now is with fast food restaurant burger buns and whatnot.

 

[Aston Martin]

Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, ?Oooooo.?
Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.

 

[bone]

isn't everyone reading the package when eating something?
who doesn't know the content from a box of cereals from memory!

 

[thevictor390]

Just for fun I'm about to eat lunch, so I'll try to save the packaging and read as I eat :lol:

I fall under all 4 of edkwon's categories, it's something I'll worry about when I'm old and boring. And I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that I'm sure it will "click" at some point, that point just hasn't come yet.

 

[narf]

The big shocker is how much regular US store bought bread has a LOT of HFCS. People can key in on obvious things like sugared sodas, drinks, desserts and obvious 'sweet' foods, but things that aren't normally considered 'sweet' can really jack up one's glycemic levels unknowingly.

Another reason I try to cut out processed white bread as much as possible. The only time I really eat it now is with fast food restaurant burger buns and whatnot.

https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2011/03/04/essener.png

No sugar involved. Obviously no HFCS as well.

Wholemeal Spelt flour * 50%
germinated rye grains * 20%
Rye flakes * 15%
Spelt grains cooked * 10%
Oatmeal * 5%
Flax *
Sunflower seeds *
Natural fermentation starter *
Sea salt
Yeast
Water

*These ingredients come from organic farming (certified organic). Sea salt, water and yeast are generally of natural origin

 

[edkwon]

^ thats a handsome loaf of bread. Silent yet powerful.

 

[NecroJoe]

I read them very little. My girlfriend is allergic to red 40, and I refuse to buy breakfast cereal that has sugar as it's first ingredient. To be fair, the ones that have sugar as the first ingredient, are followed up by the list of flours used and some cereals list flour as the first ingredient but then (in parethesis) list the individual flours...so they probably work out to be the same, anyways. *shrugs*

 

[MWF]

At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, which it isn't meant to be, virtually everything we eat is cooked from scratch using fresh (or at least singular eg tinned chopped tomatoes) ingredients.

Do bear in mind that there is a vast difference across the Atlantic. Over there eating out is very much the norm and relatively inexpensive whereas cooking from basics isn't (I have recent experience of that) whereas in Ukania it's the opposite. Here for the price of a KFC bargain bucket I can easily feed the family twice of not 3 times over with raw ingredients. Last time I was in the States the stuff required to make a home-made, vegetarian pizza was around $15!!!

 

[NecroJoe]

Last time I was in the States the stuff required to make a home-made, vegetarian pizza was around $15!!!

Which is hilarious because we make soo much of it here, expecilly in California. When I moved here from Wisconsin, I couldn't believe my eyes ewhen I saw that produce grown here costs more here than it did in Wisconsin...and I was working in a produce department of a grocery store right up until I moved here!

 

[MWF]

Well I'm guessing it's basic economics. Since the food industry is biased towards eating out, restaurants (in particular the large chains and franchises) can effectively set the prices to producers who, in turn, charge higher prices to supermarkets to recoup their margins.

Here it's very much the supermarkets that set the pricing, leaving those wholesalers who supply the restaurant trade to pass on the higher prices and making eating out more costly. Most of the stuff I've seen in US supermarkets is cheaper than it would be here, with the exception of fresh foods which are significantly more expensive.

 

[NecroJoe]

Not only fresh, though. Even things like soda and bottled salad dressing. They were the first two items with which I noticed the huge price difference when i moved here.

Fruit juice, though...holy crap was it expensive in Germany! Grated, it was 14 years ago, and maybe things have changed.

 

[narf]

^ thats a handsome loaf of bread. Silent yet powerful.

You should start a bread thread in NSFW?



On the eating out lol vs home cooking price issue... a regular-sized meal at McD is about 6?, feeds one adult. For half that money I could buy a 2.5kg sack of potatoes (2?), .5kg of onions (.4?), some oil/salt/pepper (let's say .6? to round it off). That leaves 3? for electricity, washing up, etc - and you would get four times the amount below, hence feed maybe five or six adults?
If you want meat in there I'd add 1kg of chicken wings for another 2.6? and you'd be able to feed maybe eight to ten adults off the price of one McD menu plus electricity/washing up costs.

Fruit juice, though...holy crap was it expensive in Germany! Grated, it was 14 years ago, and maybe things have changed.

That largely depends on what you buy. My brand of juice lol usually is about 1?/l when bought at the right time, or 1.6?/l when bought at the wrong time. It's thick and yummy :lol: and available from all kinds of fruit.
Stuff like apple juice can be had cheaper obviously.

Coke is about .6?/l when bought at the right time, .9?/l when bought at the wrong time. That's made with sugar though, not HFCS.

 

[edkwon]

Well I'm guessing it's basic economics. Since the food industry is biased towards eating out, restaurants (in particular the large chains and franchises) can effectively set the prices to producers who, in turn, charge higher prices to supermarkets to recoup their margins.

Here it's very much the supermarkets that set the pricing, leaving those wholesalers who supply the restaurant trade to pass on the higher prices and making eating out more costly. Most of the stuff I've seen in US supermarkets is cheaper than it would be here, with the exception of fresh foods which are significantly more expensive.

Interesting insight into the economics. Makes sense to me. It's sad how fresh produce, meats, etc are so cost ineffective vs prepackaged foods and eating out.

You should start a bread thread in NSFW?



On the eating out lol vs home cooking price issue... a regular-sized meal at McD is about 6?, feeds one adult. For half that money I could buy a 2.5kg sack of potatoes (2?), .5kg of onions (.4?), some oil/salt/pepper (let's say .6? to round it off). That leaves 3? for electricity, washing up, etc - and you would get four times the amount below, hence feed maybe five or six adults?
If you want meat in there I'd add 1kg of chicken wings for another 2.6? and you'd be able to feed maybe eight to ten adults off the price of one McD menu plus electricity/washing up costs.

Naw I'm not really a fan of bread to begin w, rice is more my starch source of choice w meals.

On your cost analysis, the breakdown is probably true, but it seems a lot of ppl place time spent on an even higher priority than cost.

Sadly, for singles, cooking at home is horribly time inefficient and in the even doesnt save all that much $$, but for families, cooking at home is definitely the better way to go

 

[narf]

On your cost analysis, the breakdown is probably true, but it seems a lot of ppl place time spent on an even higher priority than cost.

Sadly, for singles, cooking at home is horribly time inefficient and in the even doesnt save all that much $$, but for families, cooking at home is definitely the better way to go

Time spent obviously is an issue - that's why I currently have lunch at the bakery closest to the office, my time during the day is too valuable... and the food at the nearby *bleeep* canteen is too disgusting (while affordable).
In the evening I consider some reasonable amount of cooking as part of my leisure, so "unnecessary" time spent there is not wasted but spent on relaxation. Similarly, when driving home over a longer distance after a long day of work I rarely see a reason to go quickly. When cruising at a relaxed speed the leisure starts when setting off, when going quickly it starts when you arrive. That's a different story when going somewhere with a schedule to keep obviously.

If you want to save money on food and potentially drive somewhere to eat you've got your major money saver right there. Take a bicycle to go grocery shopping cheaply and you'll have saved tons of money just from that little change.
When cooking for yourself my 3? set of ingredients would obviously last for several meals so you'd be at less than 1? per cheap meal, obviously more if you want something fancy. If you value your free time at a net 10? per hour and you spend an extra 15 minutes then you're up 2.5? minus electricity and water compared to a 6? McD meal... that's before paying for the car to drive there.

 

[MWF]

narf, once again, speaks total sense.

Make cooking a hobby, learning new recipes and how to make your money go as far as possible a challenge, and if you find it a chore cooking for one then get friends doing the same thing and start a dinner club. Four friends, each one cooks once a week for the other three. Economies of scale and three nights off!

And then, of course, for the other three nights you just need to find laydeez to impress with your new culinary skills.

If there is a downside to any of the above (aside from you having no friends in which case you have my sympathies) then I can't see it.

 

[NecroJoe]

If there is a downside to any of the above (aside from you having no friends in which case you have my sympathies) then I can't see it.

Dishes, and living with a hippy (in denail about her condition) who hates running the dishwasher unless she can cram it so full everything needs to be washed twice anwyays *facepalm*.

 

[narf]

...and you can always take the escape route and chicken out

https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2011/03/04/knd_pizza_serano.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2011/03/04/knd_pizza_prachtvoll.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2011/03/04/knd_pizza_meerblick.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2011/03/04/knd_pizza_green-ocean.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2011/03/04/knd_pizza_sucuk.jpg


50% more than a McD meal but about 500% more awesomesauce. Also, no cost for driving there because they come here - most of the extra 50% saved.
Additionally, probably much much more healthy despite probably matching or beating it in fat.



PS: MWF: I am able to make homemade pizza. Ignoring the made-it-myself-bonus though it can not live up to the ones I posted. They're the best thing ever.

 

[MWF]

So get the friends over, create enough washing up to fill the dishwasher, eat with friends 3 nights during the week.

Actually, I have a better idea.

1. Get the friends over.
2. Kill and eat the hippy.
3. Fill dishwasher
4. ............
5. Profit.

Make sure the friends bring a nice Chianti!

Ufufufufufufufufuf!