TV show on 8th May @9:30pm: What's Ireland Eating?

El_Dangeroso

This should be definitely worth a look, great to see they're doing something from an Irish perspective:

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_whats_eating_ireland.html

In this new documentary Journalist Philip Boucher Hayes takes a look inside Ireland's shopping basket. Armed with information from a national nutrition survey and data from 3,000 households' food shopping receipts, Philip Boucher Hayes argues that we are damaging our health, our economy and our society by what we eat and the way we shop.

He believes that a lot of the food we eat is far removed from its origins. It is highly processed and globally produced - and this is neither healthy nor economic good sense. He delves into a number of Ireland's most popular foodstuffs, from chicken to processed pork, and reveals some unsavoury truths about where they come from and what they're doing to our health.

Boucher Hayes discusses how we have been weaned on to a diet of cheap food and the competition between retailers to hold market share is putting serious pressure on many of those that supply our food. He argues that greater regulation is needed to ensure that the food sector doesn't go the way of the banking sector.

Notice no mention of beef or lamb, this is why I base most of my meat needs around red meat, it really is so close to organic in this country.

There are real market forces at work and subtle changes happening to our processed food. Notice that cadbury's chocolate now has an undefined 'vegetable oil' in their ingredient list, rather than cocoa butter. It's probably palm oil, and not the sustainable kind either. Also, see that snickers has replaced some of it's cocoa butter with sunflower oil, and proudly proclaimed 'Now with less saturated fat!' on the package. :mad:

Blatter

A) Way, way too much bread, sugary cereals, sugary drinks, ready made meals, biscuits, chocolate, vegetable oil, margarine, takeaways etc. in the diet

Not enough fruit, veg, fresh cuts of meat, fresh fish, healthy oils, butter, eggs, nuts etc. in the diet

It's fairly obvious why the country's obesity levels are rising, lets hope the program can actually educate people to eat real, unprocessed food and not trot out the low saturated fat line like they usually do, that does nothing other than confuse people and serve as a justification to include much of rubbish in A) in their diet.

keithoq

If the big supermarket chains could supply fresh fruit and veg FROM IRELAND like you':Dd get at a farmers market but cheaper it'd help.

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

A) Way, way too much bread, sugary cereals, sugary drinks, ready made meals, biscuits, chocolate, vegetable oil, margarine, takeaways etc. in the diet

Not enough fruit, veg, fresh cuts of meat, fresh fish, healthy oils, butter, eggs, nuts etc. in the diet

It's fairly obvious why the country's obesity levels are rising, lets hope the program can actually educate people to eat real, unprocessed food and not trot out the low saturated fat line like they usually do, that does nothing other than confuse people and serve as a justification to include much of rubbish in A) in their diet.

metamorphosis

This should be good. Its crazy - if i see veg oil on anything its a no zone. Every now and again when i can't be arsed making my own flapjacks, tryng to find one that actually uses butter rather than oil is amazing. I only see one brand really thats widely available in Limerick (staple diet) but they use a lot of sugar. Still, id prefer sugar any day over veg oil. At least il put the sugar to good use.

El_Dangeroso

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

A) Way, way too much bread, sugary cereals, sugary drinks, ready made meals, biscuits, chocolate, vegetable oil, margarine, takeaways etc. in the diet

Not enough fruit, veg, fresh cuts of meat, fresh fish, healthy oils, butter, eggs, nuts etc. in the diet

It's fairly obvious why the country's obesity levels are rising, lets hope the program can actually educate people to eat real, unprocessed food and not trot out the low saturated fat line like they usually do, that does nothing other than confuse people and serve as a justification to include much of rubbish in A) in their diet.

Thing is I think people know they shouldn't eat processed food but they still do. I put this down to the highly addictive nature of the ingredients and the fact that people have less and less time to prepare their own food.

I think we need 'healthier' processed food, as in I always think fresh is best but if people are going to eat it we might as well make it somewhat more nutritious. We also need to tax the crap out of junkfood, same as we do cigarettes. I may disagree with some government recommendations, but I think we all know what most of the worst offenders look like, fizzy drinks, crisps, McDonald's etc.

metamorphosis wrote: »

This should be good. Its crazy - if i see veg oil on anything its a no zone. Every now and again when i can't be arsed making my own flapjacks, tryng to find one that actually uses butter rather than oil is amazing. I only see one brand really thats widely available in Limerick (staple diet) but they use a lot of sugar. Still, id prefer sugar any day over veg oil. At least il put the sugar to good use.

Oh god yes, sugar over vegetable oil any day of the week. If there's one change that happened in the last 30 years, it's the proliferation of rancid vegetable oil.

Blatter

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Thing is I think people know they shouldn't eat processed food but they still do. I put this down to the highly addictive nature of the ingredients and the fact that people have less and less time to prepare their own food.

-highly addictive nature of the ingredients
-people have less and less time to prepare their own food
-Excellent advertising draws consumers to the stuff
-Putting ''low fat'' on the labels, many people people see low fat and think ''oh that must be healthy...''
-It's cheap
-It's widely available

Anymore reasons?

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I think we need 'healthier' processed food, as in I always think fresh is best but if people are going to eat it we might as well make it somewhat more nutritious. We also need to tax the crap out of junkfood, same as we do cigarettes. I may disagree with some government recommendations, but I think we all know what most of the worst offenders look like, fizzy drinks, crisps, McDonald's etc.
.

+1 on the taxing of it. Has there been any movements to encourage this motion? I've heard of motions to bring in ''fat tax''.(Tax just fat people who want to buy it) but I don't see them getting the go ahead for that.

Amtmann

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Thing is I think people know they shouldn't eat processed food but they still do.

I think it's not enough for people to know simply that they shouldn't eat something. I think they also have to know why they shouldn't eat one thing, versus why they should eat something else.

I've said it on these boards before, but it's worth saying again: for over a decade, I was a processed food/fast food junkie out of sheer laziness and ignorance.

Last weekend I had a huge debate with my 17-year-old brother who is taking Home Ec for the Leaving Cert this year. I eat primally. My brother had all the old canards: saturated fat is bad; red meat causes cancer; only one egg per day is okay; my cholesterol will go up. And he wouldn't listen to me because I don't have a cert in nutrition. His current nutritionist also told him that eating at erratic times is "bad" for his metabolism. So in addition to marketing, I think nutritionists must also take some blame here. Over the years they've managed to get a message out that confuses or downright misleads people somehow.

DagneyTaggart

For those of you interested in food production and what it means for your health can I recommend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Blatter

DagneyTaggart wrote: »

For those of you interested in food production and what it means for your health can I recommend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

I'm only 10 mins into the clip that is 1 hour 30 mins long and I must say he is hitting the nail on the head and explaining things perfectly.

Everybody that thinks about joining Weight Watchers or any other diet that bases it's nutrition theories around low fat should watch this video.

boomtown84

can't wait to see this....just saw an add for it there.
it flashed to a picture of the chicken i buy with your man saying "where it comes from"
if i find out this bleedin chicken isn't irish i'm gonna go nuts.it has irish stamped all over it and not just 'packaged in ireland' which i never buy.
:mad:

Transform

its possibly going to cover ground that most people should wake up to - like in food inc the movie, supersize me etc

Corsendonk

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

A) Way, way too much bread, sugary cereals, sugary drinks, ready made meals, biscuits, chocolate, vegetable oil, margarine, takeaways etc. in the diet

Not enough fruit, veg, fresh cuts of meat, fresh fish, healthy oils, butter, eggs, nuts etc. in the diet

It's fairly obvious why the country's obesity levels are rising, lets hope the program can actually educate people to eat real, unprocessed food and not trot out the low saturated fat line like they usually do, that does nothing other than confuse people and serve as a justification to include much of rubbish in A) in their diet.

Whats fresh cuts of meat?

You also left out the big "E" exercise, just look at older generations who cycled and walked everywhere because they hadn't a car and they had stodgy diets but burnt the cals away in daily exercise without knowing.

Corsendonk

keithoq wrote: »

If the big supermarket chains could supply fresh fruit and veg FROM IRELAND like you':Dd get at a farmers market but cheaper it'd help.

Who says farmers markets are all Irish goods when it comes to fruit and veg? Seen quite a number fill out stalls with goods from foreign boxes.

El_Dangeroso

Corsendonk wrote: »

Who says farmers markets are all Irish goods when it comes to fruit and veg? Seen quite a number fill out stalls with goods from foreign boxes.

You're right, I think we as a nation have become a little too accustomed to eating foreign veg that we just can't grow in this country. I'm no exception, I tried to eat nothing but Irish vegetables but found myself craving peppers and avocados, plus in winter your pretty much stuck on root veg, cabbage and rubarb!

I really wish I could stick to local veg like I do with meat, but I try to stick to Spain which in my head is slighty better than Ghana or Chile.:)

chin_grin

Just wanted to bump this as it's on now!

Jaysus you'd think RTE would invest in a steadycam.........Anyways back to the facts.

UPDATE: Here's the link for it on RTE player. http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1097870

beatrice33

Brilliant program...

I eat a lot of ham, i always buy the best quality with the less ingredients, same for the sausages and bacon...As a low carb dieter, i eat a lot of all these meats(specially for breakfast), but after seeing this program i have to consider ditching them all together? i was under the impression ham at least was superhelthy and i was offering it to my son more and more often. Sausages are also one of his prefered foods...:o

Im spanish and we eat a lot of processed meat like salamis, salchichon, chorizo etc and is seem as pretty healthy...spanish also base their diet in cereals, breads and pastries big time...so the "mediterranean diet" is not as healthy as everyone thinks...

I dont buy meat in the supermarket anymore, unless im very stuck, i have found a butcher with gorgeous meat and is cheaper. I wll ask him about how to make home-made sausages.

metamorphosis

DAMMIT, forgot, off to watch on RTE player now.

boomtown84

very good program even if your man was annoying as fook.
scary to think we could be completely without Irish chicken in a few years!
they didn't go into detail on the country's plans to regulate the industry more heavily.....anyone shed any light on the situation?

Monife

This show sounds interesting, anyone know if I can still catch it on RTE player tonight?

metamorphosis wrote: »

This should be good. Its crazy - if i see veg oil on anything its a no zone. Every now and again when i can't be arsed making my own flapjacks, tryng to find one that actually uses butter rather than oil is amazing. I only see one brand really thats widely available in Limerick (staple diet) but they use a lot of sugar. Still, id prefer sugar any day over veg oil. At least il put the sugar to good use.

Why is vegetable oil so bad?

michelledoh

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

A) Way, way too much bread, sugary cereals, sugary drinks, ready made meals, biscuits, chocolate, vegetable oil, margarine, takeaways etc. in the diet

Not enough fruit, veg, fresh cuts of meat, fresh fish, healthy oils, butter, eggs, nuts etc. in the diet

It's fairly obvious why the country's obesity levels are rising, lets hope the program can actually educate people to eat real, unprocessed food and not trot out the low saturated fat line like they usually do, that does nothing other than confuse people and serve as a justification to include much of rubbish in A) in their diet.

You actually just summerized the whole show! I'd say they will also include some shocking pictures of obese people!

Kewreeuss

I too am wondering why vegetable oil is bad.
I couldn't survive without olive oil!

HardyEustace

Olive oil and vegetable oil are two distinct entities.

Transform

veg oil = excessive amount of omega 6 which has an inflammatory effect on the body.

veg oil is treated and heated so any possible benefits are denatured in that process.

In addition hydrogenated veg oil has no safe limits of which to consume - that means its realllllly bad for you.

eat more fish, use butter or coconut oil when cooking and stop using lowfat spreads (eat butter) etc which are filled with veg oil - that part is pointless if you just swap to butter but continue to eat lots/any bread

Monife

Transform wrote: »

veg oil = excessive amount of omega 6 which has an inflammatory effect on the body.

veg oil is treated and heated so any possible benefits are denatured in that process.

In addition hydrogenated veg oil has no safe limits of which to consume - that means its realllllly bad for you.

eat more fish, use butter or coconut oil when cooking and stop using lowfat spreads (eat butter) etc which are filled with veg oil - that part is pointless if you just swap to butter but continue to eat lots/any bread

Is sunflower oil or olive oil any better? Or low calorie oil spray?

What types of foods is veg oil in?

metamorphosis

Monife wrote: »

Is sunflower oil or olive oil any better? Or low calorie oil spray?

What types of foods is veg oil in?

Olive oil is grand

Veg oil/fats is in many packaged foods from bread to flapjacks

Look at the ingredients - if veg oil is in it stay clear. veg oil, sunflower oil, canola, safflower, soybean (all veg oils) etc [only referred to in most cases as veg oil] are inflammatory to your health. sunflower oil and many of these oils are not good idea to cook with either as they don't havbe high smoke points i.e cooking with them causes the oil to go rancid. Best things to cook with are butter, ghee, lard, coconut oil as these are stable at very high tempitures.

bazwaldo

I thought sunflower was meant to be ok. So Flora (spread or sunflower oil) despite all the marketing to the contrary is bad for you in any amount.

What can I cook my chips in then?

Kewreeuss

Ah, I see now. thanks.
So avoid anything with an ingredient that is just called vegetable oil, and those others.
Another oil I used use a lot when frying was groundnut oil, instead of olive oil, but it's not easy to get it here. Or rather i might have seen it in little 250ml bottles.

metamorphosis

No, flora is not healthy

Look at the ingredients

'Plant sterols can be derived from vegetable oils such as soya, canola and sunflower (this is the case with Flora). They can also come from the waste material from wood pulping – a potentially more toxic option to which food manufacturers are increasingly turning, as the demand for sterol additives increases.

Either way, the sterols in your spread are not in their natural state. Because they are not freely soluble in oils and fats, the sterol is first hydrogenated and then compounded, or esterified, with other fatty acids (usually from rapeseed oil) in order to make them mix better in the spread.'

average_runner

I have to say i thought this program was rubbish, i mean he went through kids school lunch boxes and gave out about the ham and was delighted to see chicken. But the chicken was in a le cusine roll which is ten times worst for a kid.


Program said certain things were bad but never offered an alternative and also its not true that 90% of restaurants have foreign chicken, 90% are irish.

Adelie

average_runner wrote: »

I have to say i thought this program was rubbish, i mean he went through kids school lunch boxes and gave out about the ham and was delighted to see chicken. But the chicken was in a le cusine roll which is ten times worst for a kid.

I agree that the segment on healthiness of food was a bit rubbish. But I thought the rest was interesting, about the problems facing Irish producers, and the fact that supermarkets are ripping of both them and the consumers.

Program said certain things were bad but never offered an alternative and also its not true that 90% of restaurants have foreign chicken, 90% are irish.

Well it did suggest alternatives - consumers should start asking where meat comes from and looking for Irish options. And it suggested government regulations too.

I believe the programme said that 90% of food service chicken (e.g. including delis, canteens, fast food, cafes etc) is foreign. Maybe in decent restaurants the percentage is lower but in the food service in general I'd well believe that most chicken is foreign. Can you back up the stateemnt that 90% of restaurant chicken is Irish?

El_Dangeroso

Kewreeuss wrote: »

Ah, I see now. thanks.
So avoid anything with an ingredient that is just called vegetable oil, and those others.
Another oil I used use a lot when frying was groundnut oil, instead of olive oil, but it's not easy to get it here. Or rather i might have seen it in little 250ml bottles.

Groundnut oil, although it has a high smoke point is also really high in inflammatory omega 6.

You want to be cooking with coconut oil, suet, ghee or butter (low temps)

But don't forget that most of your diet shouldn't be composed of fried food. Stewing, steaming or casseroling is the healthiest way to cook.

Just watched the program on rte player. It was good overall. Few quibbles, there's no consistent evidence that red meat is bad for you.

I also don't accept that healthy eating is more expensive. You have to plan more sure but a 5 pack slice of ham (130g) is almost 3 euro. That's the same price as premium steak.

As important as it is to buy Irish, what concerns me more about restaurants is the oils they use to cook. Fancy restaurants take the best organic pastured chicken and cook it in lipid-peroxide containing cooking oils.

Interesting point about Irish people being the only people who like to eat chicken breast. I personally don't eat too much chicken, but I love the Anthony Bourdain description of chicken breast as 'the tofu of the meat world', it's totally tasteless and bland IMO. Plus two chicken breasts normally costs as much as a whole chicken. I buy a whole organic chicken and butcher the chicken breasts, freeze them and roast the rest. Make stock out of the bones and you have the basis of 5-6 meals for a tenner.

I also thought it was interesting how processed food allowed us to not visit the supermarket every day. I always thought I couldn't do a shop because I was disorganised, and that's partially true but it's also down to the fact that you can't really buy fresh food that far in advance. I try to save money by cooking a lot of curries and stews that I can freeze in individual portions. My curries always taste better after a few weeks in the freezer so I can't understand how frozen shop curries taste so bad.

Overall I think the program has doubled my resolve to support small shops as much as possible.

boomtown84

+1 on supporting the smaller shops and Irish produce!

Monife

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I buy a whole organic chicken and butcher the chicken breasts, freeze them and roast the rest. Make stock out of the bones and you have the basis of 5-6 meals for a tenner.

My mother has always drummed it into me to buy a whole chicken but I just can't bring myself to do it. I only like the breast (don't like any of the brown meat, fat or skin) so it would be a waste for me.

Sorry to keep sounding like a complete retard, but could you explain a bit more why the vegetable oil is bad. Like what do you mean it is inflammatory? What would happen to you if you consume a lot of it?

Just had a look a my "lighter than light mayo" ingredients, and veg oil is there. I think I need to be shocked into not buying these kind of things.

Also, how can producers say things are low fat and for example, Tesco, who do a healthy living range, with veg oil in some of the products, how can they promote that as healthy if veg oil is bad, surely that's false advertising???

El_Dangeroso

Monife wrote: »

My mother has always drummed it into me to buy a whole chicken but I just can't bring myself to do it. I only like the breast (don't like any of the brown meat, fat or skin) so it would be a waste for me.

Sorry to keep sounding like a complete retard, but could you explain a bit more why the vegetable oil is bad. Like what do you mean it is inflammatory? What would happen to you if you consume a lot of it?

Just had a look a my "lighter than light mayo" ingredients, and veg oil is there. I think I need to be shocked into not buying these kind of things.

Also, how can producers say things are low fat and for example, Tesco, who do a healthy living range, with veg oil in some of the products, how can they promote that as healthy if veg oil is bad, surely that's false advertising???

There are powerful lobbies behind the idea that cheap rancid veg oil is preferable to unprocessed foods that contain saturated fat.

Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids compete for absorption and have opposite roles. When you get both in proper amounts this is a good thing, you need some inflammation for normal bodily functions for example. 50 years ago we were getting omega 3 and 6 in a ratio of 1:2, and we weren't even eating that much fish, we just weren't eating so much vegetable oil. The ratio is now more than 1:10.

Vegetable oil was non-existent 100 years ago because the technology to make it didn't exist. When it was invented it was used as an industrial lubricant until they discovered they can feed it to people.

Here's a great talk from nutritional biochemist Dr. William Lands on the importance of the omega 6 ratio. It's long and very science-y but very interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgU3cNppzO0

paperplane93

Monife wrote: »

This show sounds interesting, anyone know if I can still catch it on RTE player tonight?

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1097870

You can watch it here:)

TaraFoxglove

Transform wrote: »

In addition hydrogenated veg oil has no safe limits of which to consume - that means its realllllly bad for you.

Veg oil used for cooking wouldn't be hydrogenated - if it was, it would be solid or nearly solid at room temperature. The addition of hydrogen atoms straightens out the kinks in the fat's "tails", meaning the fat molecules can cluster closer together solidifying at room temperature, unlike unsaturated fats which are more kinked and can't pack closer together. So the fact that cooking veg oil is liquid at room temperature tells me it hasn't been hydrogenated.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

but I love the Anthony Bourdain description of chicken breast as 'the tofu of the meat world', it's totally tasteless and bland IMO.

Meh, meat for me is about texture as well as taste. A well cooked chicken breast can be nice and juicy, and I don't agree that they are tasteless, actually.

SteelyDanJalapeno

TaraFoxglove wrote: »

Veg oil used for cooking wouldn't be hydrogenated - if it was, it would be solid or nearly solid at room temperature. The addition of hydrogen atoms straightens out the kinks in the fat's "tails", meaning the fat molecules can cluster closer together solidifying at room temperature, unlike unsaturated fats which are more kinked and can't pack closer together. So the fact that cooking veg oil is liquid at room temperature tells me it hasn't been hydrogenated.



Meh, meat for me is about texture as well as taste. A well cooked chicken breast can be nice and juicy, and I don't agree that they are tasteless, actually.

Tastes like chicken.

woggie

DagneyTaggart wrote: »

For those of you interested in food production and what it means for your health can I recommend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

wow! very interesting!!!

Lantus

In relation to the show I thought the main issue was that it's the next banking crisis waiting to happen. Companies like Tesco dont operate in the interest of any nation or long term sustainable plan (regardless of what they may tell you.) They operate day to day to make profit.

The banking crisis may cost us an economy but a food crisis could cost us our entire way of life. Tesco would just shut up shop and move to another country, ship in food from elsewhere and charge accordingley while they denied any wrong doing. (just operating within the market right?)

boomtown84

Lantus wrote: »

In relation to the show I thought the main issue was that it's the next banking crisis waiting to happen. Companies like Tesco dont operate in the interest of any nation or long term sustainable plan (regardless of what they may tell you.) They operate day to day to make profit.

The banking crisis may cost us an economy but a food crisis could cost us our entire way of life. Tesco would just shut up shop and move to another country, ship in food from elsewhere and charge accordingley while they denied any wrong doing. (just operating within the market right?)

Hope you're right!:)

unclejunior

i think its ironic that philip boucher hayes, who is clearly overweight, is critical of 'what ireland is eating'.

El_Dangeroso

unclejunior wrote: »

i think its ironic that philip boucher hayes, who is clearly overweight, is critical of 'what ireland is eating'.

Heh, good point

Still think he had some good points.

Transform

TaraFoxglove wrote: »

Veg oil used for cooking wouldn't be hydrogenated - if it was, it would be solid or nearly solid at room temperature. The addition of hydrogen atoms straightens out the kinks in the fat's "tails", meaning the fat molecules can cluster closer together solidifying at room temperature, unlike unsaturated fats which are more kinked and can't pack closer together. So the fact that cooking veg oil is liquid at room temperature tells me it hasn't been hydrogenated.



Meh, meat for me is about texture as well as taste. A well cooked chicken breast can be nice and juicy, and I don't agree that they are tasteless, actually.

did not say it was hydrogenated - read what i wrote.

Hydrogenated veg oil is mainly present in junk foods e.g. crisps, biscuits etc

Transform

Transform wrote: »

did not say it was hydrogenated - read what i wrote.

Hydrogenated veg oil is mainly present in junk foods e.g. crisps, biscuits etc

overall everyone could do better to watch e.g. food inc or food matters.

This show revealed NOTHING that i do not see on a daily basis when dealing with clients i.e. too much junk featuring daily, poor food quality and too many carbs.

mimihops

This is really interesting, I never knew vegetable oil in its non hydrogenated format was so bad for you. What do people here use for frying? When starting a curry for example and you want to soften the onions? I'm very dopey on this stuff Is olive oil definitely ok? And what about rapeseed oil?

Transform

mimihops wrote: »

This is really interesting, I never knew vegetable oil in its non hydrogenated format was so bad for you. What do people here use for frying? When starting a curry for example and you want to soften the onions? I'm very dopey on this stuff Is olive oil definitely ok? And what about rapeseed oil?

coconut oil or butter

Monife

Transform wrote: »

coconut oil or butter

What is wrong with olive oil? Is it the same as veg oil or any better?

I would never cook with butter, don't like the taste and it's packed with calories.

Also, coconut oil, don't like anything that is coconut flavour so if the oil tastes like it, that's out for me too.

columok

Monife wrote: »

What is wrong with olive oil? Is it the same as veg oil or any better?

I would never cook with butter, don't like the taste and it's packed with calories.

Also, coconut oil, don't like anything that is coconut flavour so if the oil tastes like it, that's out for me too.

All fats are pretty much equally calorific. Olive is great if you don't cook with it. If you're frying stick with clarified butter or coconut oil if you're concerned about your health. Clarified butter has less flavour.

Ash.J.Williams

what oil should one use if one is frying?

bazwaldo

All this is really wrecking my head. At home we have mostly healthy meals for us grown ups and the kids. After this week I've discovered that the ham in their wholemeal sandwiches is really bad for them and the wholemeal sliced pan isn't to good either with preservatives and what not. Also on a Friday its a bit of tradition to have chips (deep fried in Flora oil) and sausages (sometimes boiled, sometimes fried in butter). I knew this was bad but now am thinking its truly awful. At least we used Irish brands ;-)

We also cook a ham with cabbage/turnip every two weeks and now thats off the table with ham being so dodgy.

Given all the information in this thread and that program on RTE, I don't know what the kids could get for their lunch in school which is healthy and they want to eat. Is their any sliced pan thats ok? Or any child friendly wrap/pita? And what to put in it. High fruit content jam or chicken?

Or is it ok to have stuff like this on a weekly or less often basis. We're definitely going to reduce or cut out ham in their sambos. They will certainly miss it.

menoscemo

Monife wrote: »

What is wrong with olive oil? Is it the same as veg oil or any better?

I would never cook with butter, don't like the taste and it's packed with calories.

Also, coconut oil, don't like anything that is coconut flavour so if the oil tastes like it, that's out for me too.

As columuk said, all oils /fats have basically the same calorific content.

Oilve oil is ok to fry with but you have to keep the temperature low, to stop it burning/denaturing.

Never fry with virgin or extra virgin olive oil as they have a ridiculously low burning point. They are very healthy but only consumed as a condiment e.g as a deressing on your salad etc.