This is the good stuff
Ok, so that’s a blunt title, but should you choose to circumnavigate food cost inflation by taking the cheap and unhealthy route then a shortened life is the likely outcome.
The NHS is already likely to become unaffordable within decades due to rising diet related illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. It was widely reported last week that the NHS spends £750 million a year on drugs to combat the symptoms of these diet related illnesses.
Everyone’s noticed how low cost, convenience food is always cheaper than its organic counterparts, and taking the energy dense/low cost/high carb food route during a period of recession will be a trap many will fall into, either by choice, accident or necessity.
Before you go reaching in the freezer cabinet or hot foot over to Burger King, consider the following:
Sainsbury’s ‘Taste the Difference’ Shepherds Pie
This fine example of a frozen ready meal contains a roll call of 69 ingredients, featuring artificial flavourings, preservatives, hardened fats and test tube additions such as wheat gluten and dextrin. The closest chemical relation to dextrin is wood glue; effectively you’re eating a ball of starch coated in Copydex, or a ‘non-food’ food.
The Burger King Whopper with Cheese
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. This sandwich contains around 1800 calories. The adult calorie GDA is 2000, so almost all of your daily calorie allowance is exhausted by this sandwich. Did I mention the 1500 milligrams of sodium in the cheese? The 64 grammes of fat? The 30 grammes of saturated fat? There are 45 grammes of carbohydrate in the bun for Pete’s sake.
Pot Noodle
My favorite subject, and I expect some comeback from Becca Talbot on this, but Pot Noodle represents an absolute health nadir. Looking beyond the known traces of Sudan 1 (a carcinogenic colourent commonly added to waxes and petrol), a Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodle is made up of 62% carbohydrate, 28% fat and 10% protein. Frankly, it’s angina waiting to happen. Moreover, the salt content has been halved since 2005, so any Pot Noodles consumed before this date would certainly have done your blood pressure no favours whatsoever.
The alternative? Aldi, Asda, Somerfield or Waitrose, it makes little difference. Buy some nice Maris Piper potatoes, some low-fat margerine and cheese, a tomato or two, some onions, garlic, black pepper, a stock cube, some organic minced lamb and make that Shepherd’s Pie yourself. Take the leftovers to work the next day, and use any spare ingredients in a different dish further down the week.
It’s so easy, and if you don’t believe me, check this recipe.
