Tuesday - May 19, 2009

Health Nazis hard at work. As usual.

Might not mean too much to too many out there, but one of the things I can not abide are these righteous they know all things health nazis who only want what’s best for me.
Well go away damn it.  I’m only interested in what tastes good to me. Within reason.

Some health watch dog group is insisting and the govt. ready to go along, with plans to reduce the amount of salt in food we buy because I guess they think it’s gonna kill us or worse.

There are folks who have lived to a ripe old age and not all of em in some kind of food related deathly illness. How in the world has the human race survived all this time without all these social engineering do-good ppl telling em all how to live.

Yes, I realize there have to be standards re. health and food processing etc. But now the zealots want to cut up to 40% more salt out of food and they want to mess with my Corn Flakes. And cheese. You can’t cut too much salt from cheese and still have it taste good. And the same for ham.

The world is screwed up and I’m on a food rant. Waste of time to some maybe but to me it’s just another intrusion by govts into personal choices.
Just how much salt and fats can you cut out before it all tastes ... oh well. It won’t have any taste at all but it’ll all be safe.  Grumble!

From The TimesMay 19, 2009

Food industry opposes tougher salt-reduction targets

Valerie Elliott, Consumer Editor
Food companies are ready to challenge new salt reduction targets, claiming that consumers will not accept the taste of many products.

Industry figures say that salt levels set by the Food Standards Agency may also compromise food safety, especially for cheese and ham, which will shorten the shelf life of items in stores and create more food waste.

The agency is demanding a lower salt content for bread, pizza, ready meals and savoury snacks and wants to cut the salt in burgers and grill steaks by 25 per cent. It accepts that many of its targets may be impossible to meet. Thin and frozen burgers are lower in salt than thicker burgers, which require more sodium to bind the ingredients. It is continuing, however, with calls for new recipes and product formulation to try to make 6g of salt a day the maximum average daily intake for an adult.

Health chiefs estimate that 20,200 deaths from high blood pressure and heart disease would be prevented annually if the nation achieved the 6g-a-day average, down from the present average of 8.5g. About 75 per cent of all salt eaten by consumers is in ready-made or processed food.

I really do wish these people would make up their mind.  In another newspaper the quote on death from salt is 7,000.

The British Retail Consortium, which represents leading supermarkets, said that many of the new targets would be difficult to achieve. Stephen Robertson, its director-general, said: “In some cases we believe customers won’t accept the change in taste. It’s crucial we take customers with us as tastes don’t change overnight. Salt can also play an important part in preserving food. It would be perverse if we reduced salt to the extent that it reduced a product’s shelf life and increased food waste — compromising a key part of government food policy.”

Bread-makers are particularly concerned that they will not be able to meet the target. Gordon Polson, director of the Federation of Bakers, said: “It is technically impossible for the industry to go beyond the 2010 target of 430mg sodium per 100g to 400mg by 2012.”

SOURCE

Not an earth shattering story I’ll grant ya. It’s just one more small step for Big Brother, and I tend to get a bit annoyed about that.

Posted by peiper     on 05/19/2009 at 01:46 PM   
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