Never Eat processed foods!

one thing I have generally done most of my life is to eat food that is in its natural state when i bought it
fruit, veg etc but importantly ANY Meat or Fish product.

I like to know exactly what i am consuming and at least be able to verify that it is actually that.

Now in the UK there is a huge scandal about HORSEMEAT being sold as beef in processed foods and burgers(also processed IMO) Pork in pre prepared Halal foods and who knows what else that we don't know about.

The food industry will seemingly go to any lengths to make a buck and load processed food with preservatives, nitrites, sodium and sugar.

I doubt all fresh food is perfect and no doubt all sorts of sprays and chemicals are used in their production but at least you have a vague idea what you are eating.

processed food that is pre cooked and covered in sauces is a just a great excuse to sell us any old crap that we cant tell what it is

I agree, if anything this news story has come at the right time in line with my diet, I was never a big fan of processed foods and didnt buy any of the products affected by the recent horse meat scandal but will definitely be making sure they dont go in my trolley or my mouth from now on. I bet there will be lots more news in the next few weeks about dodgy ingredients.

Horse has a ton of protein, relatively low fat.

The problem is not that it was horse it's that it wasn't labelled as such, and currently no one knows exactly where it originated from, nor whether it was fit for human consumption.

Several common drugs for horses are dangerous to humans. They wouldn't be fed to a horse bred for food... If we don't know where the horse came from and whether it has routinely ingested such a substance then we can't know it's not entering our food supply.

im sure decent horse meat is fine to eat , but when im buying Beef I expect BEEF!

Just bein' cheeky mate

I wouldn't mind trying horse ...especially the ones I bet on and lost!

So many things to learn about how food is being prepared and sold to us. I have been so surprised to find out what the different producers can actually get away with. How they take advantage of every little loophole do save money and often in the process we do not know what we are eating.

In this instance the problem hasn't been the manufacturer but the suppliers. It's almost impossible to tell minced horse from minced beef (particularly when mixed with beef mince). Without expensive DNA testing.

Until there is evidence of collusion (at local or high level) with the manufacturers I think demonising them when they have been victims of fraud seems a tad unfair (if understandable).

When we do find out where this entered the food chain I hope the governments involved prosecute the people responsible to the fullest extent of the law.

Worst one I heard was the baby milk powder company in China who used melamine the stuff used to make kitchen cabinets to bulk out the baby milk formula

Many babies died and those responsible were executed and a good job to

Yes it is not just processed foods
Investigation has shown that a lot of "whole food" is labelled wrong. Some fish is sold under a different fame so that a highter price can be charged. Some fish is labelled wild when it is not.
Olive oil often contains less oil from olive than other products.

I've never looked at a carrot, avocado, or egg and wondered whether I might be eating something other than what I think I am.

That is a point
but fruit and veggies are also quite manipulated these days. So what you may eat as an apple today may be nothing like what an apple was just 100 years ago. Some of these products have had nutrition bred out of them for the purpose of creating a certain colour or a certain sweet taste. And some products are artificailly ripened (like tomato) so that look red withouth them actually have reached the ripeend stage.
Some products like wheat have been manipulated some much that the current plant is very unlike the original plant.
Lots of stuff going on. Some nutritionists are theorizing that one reason we overeat may be that our food contains so little natural nutrition that our bodies crave and so we constantly are trying to meet needs but in process taking in lots of calories.

Its a very informative and interesting topic and i learned lot of new information about food. I am totally agreed with this that we should avoid processed food and everyone should keep this information in mind.
Gym St Johns Wood

That's an interesting theory but doesn't explain why only some but not all people over eat.

To me its amazing how obesity levels have risen in one generation , clearly some people are more inclined to put on weight if you subscribe to the body type description of physiques
I.e. endomorph, mesomorph and ectomorph

I would describe myself as a mesomorph with endomorph tendencies I.e generally quite muscular under ideal conditions but with a tendency to put on weight if sedentary and not conscious about what I eat.

I think access to cheap and highly calorific food coupled with increased inactivity has tipped the balance in the last 30 Years resulting in what we see now, I see processed food as a big part in that process

For some bizarre reason we don't eat horse meat. I tried it in France some years ago and found it really quite nice, it was very lean. On another point i read recently how the nutritional value of supermarket fruit and veg had lowered over the years, i presume due to the way it is force grown and the need for uniformity. Perhaps we need to go back to the butcher baker and veg shops that we have lost over the years. Over the last year i have been buying from our local farm shop getting nice in season produce. I am still to save up my money and get my freezer empty so i can buy my meat direct from the local farm...