Latest Moan From You and Me 2024

@pete - most of the scare stories come from vested interests such as the food industry making trans fats such as margarine and then claiming butter will kill you. The reverse is nearer the truth.

Human beings evolved as omnivores, taking their sustenance seasonally and having a wide variety of food to get a balanced diet with all the proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals needed to sustain a healthy body and mind. If you limit your diet to one main group of foods or eliminate one completely you will end up needing supplements to stay healthy.

The human body and brain are not designed to process processed foods and I believe industrial foods and low nutritional value fast foods are largely responsible for the epidemic levels of obesity, depression, food allergies and intolerances and conditions such as ADHD and the like.

 

You can buy coke in 150ml cans, you can buy it in 2 ltr bottles, the choice is yours.
People just need to be responsible for their own actions.

 

Or you can choose not to buy it at all, thus saving money to buy chocolate!!

Or buy fruit and veg.

 

You can, but the 150 mls are much more expensive (per ml), often only available in packs of 12, and pretty much never sold from chilled cabinets in corner shops or take-aways.

My point is perception. Our perception of what is "a portion" has changed massively in the last 50 yrs. If it can be changed upwards (as it has been), it can be changed downwards too.

It would be possible for people to get used to 200 mls as "normal". It would be beneficial for people to think of 200 mls as "normal". It won't happen, because profit stands in the way.

 

Probably ... initially. But, over time, perception would alter. And for a child drinking a can every day (as many do), moving from gulping down 330 mls to 200 mls 365 times in a yr would be a real saving in terms of calories and sugar/sweetener consumption. One way to do it would be to stock both sizes, but only have the smaller ones ready chilled. Or ensure supermarket pricing made the bigger one poorer value.

 

Hard to override drives though. Not saying we shouldn't try, but put temptation in line of sight multiple times a day and sooner or later, resolve snaps. However, if the temptation is removed, or toned down (cereals in bland, grey boxes, for example), that helps a lot. Yes, some will seek ways round to satisfy their cravings, but make that a lot of effort, and you would gradually see enough change to improve nutritional health.

 

I don't see how changing the size of readily available coke cans is putting the onus on the child. It is valuing child health over profits and making it easier to consume less without noticing.

 

That's cos all stoned fruit contains natural sorbitol, a close relative of Xylitol.