Food 'n' Drink – Food and Drink news |

Many office workers that are trying to diet will quickly snatch up readymade pasta bowls or salads under the impression that they are healthy purchases.  However, analysis performed by the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) shows that most actually have a high salt level that can be dangerous if consumed on a regular basis.

Even though the items may look innocent, about six out of the 270 readymade choices had less salt than one normal packet of Salted crisps.  Another one out of ten had over the amount of salt in a Big Mac from McDonald’s offering over a third of the daily recommended salt allowance.

This is not the first survey that has showed that salads can be an unhealthy choice as well, as last year a survey showed that some salads can actually be worse than consuming a Big Mac.

Most of the saltiest items come from upmarket high street cafes, even though the establishments often market the salad items as healthy and fresh meal choices.

Eat is the worst café of them all, offering a Spicy Crayfish Noodles salad that offers about 3.51g of salts which is approximately 17x more salty than a No Bread Tricolor from Pret A Manger which contains .2g of salt.

Other extremely salty salads from cafes and fast food restaurants include KFC’s Zinger Salad with 3.1g of salt, KFC’s Original Recipe Chicken salad with 2.9g, Pret’s Super Humous salad with 3.2g, and McDonald’s Crispy Chicken and Bacon Salad with 2.6g of salt.

Supermarket salads can be just as bad with Marks & Spencer salads topping the top ten list seven times.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has decided that the government has the ability to save around forty thousand lives and millions of pounds if more regulations were placed on the junk food industry.

Some suggestions include offering shoppers better labeling on fat, salt, and sugar in processed foods, controlling advertising of junk food to children, and eliminating trans fat during food manufacturing.

However, the news has come too late as the coalition government has placed public health and food on the back burner and it seems that now every positive argument would be met with those claiming its restriction of freedom.

Treasury estimates that every year health service costs from disease caused by diet have increased up to £6b yearly and are continuing to skyrocket.  This estimate was ten years ago, which paints a picture for how it may look today.

The simple truth in terms of NHS spending is that the government could save large amounts if strokes, cancers, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease were prevented by correcting diets instead of waiting until their health effects were already manifest.

However, efforts by nice which is responsible for offering guidance to the NHS in terms of spending, was told by the Department of Health that it has overstepped its bounds and that eating healthy is still fundamentally a personal choice.

The Food Standards Agency is also likely going to have to take a back seat as well son after angering the junk food industry by mandating clear names for salts and fats on packages and its role has already been shifted towards the Department of Health.

Prime time programmes often feature commercials for single meals that contain over three times the recommended daily serving size for sugar.  Researchers that took part in the study found that most of the advertised foods would have less than half of all the fruits, vegetables, and dairy servings that are recommended in a daily 2,000 calorie diet.

Instead, the amount of fat and sugar contained in the meals that are shown on television would require that a person only eat one meal a day.

The research was based on a careful analysis of US television adverts and was published in June.

Assistant Professor Michael Mink, from the Armstrong Atlantic State University at Savannah, GA who led the research study stated that the results show that advertised foods often oversupply nutrients that are linked with chronic illness while not supplying enough of nutrients that protect against the same chronic illnesses.

As part of the study, researchers looked at 12 hours of Saturday morning television and 84 hours of prime time television over a month long period in 2004.

According to the Guardian, chocolate has now officially been proclaimed good for you since it reduces the risk of heart attack or stroke.  In fact, eating a chocolate bar once a day may reduce the chance of either health condition by around 39%.

The news is the result of research that studied the chocolate intake of 19,000 people over the last eight years.  At first, the chocolate intake of those included in the study was only associated with lowering the risk of stroke or heart attack, but the results changed when it was found the variants concerning the participants’ blood pressure was looked at as well.

At the same time, it the study was not able to ascertain chocolate’s affect on the participants’ blood pressure due to the fact that it was only measured at the beginning of the study.  Also notable is the fact that the highest amount of chocolate consumed each day by any participant was 7.5g of chocolate which is significantly less than an entire chocolate bar.

Despite these facts, the question of whether chocolate may help the heart is still debatable.  Yet, it is important to remember that even if consuming it for the health benefits chocolate is still high in calories and fat and should only be eaten in moderation.  This is due to the fact that a diet that is high in calories and fat can increase the risk of not only obesity, but correspondingly stroke and heart disease which is counterproductive.

Drinks that have sugar as an ingredient such as soda should be marketed in cans that contain 250ml alongside the traditional 300ml can the Food Standards Agency announced in a recommendation.

According to the agency, people should also reduce their intake of saturated fats found in chocolate, cakes, sweets, and biscuits by five to ten percent.

The agency announced the recommendations after a consultation but companies are not legally bound to follow the recommendations.

Head of Nutrition at the FSA, Dr. Clair Baynton, stated that food businesses consistently look over their processes and ingredients along with their portion sizes and that the aim of the recommendations is to encourage the companies to think about how they could help contribute to the public by reducing saturated fat which have been linked to heart disease.

Baynton continued to say that the idea is not to tell people how to eat, but to make it simpler for people to choose healthy food items or at least healthier portion sizes.

Julian Hunt from the Food and Drink Federation stated that UK food producers are proud of how far they have come by changing the recipes of popular foods so that they taste the same but contain less calories, saturated fat, and fat.

Hunt added that their members have been tackling the unique challenge of producing healthier foods for years and are ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to altering old favourites and producing new products that are healthy and tasty.

Red Funnel are offering some more brand-new healthy eating cookery courses at the Four Seasons Cookery Academy in Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight.

The new two-night residential courses are offered from Friday to Sunday on three weekends in early 2010 and cost just £295 per person, including all accommodation, tuition, meals, plus fresh Isle of Wight produce and guide books.

Held in an informal setting, the new weekends offer the chance to learn healthy eating cookery techniques and recipes with academy owner Michele, as well as time to explore the Isle of Wight, itself famed for fresh local produce. Commencing with a one-pot supper on the Friday night, guests then come together to cook both lunch and a three-course dinner on the Saturday, with free time on Saturday afternoon to see the Island. Sunday lessons focus on a brunch menu, leaving guests free to leave any time after this, or stay on for further sightseeing.

Accommodation is offered at one of two holiday cottages in Fishbourne and with limited places, those interested should book early for the confirmed dates of 15-17 January, 22-24 January and 5-7 February 2010.

Travelling to the Isle of Wight is easy with Red Funnel. Vehicle Ferries run regularly around the clock from Southampton, which is within easy reach of the M3 and M27 and return ferry travel for a car and up to six passengers starts from just £32. Visitors wanting to stay longer can purchase period return tickets for £34.

For further information visit www.redfunnel.co.uk.