Who decides?

[Gibbo2286]

What is 'junk food' I note there's a suggestion that junk food adverts should not be on tv before 9pm, who decides what fits that category Jamie Oliver?

Franky I think they're bloody mad, are they going to set up a new bureaucracy to police it or will we have long drawn out court cases like they had to decide if Jaffa cakes were cakes or biscuits for the vat rules?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Its all a matter of opinion. Take the humble pizza.

If its cooked in Naples by an old italian who makes it in the same way their great great grandmother did in 1852 then a pizza is a wonderful culinary delight, full of fresh mediterranean goodness, herbs/olive oil/tomatoes/hand kneaded dough and the worlds healthiest food salty anchovies!

If it is cooked by a franchised chain like Pizza-Hut/Dominos/Papa Johns and instead of Mozarella uses cater-pack Pizza Cheese then it is junk food.

Regards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

OK Neil I'll put your name in to the selection committee.

[xantia_v6]

I think that it is only a slight generalisation to say that any food advertised on TV is a junk food, so all good advertising should be banned.

[van ordinaire]

I don't understand the need to protect what must be a very small group of youngsters who actually go out & buy their own food.

[bobins]

Now this surprised me......

"The term junk food dates back at least to the early 1950s, although its coinage has been credited to Michael F. Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972. In 1952, it appeared in the Lima, Ohio, News, "'Junk Foods' Cause Serious Malnutrition", the headline for a reprint of a 1948 article from the Ogden, Utah, Standard-Examiner, originally titled, "Dr. Brady’s Health Column: More Junk Than Food".

And some useful definitions:

"In Andrew F. Smith's Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food, junk food is defined as "those commercial products, including candy, bakery goods, ice cream, salty snacks, and soft drinks, which have little or no nutritional value but do have plenty of calories, salt, and fats. While not all fast foods are junk foods, most are. Fast foods are ready-to-eat foods served promptly after ordering. Some fast foods are high in calories and low in nutritional value, while other fast foods, such as salads, may be low in calories and high in nutritional value."

Junk food provides empty calories, supplying little or none of the protein, vitamins, or minerals required for a nutritious diet. Many foods, such as hamburgers, pizza, and tacos, can be considered either healthy or junk food, depending on their ingredients and preparation methods.[18] The more highly processed items usually fall under the junk food category, including breakfast cereals that are mostly sugar or high fructose corn syrup and white flour or milled corn.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which regulates the UK ad industry, uses nutrient profiling to define junk food. Foods are scored for "A" nutrients (energy, saturated fat, total sugar and sodium) and "C" nutrients (fruit, vegetables and nut content, fiber and protein). The difference between A and C scores determines whether a food or beverage is categorized as HFSS (high in fat, salt and sugar; a term synonymous with junk food)."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_food

[doctle]

If you get fish and chips from a traditional chipper you get a large piece of cod, hand cut chips, salt and vinegar. Compare that to a McDonald's fish meal that contains minced white fish, something that vaguely looks like batter but tastes of nothing and matchstick fries coated in flavourings and flavour enhancers. I know which one I prefer. You know when you see an ad on TV for a computer game and it says on the bottom of the screen "not actual game footage" ? Junk food is like that in that it's not actual food. It you buy the game the actual graphics fall way short of what you see in the ad.
I see small children drinking a well known energy drink, that's junk just sugar caffeine and water. When I was young I didn't need energy drinks and nowadays kids aren't out playing football or whatever every spare minute they are playing their badly animated games drinking energy drinks and eating frozen crap or chocolate.

[GiveMeABreak]

Fillet o fish used to be 100% cod before the frogs legged it off with all our cod. And I LOVED them, plus a Big Mac (with no green boogers, but with extra plastic cheese) when it was a Big Mac not a Mini Mac.

Unfortunately, it’s like the Mars bar syndrome, they used to be the size of shoe boxes, but gradually shave a bit off each year until now they are the size of a twiglet.

[doctle]

Nearly all the chippers in Ireland are run by Italians however there's one in Donegal run by a mad Englishman I try to get there a couple of times a year, His fish is better his chips are perfect and if you have a little Scottish blood he will deep fry a Mars bar for €1.00

[GiveMeABreak]

I feel a coronary coming on at the thought of deep fried Mars bar!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Ever had a deep fried steak pie ........If you ever venture to Dunbar this is the place to go to sample this delicacy!

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Regards Neil

[doctle]

Ever had a deep fried steak pie ........If you ever venture to Dunbar this is the place to go to sample this delicacy!

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Regards Neil

Is it worth going for?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Is it worth going for?

er...not really, I imagine you may be just a touch disappointed if you jumped on a plane flew to Edinburgh and took the train out to Dunbar especially for the deep-fried steak pie.

I did it once when given responsibility for the catering on a day trip, but have gone for the fish and chips on all other occasions.

Regards Neil

[daviemck2006]

Well as a guy who works in a chip shop, kebab shop burger bar, and pizza parlour I feel I have to comment here! Fish and chips, 100% fresh haddock deepfried in crispy batter, proper chips made from real potatoes. I wouldnt call that junk food. Ditto fresh chicken fillets or chicken breasts. However everything else, pies, sausage, black red and white puddings come in frozen and are deep fried, i would say junk foods. Kebabs, well donner kebab to me is about 99% fat, doesnt matter which kebab shop they come from, and gives me a dose of the runs! Our chicken kebabs are fresh chicken fillets marinated in the boses secret recipie sauce then cooked on a grill and are the healthiest food ever served with a fresh side salad. Definately not junk. All their burgers, not junk like macdonalds or burger king, but not like proper butcher made burgers. 1/2 and 1/2. The pizzas, the bases are guite greasy, loaded with tomato sauce and heaps of cheese before tha toppings go on then more cheese. I would actually class them junk foods. I would just say if you eat a lot from fast food shops stick to fish and chips or chicken kebab. Everything else is a heart attack in a box!

[doctle]

If you can find a good sit down cafe you can get fish, chips and mushy peas plus tea bread and butter, for a yokel like me that's high class dining!
On a more serious note I believe that poorer people are much more likely to buy junk food, this is just from observation whilst shopping with the wife. Ready cooked meals, frozen burgers, microwave chips etc. I would say it doesn't help that the younger generation can't really cook or understand the difference between a roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding and the "ready meal" in a plastic tray that's heated in a microwave. Even things like diary spreads that contain solidified veg oil, pre cooked oven chips etc are at best semi junk.