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deebee Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:07 PM |
Since my son Louis has been told to avoid E numbers and other additives in food, I've been trying to buy organic food. Firstly, I've had a near heart attack at the difference this has made to our food bill and secondly having read all the labels, some foods that claim to be organic still have other things in them we're trying to avoid and are able to call themselves organic due to the use of certain organic ingredients.
I'm really trying to change our eating habits but this has made me think twice :-S
Anyone else going the organic route? What do you reckon? |
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:15 PM |
| What are E numbers? |
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deebee Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:19 PM |
A lot of E numbers are used to colour food. In the Uk they even said that certain E numbers were linked to hyper activity in children! E150C (brown food colouring) is quite a risky one. It apparently increases risk of cancer.
Just checked Wiki, the E is for Europe which is why you didn't understand. The numbers are used for colours, preservatives, antibiotics, vitamins etc. |
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Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:20 PM |
Turtleneck wrote: What are E numbers?
Additives in food, flavourings, preservatives and colourings. Rather than list them by their actual name they are listed as "E-numbers"
for example E120 is Cochineal (Red)...
Wiki E Numbers
Dubz |
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:41 PM |
Our labels are different. Ours will say Red #40 or Lake Yellow.
I don't know how much this would help you in your country, but here we have the Feingold Association. They create food lists that have no artificial dyes and preservatives. I had Max on strict Feingold for a while and I can tell you a miracle story off the board if you like. Anyway, just go to www.feingold.org and you can see if that looks like anything you can use.
I thought other countries used more natural food dyes than synthetic. The synthetic food dyes here are petroleum based and though many studies show a link to hyperactivity, learning problems, etc. the FDA still says they are safe. And for some reason, companies aren't always required to put what preservatives are used in their food. Sometimes it is put into the packaging and not the food. It is hard to know what you're eating.
When I was in Germany, I was surprised to find that Big Red gum wasn't red! It was just...gum colored. |
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Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:44 PM |
There have been a few scares over the years, Birdseye or Findus were adding a green colouring to Frozen Peas which was making kids hyperactive. Also I think Smarties were also accused of some sort of tomfoolery.
Dubz |
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deebee Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:51 PM |
Scottish Dubliner wrote: There have been a few scares over the years, Birdseye or Findus were adding a green colouring to Frozen Peas which was making kids hyperactive. Also I think Smarties were also accused of some sort of tomfoolery.
Dubz
Smarties were def a problem at one point - particularly the orange ones.
I still can't understand how they can justify charging twice the price for something just because it has an organic label on it. |
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Posts: 1892 |
deebee Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 7:58 PM |
| Kayte, thanks for the Feingold link. This is exactly what we're trying to do. Since we started, his excema has cleared up and he hasn't needed his hayfever treatment even tho we went camping last weekend. |
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Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 8:05 PM |
deebee wrote: Scottish Dubliner wrote: There have been a few scares over the years, Birdseye or Findus were adding a green colouring to Frozen Peas which was making kids hyperactive. Also I think Smarties were also accused of some sort of tomfoolery.
Dubz
Smarties were def a problem at one point - particularly the orange ones.
I still can't understand how they can justify charging twice the price for something just because it has an organic label on it.
I've had that arguement several times with people, A Solicitor friend of mine had just had his first kid and was rabbitting on about Organic foods, things like chicken and stuff. Now it's all very well for him to go into Fallon & Byrne to buy Corn Fed Organic Chickens at €20 a pop.
However what about the wee wifey on the dole with 5 kids ?? She can buy a whole chicken in Lidl/Aldi for about €4.
My sister is a chef and is very aware of what she eats, she tends to stick to vegetables and pasta, as she knows how meat is processed and what is added. She does like meat and isn't a vegetarian.
Dubz |
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Scottish Dubliner Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 8:10 PM |
Oh and on a side note, (I may have mentioned this before)if you really wanna annoy your friends (who have kids). Go visit them and then just as you're leaving give the kids a pack of skittles and a can of coke each.
Cream Eggs are also good for toddlers... seriously have you seen the mess a 3 year old can make with a Cream Egg.
"evil" Dubz |
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minnmess Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 8:16 PM |
I try to shop local and organic, but it isnt always possible due to money or accessibility. There is a pretty good farmers market here that I am trying to hit as often as possible. Since i lost so many of my toiletries in Europe (luggage ripped open at airport), I've been trying to replace them with more natural and environmentally friendly things.
I would have loved to only buy from markets when I was in London, as opposed to veggies and fruit from Sainsburys wrapped in 3 different kinds of plastic (half of which wasn't recyclable) but...Sainsburys was a 15 minute walk away, and most markets were nearly an hour by tube/train.
Little changes. |
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mili Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 9:06 PM |
I try to buy food that's processed as little as possible, avoid ready-marinated chicken etc, prefer Finnish or organic veg, fruit is not as easy (no oranges grow here, and organic are often small and pippy, bananas are ok). Today I bought organic Spanish garlic instead of Chinese, for nearly double price…
Milk, eggs, spuds, just basic local, eggs free range. |
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 9:19 PM |
Scottish Dubliner wrote: Oh and on a side note, (I may have mentioned this before)if you really wanna annoy your friends (who have kids). Go visit them and then just as you're leaving give the kids a pack of skittles and a can of coke each.
Cream Eggs are also good for toddlers... seriously have you seen the mess a 3 year old can make with a Cream Egg.
"evil" Dubz
If you truly want to be evil, you'll exchange the Coke for Mellow Yellow. It's 100X more evil.
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Turtleneck Posted Thu 16 Jun, 2011 10:11 PM |
| How old is Louis? Maybe you can get him in the kitchen to help prepare some of the food. We learned ways of duplicating favorite store bought food in our own kitchen. My kids were quite little, but they enjoyed stirring things. I still make my own chocolate syrup for chocolate milk because we drink a lot of it around here. I was surprised to find out that they put coloring in chocolate syrup! WHY??? We also made homemade chicken nuggets which were quite good. I'd make a big batch and then freeze them to use later. Most of the recipes I got were on the Feingold web site. Oh, and if you search around you can even find web sites for natural candy, like suckers, gum, M&M substitutes, etc. |
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Posts: 1892 |
deebee Posted Fri 17 Jun, 2011 5:45 AM |
Oh boy, those cream eggs are real trouble and not just for three yr olds lol.
We try and use a local farm shop for fruit, juices, meat, eggs and like you Mili, I'm trying to buy local products. The good side to this is that my supermarket shop now takes me about five minutes!
Kayte, Louis is 12 so I'm trying to get him as involved as possible. He made his own beefburgers and meatballs the other day and he makes cakes now on his own which is great. He also helps prepare the yoghurts for the machine.
How far do you take this? I understand about fresh products being organic but then does that mean I have to use organic pasta and rice too? |
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