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Yet another foodscare :-(

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Joanbunting » Thu Mar 29, 2018 2:50 pm

I would hardly call eating at a burger joint dining out would you ?

It also seems to me that what is eaten in the home may just have something to do with ones nutrition levels.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Sakkarin » Thu Mar 29, 2018 3:42 pm

I'm afraid here in Watford any attempts at offering anything vaguely resembling fine dining are swiftly replaced with burger, steak or pizza/pasta bars, so I'm afraid that is probably what many here regard as "dining out".

Curiously though, I just read this in this week's copy of "The Week":

"Bad week for French cuisine - for the first time sales of burgers overtook those of the traditional jambon-beurre, a ham baguette that is a staple of French lunchtimes".

Apparently burger sales in France are 14 times those of a decade ago.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Joanbunting » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:06 pm

Sakkers just about anything is better than a jambon beurre baguette if its an emergency snack lunch. The ham is usually plastic and unless the bread is fresh out of the oven it is inedible. I think burgers are eaten more than they were, probably in cities with lots of students.

There has been a Macdos here for about 10 years but they seem to have very few customers out of the tourist season. On the other hand the local Relais Routier is packed out every lunch time as are the local restaurants which offer a plat de jour.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:19 pm

Notice that the issue there (completely unsurprisingly) is not the food but disposable plastic tableware and take away containers

Give those the swerve and no problem

Support you local greasy spoon, not the chains!

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby jeral » Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:52 pm

Yes, being a "plastic problem" I couldn't see why eating out (even fast food) is worse than home, especially having found this article from 2013 saying that Phthalates are in lots of everyday household things (eek). It is written by someone who is back-to-nature driven it seems, but, hey, that's no bad thing, unless exaggerating effects of course, but does make suggestions on avoiding them:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-jam ... 64248.html

So, three questions after reading it:

1. I still don't see why eating fast food or fine dining out makes a difference. Any ideas?

2. If the test is by degree of incidence in wee, doesn't that suggest that it's not a cumulative effect if being flushed out?

3. Do PTFE-free plastics still contain them? I imagine they would, if the point of phthalates is malleability since some PTFE-free things are malleable.

The more you know, the less you know if your brain works like mine :roll:

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby jeral » Fri Mar 30, 2018 12:57 pm

One suggestion for avoiding phthalates in the artile I linked was to store things in glass containers, which would be fine for jars of flour etc, but what about the miscellany of fridge freezer fodder?

Is there an alternative if plastic storage boxes, plastic bags and cling film is excluded?

This question also addresses Joanbunting's of cutting down on plastic of course.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Mar 30, 2018 1:41 pm

jeral wrote:Yes, being a "plastic problem" I couldn't see why eating out (even fast food) is worse than home, especially having found this article from 2013 saying that Phthalates are in lots of everyday household things (eek). It is written by someone who is back-to-nature driven it seems, but, hey, that's no bad thing, unless exaggerating effects of course, but does make suggestions on avoiding them:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-jam ... 64248.html

So, three questions after reading it:

1. I still don't see why eating fast food or fine dining out makes a difference. Any ideas?

2. If the test is by degree of incidence in wee, doesn't that suggest that it's not a cumulative effect if being flushed out?

3. Do PTFE-free plastics still contain them? I imagine they would, if the point of phthalates is malleability since some PTFE-free things are malleable.

The more you know, the less you know if your brain works like mine :roll:


Remember this is US study
It would be very unusual to get food in a chain restaurant in the USA not served in a plastic takeaway container. They don't do washing up - no metal cutlery, no ceramic, no glass, Your contact with plastic in fine dining, or even a UK caff or pub would be much less. And at home anyone would normally use ceramic and reusable cutlery, so that's why eating out would make a difference especially in the USA. That simple

I don't think you mean PTFE which is non-stick coating. PETE which is used for water and pop bottles? The article itself says
Plastic products with recycling codes 3 and 7 may contain phthalates or BPA. Look for plastic with recycling codes 1, 2, or 5.


That seems to be the best guide. My recycling bin seems to contain mainly PP (polypropylene) and HDPE which is high density polyethylene so not panicking.

Guide to plastic recycling codes including phthalate content
http://naturalsociety.com/recycling-symbols-numbers-plastic-bottles-meaning/

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Joanbunting » Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:35 pm

As I have said before, they only use plastic everything in America except in high end restaurants - especially in school canteens where they don't serve anything which can't be eaten with fingers or a spoon - the later because they are worried about kids harming themselves with knives and forks - never mind the potential harm all the rubbish food and plastic may cause.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby jeral » Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:13 pm

Thanks re US practice being more a "totality" of plastic than perhaps the UK's is.

I've seen chefs on "Diners" progs on TV using one-time plastic spoons for tasting and often wondered why assuming theft by chefs wasn't an issue. Never thought about "disposable society" cheapness.

Do you think OPEC countries are getting worried and will be paying people to take oil off their hands in times to come?
---

The recycling symbols link - ta, I'll it pin up. I'd only thought of them in terms of recycling rather than health, so a re-think.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:45 pm

Yes, if you watch Guy Fieri's Diners (or the Canadian version, You Gotta Eat Here) the use of disposables is actually much lower then typical, as they pick the best and favour family run operations that serve food "home style" - i.e. on a plate! Or quirky so served on boards, slates, enamel ware etc. rather than McD's type plastic

Of course you can get fantastic food served well in the USA - but peopel eating lunch at chains probably aren't finding it

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Sakkarin » Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:37 am


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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:23 am

I will repeat the two things I have said elsewhere about this seventh rate oiece

1. Britain's favourite foods include Fray Bentos pies, Pasta 'n' Sauce, and Seafood sticks? I don't think so. Clearly picking the foids to make a point, and frankly not much scary in those ingredient lists if you read them oroperly

2. How come nobody regards molecular gastronomy as "ultra processed"?

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Sakkarin » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:54 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:Fray Bentos pies, Pasta 'n' Sauce, and Seafood sticks
In Watford that's Sunday Lunch, Stokey :-(

Molecular Gastronomy is virtually nothing BUT processing. I fancy trying it, but it's the chemist in me not the cook, although in a way all cooking is alchemy.

Oddly I posted a mildly scathing reference to Molecular Gastronomy in the Masterchef thread earlier.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Lusciouslush » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:29 pm

Is anyone stocking up on their nuclear bunker food provisions yet......?

:? :? :?

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Gillthepainter » Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:51 pm

Sort of Lushness.

I've kept a cupcake from Costa.
It's now 1yr old. Set like a rock.
But the cream and jam are still there. And the cake bit looks still the same as the day it was made.

Scary food. I've not idea what's making it not go off.

This is it today.

Image

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Lusciouslush » Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:42 pm

It's obviously radioactive Grilly :o - or full of botulism - keeping it looking young......... :D !!

:lol:

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Gillthepainter » Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:29 pm

Yip. Veritable biohazard.

Sakkers, have you made anything molecular g. at all yet before?
I know Renee has a spoke gun.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Joanbunting » Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:37 pm

I don't want to talk about Masterchef last night because we had a huge thunderstorm and deluge and couldn't watch it.

However if you remember to late lamented Dena she was a huge Heston fan and trid all sorts of things. She and I often discussed it :lol:

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Sakkarin » Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:05 pm

That was one of the last times I remember seriously thinking of trying it, when I was discussing going halves on some meat glue (transglutiminase) with Dena, back in the Beeb days.

And meat glue cropped up in today's Masterchef!

If I had the funds I would try it, but much of it seems to involve extremely expensive bits of kit, let alone the ingredients.

I have the Fat Duck and El Bulli books as a starting point if I ever get round to it.

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Re: Yet another foodscare :-(

Postby Gillthepainter » Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:08 am

The kit is soooo pricy. It's quite the commitment for the home - unless Aldi gets it on their shelves.
Rethinking a lot of what you do from then on, as it's not simply trying a new recipe out.

And these items aren't small in size either.

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