2 weeks Ago By Blaise Tapp
Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Lancashire Evening Post, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Most sensible folk are well aware of what is and isn’t junk food - anything that is processed or coated in sugar is to be consumed in moderation while we are also very clear about what is safe to eat. Simple.
Or so we thought. Last week the Government unveiled the latest initiative to get the nation - children in particular - Advertisement Advertisement into better shape by placing restrictions on television and social media advertising for a range of junk foods including old favourites such as pizza and fizzy drinks. However, there was a collective gasp from breakfast tables across the country when amongst that list of shame were crumpets, scones and porridge pots.
There was much disbelief that the seemingly wholesome crumpet - the ultimate comfort food and the staple of kindly grannies everywhere - found its way onto the list, as did the national treasure that is the scone. Delicious as they are, I get why scones have been targeted - especially when they are smeared with thick clotted cream and strawberry jam. But, what really shocked many was that porridge - favoured by kilt-wearing Scottish strongmen and Goldilocks - was classed as junk food when sausage rolls and pork pies escaped the ban.
There was plenty of scratching of heads about why these popular breakfast oats might have come into scope of a potential ban until closer attention was paid to the detail, that it only applied to certain types of porridge pots, especially those laden with added sugar. For instance, one brand of golden syrup porridge pot contains 12 grams of sugar, which is essentially a pudding. What the furore around this latest junk food controversy tells us is that there is still an awful lot of ignorance about what we put into our bodies on a daily basis, which is especially worrying at a time when 3.
4 million people are considered eligible for receiving the weight loss drug Mounjaro on the NHS . Advertisement Advertisement The nation’s struggle with its collective weight should really be a source of shame for political leaders and health bosses, who have allowed this long-standing issue to become a fully blown crisis. There is much scepticism about whether this advertising crackdown will make much of a difference - what is clear is that our attitude to what we put in our mouths needs to change and we need proper support to do achieve that.
.
