@
jehova Whichever way you look at it the point is excessive sugar.
I was talking about health and diet with a group of friends today, sparked by one telling us of his possible cancer worries - though
not diet-related. This led more generally to my learning that intestinal cancer rates in Britain at least are increasing in relatively young people; the culprit being very poor diets of mainly very over-processed and "fast" foods. A lack of physical exercise may be contributing to some.
Unfortunately microwaveable ready-meals and poor-quality take-away foods are made to be very attractive, not least by the spurious convenience for the former, and supposed fashion-element for certain brands of the latter.
I confess I do use ready-meals, but limit their frequency.
You have just sent me on a quick tour of my kitchen, picking out the non-canned, "convenience" foods. Admittedly I do not have much food in the house, but I was hunting for Corn Syrup and found none!
A
Tesco (supermarkets) own-brand Sweet & Sour Chicken has no Corn Syrup but contains Rapeseed, Palm and Sesame Seed Oils; and Salt. Similarly with the same brand Apple Turnovers.
A
Bird's-Eye Chicken Curry has only the Rapeseed Oil.
Aldi and rivals
Lidl both sell own-badged packs of microwave-in the-bag flavoured rices. Aldi's holds Maltodextrose (presumably maltose + dextrose but still sugar); its rival just has "sugar" (probably just sugar-cane or sugar-beet sucrose). Both use Sunflower Oil; the Lidl one says "Sunflower and/or Rapeseed Oil".
I would not expect oils in cereal but the
Harvest Morn conflakes do admit to sugar (probably "ordinary" sucrose) and salt.
The two most common cooking oils in the shops I have seen are of Olive and Sunflower; yet none of the above use Olive Oil; perhaps by relaltive commercial availability.
I am rather partial to the
Reina "Jellicious" dessert-jellies sold in packs of single-portion tubs. No oils but the two sugars are "sugar" and dextrose. I think the base "jelly" ingredient is the blend of carrageenan and locust-bean gum; suggesting unlike gelatine-based jelly these would be acceptable to vegetarians, although this is not stated. Carrageen is an edible seaweed.
You can, or could, buy dextrose sweets intended as fast energy-boosters in situations like outdoor-pursuits, although the problem with sugar-tablets or sugar-packed confections like
Mars Bars is the short-lived benefit can be followed by a low-energy dip.
All other ingredients in all of these, apart from the chicken, water and salt, and some Calcium Chloride as a stabiliser in the jelly, are straightforwards vegetable materials; and none hide behind the notorious "E-Numbers" that gave processed-foods a bad name but did include innocent ingredients as well as ones we might question. Also, the packets all give nutritional information.
The E-number scheme is a well-meaning EU system that cuts across language-barriers and is more compact than long words, but of course only frightens people, because the definitions take a bit of finding.
All this information on the packets is there by law, though usually in tiny font and whether you bother to read it is your own choice. At least I seem safe from the dreaded Corn Syrup!