Tesco promotion - half price fruits & vegetables

Did anyone see the Tesco TV advert this weekend; during 2007 they will have five fruits and vegetables on half price promotion at all times. The idea is to help us all to eat the recommended 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Very socially responsible, but just I wonder who will be picking up the bill?

Simon

Did anyone see the Tesco TV advert this weekend; during 2007 they will have five fruits and vegetables on half price promotion at all times. The idea is to help us all to eat the recommended 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Very socially responsible, but just I wonder who will be picking up the bill?

Simon

And Weetabix gold is only £1.09 for 24!! cheaper than the bog standard Weetabix!

I still think that £2.99 for 4 peaches is extortion!!! as is charging the supplier £25 for a standard "you don't have to respond" customer complaint letter! ( and yes mr tesco...i can prove that!)

Did anyone see the Tesco TV advert this weekend; during 2007 they will have five fruits and vegetables on half price promotion at all times. The idea is to help us all to eat the recommended 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Very socially responsible, but just I wonder who will be picking up the bill?

Let me see now Im guessing it 'll be the growers, its always the suppliers as you don't make £2billion profits by giving any of your own cash away............ every little helps

Every so often Lidl sell all their fruit and veg (promotion on at the moment). Their veg is usually half the price of Tesco's at other times!

Every so often Lidl sell all their fruit and veg (promotion on at the moment). Their veg is usually half the price of Tesco's at other times!

And whilst it doesn't last as long as Tesco's i suspect it has something to do with it not being sprayed with tonnes of chemicals!!

ps Welcome back Mart......LTNS xx

I've started shopping at our local market for fruit and veg, Martin you'll know Ramsbottom market. The quality is a bit hit and miss, but you soon learn what's good. The best bit is the checkout; I swear they make it up as they go along, the stuff hardly touches the scales and then it's "call it eight quid love". Err OK.

Simon

Dear Simon,

Out of curiosity, are organic vegs/fruits legally required to be labelled / (and thereby justified?) as such in uk or, as I suspect, the separation is automatic anyway due to the higher price required.Are there different grades of organic such as organic platinum (nice contradiction in terms)?
I did wonder if the special promotions referred might be linked to expiry date issues (some crafty mixing of old/new produce perhaps ?).
I have recently been attempting to evaluate how to maximise the keeping life of things like tomatoes. grapes, bananas in refrigerators but my failure to get consistent results suggests thst the original raw materials have had various manipulations already done to them so that I am never seeing a standard starting point (the reason for the test is monetary, not scientific, since I am always throwing stuff out before I have time to consume it).
Some parameters -
Position in refrig. - temp.variation
Open / holey / closed plastic bags
Washing before / after stowing in refrig.

Any additional suggestions welcome other than increasing family size or buying a veg/fruit eating pet

Rgds Charles.C

PS I just reread the 1st post, does this mean minimum (5+5) or (5-0, 4-1,) etc. Are the best options recommended?

Sounds more like a promotion by toilet manufacturers to me
.

Out of curiosity, are organic vegs/fruits legally required to be labelled / (and thereby justified?) as such in uk or, as I suspect, the separation is automatic anyway due to the higher price required.Are there different grades of organic such as organic platinum (nice contradiction in terms)?

I don't know if it's a legal requirement, but if a fruit or vegetable were organic the producer would want to lable it "organic" so as to get extra dollar. I see fruit and veges marked organic, tomatoes spring to mind.

I did wonder if the special promotions referred might be linked to expiry date issues (some crafty mixing of old/new produce perhaps ?).

Cynical but probably very accurate.

I have recently been attempting to evaluate how to maximise the keeping life of things like tomatoes. grapes, bananas in refrigerators but my failure to get consistent results suggests thst the original raw materials have had various manipulations already done to them so that I am never seeing a standard starting point (the reason for the test is monetary, not scientific, since I am always throwing stuff out before I have time to consume it).
Some parameters -
Position in refrig. - temp.variation
Open / holey / closed plastic bags
Washing before / after stowing in refrig.

Any additional suggestions welcome other than increasing family size or buying a veg/fruit eating pet

I suggest you eat before you shop. It's a scientific fact if your belly is full you buy less food; thus a saving will be made on initial purchase and it will also increase the chance of you eating it all before it goes off.

PS I just reread the 1st post, does this mean minimum (5+5) or (5-0, 4-1,) etc. Are the best options recommended?

Sounds more like a promotion by toilet manufacturers to me

I'm pretty sure it means 5 of any combo, but I would say a 3/2 mix either way would be even better.

Regards,
Simon

I don't know if it's a legal requirement, but if a fruit or vegetable were organic the producer would want to lable it "organic" so as to get extra dollar. I see fruit and veges marked organic, tomatoes spring to mind.

"loose" Fruit and Veg do not need to be labelled. But Prepack goods do!

Organic is a selling point, so most would display this!

"loose" Fruit and Veg do not need to be labelled. But Prepack goods do!

Organic is a selling point, so most would display this!

Thanks for clearing that up Caz. I was just watching a tv programme about the human body. I didn't realise the nasty fat that clogs your tubes (trans fat) is found in bread in large quantities. I love bread. Does anyone know if the same levels of trans fats are found in brown bread?

Simon

Dear Simon,

I admit to being a nutritional ignoramus however you may be worrying too much, I extracted this from Guardian, Sep.2006 -

Most important of all, it's the poor who eat high levels of trans fats (the average British intake is just 1.2g a day, well within the strictest guidelines). "And people who eat a lot of deep-fried food and cheap pastries - well, their lifestyle is likely to be pretty bad as well. Cardio-vascular disease is always likely to be related to socio-economic station," Sanders says.
http://environment.g...1881919,00.html

Regarding standards –
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that trans fat should contribute less than 1% of daily energy intake. Based on a typical 2000kcal diet, this means we should consume no more than 2g of trans fats daily.
( http://www.fairprice...px?page=healthy )

Actually, the uk seems to have lagged on implementation if you are having a problem since the industry seems to have previously promised results by end of 2005 –
http://www.newstarget.com/008785.html

Also, bread as such seems to be not a principal offender, presumably depending on how much you eat and what you put on it –
http://www.webmd.com...le/72/81813.htm

I guess some calculation is called for although I did notice some “trans-fat free” breads such as banana bread and pita bread on Google, shd go well with baked beans.

Rgds / Charles.C

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the links I will have a read. I actually got my information on bread from the FDA.

Revealing Trans fats

Dear Simon,

If you mean the FSA, I noticed they were recommending people to eat lots of starchy foods like bread and beware of fats but I couldn't see them linking the two together anywhere.
I forgot to answer yr query on brown bread, sorry no idea as yet.

Rgds / Charles.C

Dear Simon,

If you mean the FSA, I noticed they were recommending people to eat lots of starchy foods like bread and beware of fats but I couldn't see them linking the two together anywhere.
I forgot to answer yr query on brown bread, sorry no idea as yet.

Rgds / Charles.C

No I meant FDA at the link in my post.

Simon

Dear Simon,

Sorry m8, my eyes whizzed straight over the link, haven't had my lunch yet. Good link too. Seems like the WHO are ahead of the yanks on setting a daily limit for transfat , surprising.
You may be on to something re the brown bread, have a look at this -

http://72.14.235.104...x...t=clnk&cd=2

Rgds / Charles.C

I don't know where I heard it, but the standard UK diet is quite low in trans fats and I think I'm pretty standard. By standard I'm not a rabbit nor do I eat pie and chip (french fries) every day. Maybe once a week. I do like fresh bread though, white really, but I've moved to brown.

Simon

I didn't realise the nasty fat that clogs your tubes (trans fat) is found in bread in large quantities. I love bread. Does anyone know if the same levels of trans fats are found in brown bread?

Unfortunately Simon I think that the amount of trans fats in brown or wholemeal bread will be the same as white. At first I was suprised to read that bread contained the nasty fats but then again hard cake margarine and shortening are both hydrogenated fats and both used in breadmaking. The difference between white, brown and wholemeal breads is all in the flour so allowing for a variation in the proportion of hydrogenated fats used the overall trans fat content will be similar.

Iwas interested to read in the FDA article you linked to that producers in the US must now indicate trans fat content on the label, I wonder how hard the EU and FSA is working to make this a requirement in the UK ?

Iwas interested to read in the FDA article you linked to that producers in the US must now indicate trans fat content on the label, I wonder how hard the EU and FSA is working to make this a requirement in the UK ?

Are trans fats not included in either of the new labelling systems?

Simon

Are trans fats not included in either of the new labelling systems?

Simon

I haven't noticed them, the traffic light system and the 'Tesco' system indicate total fat content and %RDA.

I haven't noticed them, the traffic light system and the 'Tesco' system indicate total fat content and %RDA.

Ah thanks Martin, it would be very useful. Especially if it is a big risk.

Simon

Dear Simon,

A "big risk" ? Well maybe, I did see this -

"The BMJ article noted that recent US research had linked a 2% increase in the energy intake from trans fats to a 23% rise in coronary heart disease rates"

Not sure what the "linked" means, ref is - http://society.guard...1832384,00.html

If one is prepared to believe the BBC, it seems labelling not required as of Jan 2007 in UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...transfats.shtml


Rgds / Charles.C

Thanks for the links Charles. Personally I would like to see trans fats listed on the label, in the meantime at least now I know to avoid or at least compare "hydrogentated fats".

Simon

The UK's Institute of Food Science & Technology has published an updated information statement on trans fatty acids one of the hottest topics in the food industry at the moment:

IFST statement on trans fatty acids

http://observer.guar...2126907,00.html

Always on the news ....aren't they?


Best Regards,

A Sankara Narayanan