Taste Buds
By Steve Sharp
Rod Liddle’s Sunday Times article headlined, “We slurped up loads more sugar and salt in the Seventies. So why are we fatter now?”
He went on to bemoan Tony Blair’s government for bullying food manufacturers into reducing sugar and salt and in the process ruining the flavour of teatime favourites like Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup and Spaghetti Hoops, to the point where “nobody eats that stuff anymore.” Maybe he’s right.
A survey by British Lion Eggs reports that 27% of kids have never tried Heinz Tomato Soup and a similar number the hoops.
Heinz tomato ketchup still bears the Heinz 57 varieties logo which prompts the question, how many Heinz products are still left?
Around 5,700 is the answer!
The original slogan was simply marketing puffery created by Henry J. Heinz, derived from his lucky number 5 and his wife’s 7.
Rod’s yearning for food nostalgia was shared on Mumsnet, with mums comparing their own teatime fodder with what people feed their children today.
Findus crispy pancakes were a frequent mention along with fish fingers, egg and chips, beans on toast and Angel Delight, washed down with Nesquik.
One child of the 70’s said, “We had lots of brown dinners,” meals made with gravy, sausages, and fritters.
Top of the fritter list was Spam.
Introduced in 1927 it was once referred to by Margaret Thatcher as a “wartime delicacy.” I bet she never tried it.
It was full of fat, sodium, and preservatives, which is allegedly why the name is now applied to unsolicited electronic junk mail, but it was loved by millions, and enjoyed something of a revival with the help of Monty Python.
Frozen food chain Iceland have recently introduced a convenient version for our delectation.
Corned beef was another wartime innovation which remained popular especially when served as corned beef hash topped with a fried egg. Despite the fact that the process of corning is curing with salt, and therefore taboo. You can still buy it as a ready meal in M&S and trendy gastropubs.
So, what are the people of Mumsnet feeding their kids today?
In a refreshingly honest article extracted by the Hull Daily Mail entitled, “Mums share what they give their kids for tea when they can’t be bothered.”
Unsurprisingly it’s a varied list, ranging from infrequent healthy options such as hummus and carrot sticks, to a bowl of cut up fruit “but just to soothe my conscience.”
Others quoted Pot Noodle and crisp sandwiches, whilst one mum confided “I take them to the supermarket and let them pick up some stuff from shelves to eat as we go around.”
Another mum simply said, “I have been known to call in at McDonalds.”
Good news on the egg front though.
We used to “Go to work on an egg,” until Edwina Curry, the Under-Secretary for Health controversially claimed in 1988 that “most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella.”
British Lion Mark, the ones responsible for the teatime survey, say that British Lion eggs are approved by the Food Standards Agency to be served runny, or even raw to pregnant women, young children, and elderly people. Everyone can now eat runny or raw eggs - as long as they have the Lion mark on.
Prairie Oyster anyone?
Steve