Diabetes and Food Packaging!

SlimLizzy

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3,212
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
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Diet only
Dislikes
football, both the game and the culture.
I make my own Icecream, I buy frozen strawberries, put them into my Ninja blender, add some vanilla extract, fresh double cream, and some sweetener, Pulse a few times. That is it..Icecream. Much better than Halo icecream and cheaper.
Sounds good to me. My vegan friend was not impressed with the peanut butter variety of Halo top: She described it as lacking in flavour with a slightly powdery texture. We both agreed wont buy that again.
Had a tiny bit to try, its horrible, and decided its not fair to expect Mr slim to eat either of them, so both going in the bin. What a waste.
 

sc01263

Member
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5
What winds me up is when products are clearly packaged as a single serving but claim that they're multiple servings in the nutrition info! The Go Ahead crispy biscuits are packaged as 3 biscuits, but the nutrition info claim that a serving is a single biscuit :rolleyes:
 

HSSS

Expert
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7,465
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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I’m not sure I’d even want to eat a single one of them. How many carbs is a single biscuit let alone 3 of them?
 

Sandra_W

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
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Spiders, Snakes, Exercise, Ignorant people, Non serious diabetics. Being told that "You can't eat that"
I like the 'per 100g' labelling. Nice and straight forward (at least, straight forward for the way my mind works)

The whole pack weighs 800g?
There are 25g carbs in a 100g?
A portion is 200g?
Then each portion is 50g carbs, and it doesn't go in my basket.

As per your example, Yes that is simple, It's when the weight is 465g or other 'odd' numbers that it gets time consuming
 

HSSS

Expert
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7,465
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“As per your example, Yes that is simple, It's when the weight is 465g or other 'odd' numbers that it gets time consuming“

So how is multiplying or diving by some other randomly manufacturers chosen portion size (if you don’t conveniently want that exact portion size) any easier? I’d rather do multiples and fractions of 100 than 465.

At least this way we can easily compare one item to another knowing that a like amount of each is higher or lower. Eg two pots of yoghurt (edited:)) on the shelf. Regardless of portion size we choose to have we can instantly see which is the lower carb one. If they only did portion sizes but awkwardly had different chosen portion sizes then there’s all sorts of mathematical contortions to get them both to an equal size in order to compare.

Fortunately in the uk as well as the per 100 amounts most/many products do the per portion so we can all be happy.

Edited from mayo to yoghurt to save Jim’s sanity
 
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M

Member496333

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Don’t get me started on bottled mayonnaise. It’s all made from toxic oils irrespective of the carbohydrate content.

I make my own using olive oil :angelic:
 

HSSS

Expert
Messages
7,465
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Don’t get me started on bottled mayonnaise. It’s all made from toxic oils irrespective of the carbohydrate content.

I make my own using olive oil :angelic:
:link: Sorry just a random example. I keep thinking of making my own but as yet not got round to it. Out of interest how long would a batch keep in the fridge?
 
M

Member496333

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:link: Sorry just a random example. I keep thinking of making my own but as yet not got round to it. Out of interest how long would a batch keep in the fridge?

Not sure really. I usually use it up within a couple of days. Favourite is to drown king prawns and fresh chilli served on raw spinach.
 
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Bluetit1802

Legend
Messages
25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I was using some malt vinegar this lunch time and out of interest read the nutrition label. Liquids normally give the grams per 100ml. The vinegar gave the number of grams per tablespoon. No mention of 100ml I believe a tablespoon is 15ml. I was under the impression it was EU law that products should show the grams per 100. Clearly vinegar is an exception.
 

Resurgam

Expert
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9,849
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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Diet only
One of my toys is a Bamix with lots of accessories - it is so useful for so many jobs, just making mayonnaise would make it worth the money. It sits on the work top and gets used for all sorts - it even has its own dedicated washing jug for being useful, and its own roll of kitchen towel for drying off.
 
D

Deleted Account

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I was using some malt vinegar this lunch time and out of interest read the nutrition label. Liquids normally give the grams per 100ml. The vinegar gave the number of grams per tablespoon. No mention of 100ml I believe a tablespoon is 15ml. I was under the impression it was EU law that products should show the grams per 100. Clearly vinegar is an exception.
I don't know about EU law.
But when measuring most "thin" liquids (water, milk, vinegar, wine, ...), I assume 1ml weighs 1g. I know this is definitely the case for water and has not caused me any problems when cooking with the other liquids I listed.

And, I too, believe 1 tablespoon is 15ml. I think 1 dessert spoon is 10ml even though my Mum used to tell me a dessert spoon was half a tablespoon and, with this assumption, her cakes have always been wonderful.
 

Bluetit1802

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And, I too, believe 1 tablespoon is 15ml. I think 1 dessert spoon is 10ml even though my Mum used to tell me a dessert spoon was half a tablespoon and, with this assumption, her cakes have always been wonderful.

I agree with your mum. A dessert spoon is smaller than a tablespoon. Not sure by how much though.
 

andromache

Well-Known Member
Messages
168
:link: Sorry just a random example. I keep thinking of making my own but as yet not got round to it. Out of interest how long would a batch keep in the fridge?
Home made mayonnaise is so delicious that I have never had a chance to find out how long it keeps. I make mine with 100% olive oil and leave those old seed oils well alone.
 
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bulkbiker

BANNED
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19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
I agree with your mum. A dessert spoon is smaller than a tablespoon. Not sure by how much though.
Here you go Daf
Screenshot 2019-04-04 at 14.54.18.png
 

Bluetit1802

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Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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Thanks Des. :) All I was querying was why the vinegar didn't show it per 100, but did show it per tablespoon. At the end of the day it matters not for me, because the carb amounts are minuscule anyway and the portion size is also minuscule, but next time I will measure how much I use, just out of curiosity.
 

bulkbiker

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19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
Thanks Des. :) All I was querying was why the vinegar didn't show it per 100, but did show it per tablespoon. At the end of the day it matters not for me, because the carb amounts are minuscule anyway and the portion size is also minuscule, but next time I will measure how much I use, just out of curiosity.
I would but I'm odd like that.. measure everything..
 
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Bluetit1802

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25,216
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
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I would but I'm odd like that.. measure everything..

Oh I used to at the beginning. I have been known to chop a tiny piece off my cheese and give it the dog, and also to remove a few peas (2 or 3) because they over-weighed my portion allowance! I was very obsessive about it in those days.
 

Zilsniggy

Well-Known Member
Messages
428
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Perhaps the idea would be stay away from ready meals and make your own....at least you'll then know what the ingredients are!
 
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Teajay

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Black pudding!
When you buy a Ready meal, or virtually any other packaged food. it is measured as one healthy adult portion, So why on earth, for example, do they put 380g in the package and then list the nutrients per 100g. Why can't manufacturers tell you the carbs, etc, in THAT portion. This is something that has been doing my head in for years. They list nutrients in the most ridiculous way, which I'm sure is done, just to confuse the public. I must spend an extra unnecessary hour, in the supermarket, trying to calculate the carbs in everything I eat. Or a desert, tells you it is 6 portions, weighs 650g, and is 23g per 100g weight !!!! I've never been good at Maths and sure I make huge mistakes when trying to divide numbers in a busy supermarket.

And my second rant, is why does our Food standards people allow manufacturers to have large SUGAR FREE branding on everything, when what it actually means is there's no added sugar. These so called Sugar free items, more often than not are fruity things which SHOULD be healthier for us, but there's more fruit in there so actually more natural sugar than buying the normal brands. I've been caught out no end of times buying my treat sweets.

Can't Diabetes UK start a petition or something to get the manufacturers to see some sense PLEASE

EDIT: Can I just say, that I wasn't referring to portion size at all, What I was trying to get at, was that when a package is obviously a single portion or single meal, why can't ALL manufacturers quote the nutrient values per the pack, instead of saying 'x'g of carb in 100g, when the pack is a silly number like 385g. I've noticed Aldi on some of their packaging do actually say, Pack contains ? but the majority make you work it out. After being a T1 diabetic for 50 yrs now, I'm getting a bit fed up of the massive brain work in the supermarkets Lol

Looking at the positives there were no food labels when we were diagnosed over 50 years ago.
So it's much easier now to work out the carbohydrate values and contents of packaged food as it's clearly written on the packet. If your having problems, there's no rush just take your time and use a calculator if needed.
Janis
 
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bambee3

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Messages
46
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Avocado, Olives, Prunes,
Hi everyone, I have been reading the posts here and it sounds like there are different food labeling requirements in England. Here in Australia the first column is the amounts of carbs etc for the portion size, be it the meal itself if is single serve meal or the amount per serving size ie. this meal serves 4 people, then the serving size is how much each person should have. They also include the 100gr calculations (both of these are req on our labels) so if the meal serves multiple servings and you want to eat more or less than the recommended serving size you can calculate your carbs etc for the amount you are eating.
So if the portion is 130g per serve and you want 200g you just divide the amount listed for 100 g by the recommended portion size in this case 130 g and that gives you the amount of carbs per gram of weight. You then multiply this amount by the weight you are going to have 200 g and then you have the amount of carbs in the serving size you are going to eat.
Example: Aldi Spaghetti
Rec serving size = 210g which cont 27.5g carbs
Per 100g = 13.1 g carbs
Amount you want to eat is 230g. Then you would divide the 13.1g by 100. This gives you the amount of carbs in each gram of weight ie, 0.131g of carbs/g of weight. Then multiply this 0.131 by 230 will give you 30.13 the amount of carbs for the amount you want to eat.
I am so glad our labelling laws req these calculations.
I also have CalorieKing loaded on my IPad just in case, it comes in handy when eating out.
You can also go on the internet type in the question “how many calories in” and name the food you are eating and you often get a match will will list the calories,carbs etc for that food, sometimes you can type in the amount you are going to eat and it calculates it for you.
Hope I have not confused things further for anyone but I have been doing this a while now and find our labelling very helpful