Diabetic food and drink Manufacturers

I say go for it Craig.. Positive thoughts.

All people are differant.. I myself have never tried diabetic stuff, that maybe because there is little choice?
Everyone is low carb now so another idea.
The gluten free seems a good idea too..
Maybe a trip back to America to do some research on the type of food they sell over there and not in the UK then try and source it over here?
The problem with that is if your starting off small it may be a problem and too costly?



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I don't think a supermarket style shop or anything like that would be helpful because a 'diabetic' diet is basically done best when you just make ur own food and use substituted ingredients urself so a supermarket type thing wouldn't be very good I don't think as Asda already stock random 'free from' range which everyone seems to avoid due to price/taste.

However, since diagnosis I have contemplated the need for food-on-the-go for diabetics for which there is literally NONE. I have a hectic lifestyle at the minute and am rarely in the house and I have found that the are literally NO low-carb quick-buys out and about. There are ur usual fast food joints McDonalds etc which are clearly unhealthy anyway but then you have Greggs too who do pasties, cakes, sandwiches and pasta pots... Hmm find the low carb there? Impossible! I even contemplated starting a low-carb/low GI cupcake business as they just don't exist either anywhere near where I live but it would take a whole load of time to get the recipes right.

What I would say is u need to do a bit more research before embarking on a venture like that to make sure diabetics would actually purchase the foods - my thoughts would be that probably they wouldn't if it was just a supermarket range of stuff. Also chocolate isn't necessarily banned for diabetics, many will inject to cover the odd treat of chocolate as they so wish where others may exercise to compensate. Too much chocolate is a bad idea whether you are diabetic or not and you would also need to be careful because weight management is very important for diabetics as well and so products that will cause weight gain etc would immediately be avoided by (well behaved)diabetics lol as it can play havoc with their treatment (insulin resistance etc..).

Overall I think processed foods are the problem for diabetics and even foods PROCESSED to be better for them are probably still not as good as a normal healthy diet.

Everything in moderation, nothing in excess




Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 22 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

craig-r said:

I must say though that all the comments 'good or bad' are helping with some research I was hoping for although I don't understand why in my poll a massive percentage would not buy from a market? Not all market stall holders are Dodgy lol

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I think that the massive percentage include a fair amount of people who would not buy "Diabetic Food" even from Harrods. Let alone a market .

craig-r said:

Yes I am beginning to realise this :?

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Well done. We had another poster on here once who could never see the point.

Good luck Craig, whatever you decide to do.
There will always be people that will and people that won't ..
My main problem is getting food for on the go..i.e if my day doesn't go to plan!
It's all well and good having good intentions to pre prepare at home ect but its not always that easy.
So I tend to buy Atkins bars for my handbag( better than nothing) so maybe
on the lines of low carb on the go food?
Only a suggestion!
Just to add something that was mentioned earlier. Maybe you need to look at type 2 rather than type1. Type1 can inject if they eat something they shouldnt but type 2 can't ! ( by the way before anyone jumps at me for that I am not saying type 1 eat what they want) I mean they can adjust appropriately.


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Equal choice for all I say good luck Craig

Low carb baking doesnt keep very well, keeps longer in the fridge or frozen, you would need to add a whole load of additives to prolong shelf life of baked goods for example.
Norwegian friends have recently started their own lc catering business supplying fresh and frozen low carb meals, desserts and cakes to restaurants and supermarkets, similar business ventures are springing up in Sweden and Germany.

We are trailing way behind in this country, the best they can come up with is that disgusting, horrible Franks diabetic ice cream, proudly boasting that they supply this **** to the NHS, at over 17g carbs per 100g and full of chemicals and transfats, its hardly suitable for a diabetic unless they want to treat a hypo.

I have just come out of hospital and you wouldnt believe what I have witnessed there, a patient, type 2 diabetic on insulin, swollen legs and ulcers, breathing problems, half blind, nurses come to do the obs,

6am Mrs ? your blood sugar is a little high, its 17.3, but dont worry, breakfast will be here soon and then we will give you your insulin, it will come down.

7.30am breakfast (death trolley) trolley is wheeled in, frosties, rice krispies, sugarpuffs, cornflakes, weetabix, instant porridge, white bread, brown bread, low fat spread, jam and marmalade portions - Mrs? goes for healthy (?!) option of weetabix, followed by brown bread and lowfat spread with jam, insulin was given

9.30 obs - blood sugar 14.1, see, its gone down, thats good
10am - another death trolley wheeled in, this time tea/coffee/orange juice, biscuits, great isnt it.....

11.30 - obs - oh dear your blood sugar is up again, its 16.4, but not as high as your fasting, thats good news Mrs?
12pm lunch trolley - sandwiches, sausagerolls, low fat frui yogurt, jelly, mousse and franks ice cream - insulin shot

2pm - obs blood glucose 19.2, trolley with drinks and biscuits comes in..... never mind Mrs ?, your next insulin shot is due this evening its only 4hrs to dinner, make sure you drink something now and eat your biscuit pack, you are on insulin, you need to eat.......

And that is how the nurses dealt with diabetes, I dont think I have cried so much in my life, I found it so distressing, yet nobody listened to me, my husband, family and friends catering for me, Mrs? relatives noticed and asked questions, I left info, including this website.

I can well believe this Whitby....... typical of what goes on in hospital wards but the most worrying thing is the lack of knowledge shown in managing blood sugar levels amongst diabetics by the nurses. Even diabetics who inject insulin twice daily still need to alter the amounts of carb that they eat according to their bg levels. Is it no wonder that the patient you refer to in yr msg is ill with leg ulcers etc.

No, I wouldn't buy diabetic 'foods on a market stall if that meant lots of pseudo foods .
It's not the thought of the market, I bought several things from the market this week, (in the UK, as other know I normally live in France). I bought strawberries, blueberries, cauliflower, new potatoes, peppers, courgettes, onions, spinach, lettuce, radishes, a fresh crab and a small rye, sourdough loaf. These are the sorts of things I eat. If I want something as a treat, I'll go for something small and very rich and made without lots of 'strange ingredients ; I had a small choc real choc éclair on Friday, probably about 5g of carbs.
I know that you are searching for a niche, I personally wouldn't buy into it, others might.

so sad Judith


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We are trailing way behind in this country, the best they can come up with is that disgusting, horrible Franks diabetic ice cream, proudly boasting that they supply this **** to the NHS, at over 17g carbs per 100g and full of chemicals and transfats, its hardly suitable for a diabetic unless they want to treat a hypo

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You know, this kind of thing is exactly why I had to take a break from this site in site but anyway...
I'm surprised you never heard of Dreamfields Pasta (which, admittedly has a somewhat dodgy reputation). You might also want to look into your chemophobia.

As for the original question - maybe? Last time I visited the US I bought some low carb (<3g net carb) tortillas which tasted alright but most concoctions will inevitably be bad: If you take out the carbs, then you'll either get something which neither tastes nor feels like food, or add indigestible a stuff like polyols for bulk and taste which will affect digestion.

I have just come out of hospital and you wouldnt believe what I have witnessed there, a patient, type 2 diabetic on insulin, swollen legs and ulcers, breathing problems, half blind, nurses come to do the obs,

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What you don't know is context - did that nurse make these comments because they wanted to reassure the old lady, or because they were ignorant? The nurse you saw probably had zero power of the medication or diet and was just trying their best to keep the patient comfortable.

Secondly, you don't know why that patient is in a hospital to begin with. Yes, high BG does damage blood vessels which, in the long term, adds up to all the things associated with diabetes - neuropathy, diabetic foot, etc. However, that doesn't mean that tight control is always best. But even if we don't have half the information needed to make an educated decision we can still have fun bashing the NHS on the interwebz.

I agree Alex..
While it is very sad situation,I'm afraid to say the nursing staff will have little say in what is being fed to the patient unless they prepare and make it themselves? Which we all know this is impossible..


Maybe Gary you should be looking into hospital food? [WINKING FACE]

The nursing staff can only point out the lady's condition to the medics who most probably be aware and act on what they are prescribed or what managment of her condition has been decided!
I think like Alex. Maybe the nursing staff was just trying to make maybe a frightened lady feel a little more at ease with a bit of reassurance.

I find people on this site are so quick to criticise the NHS in general..and each other for that matter.







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AlexMBrennan said:

We are trailing way behind in this country, the best they can come up with is that disgusting, horrible Franks diabetic ice cream, proudly boasting that they supply this **** to the NHS, at over 17g carbs per 100g and full of chemicals and transfats, its hardly suitable for a diabetic unless they want to treat a hypo

Click to expand...

You know, this kind of thing is exactly why I had to take a break from this site in site but anyway...
I'm surprised you never heard of Dreamfields Pasta (which, admittedly has a somewhat dodgy reputation). You might also want to look into your chemophobia.

As for the original question - maybe? Last time I visited the US I bought some low carb (<3g net carb) tortillas which tasted alright but most concoctions will inevitably be bad: If you take out the carbs, then you'll either get something which neither tastes nor feels like food, or add indigestible a stuff like polyols for bulk and taste which will affect digestion.

I have just come out of hospital and you wouldnt believe what I have witnessed there, a patient, type 2 diabetic on insulin, swollen legs and ulcers, breathing problems, half blind, nurses come to do the obs,

Click to expand...

What you don't know is context - did that nurse make these comments because they wanted to reassure the old lady, or because they were ignorant? The nurse you saw probably had zero power of the medication or diet and was just trying their best to keep the patient comfortable.

Secondly, you don't know why that patient is in a hospital to begin with. Yes, high BG does damage blood vessels which, in the long term, adds up to all the things associated with diabetes - neuropathy, diabetic foot, etc. However, that doesn't mean that tight control is always best. But even if we don't have half the information needed to make an educated decision we can still have fun bashing the NHS on the interwebz.

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Didn't communicate with you last time, no wish to do so this time.
Should Mrs? decide to join this forum I am sure you will be around to 'help' her.

phoenix said:

No, I wouldn't buy diabetic 'foods on a market stall if that meant lots of pseudo foods .
It's not the thought of the market, I bought several things from the market this week, (in the UK, as other know I normally live in France). I bought strawberries, blueberries, cauliflower, new potatoes, peppers, courgettes, onions, spinach, lettuce, radishes, a fresh crab and a small rye, sourdough loaf. These are the sorts of things I eat. If I want something as a treat, I'll go for something small and very rich and made without lots of 'strange ingredients ; I had a small choc real choc éclair on Friday, probably about 5g of carbs.
I know that you are searching for a niche, I personally wouldn't buy into it, others might.

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Excellent as usual, good wholesome food, thank you phoenix, and this sort of food should be made available to everyone, incl hospital patients.

Incidentally I must stress that I didnt tell Mrs? to go on a lchf diet......I suggested she looks around the forum for ideas on how fellow diabetics control their diabetes.

Looking at the votes I wouldn't. My brass would stay firmly in pocket.