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WHY do Diabetes UK sell cakes/ have sweet raffles in Tesco?

AndBreathe said:
I don't believe that dodgy pancreases (or pancreata, depending how you like to express it) are new phenomena or necessarily diet related, so could we please keep things on track here chaps?
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Err if diabetes is not necessarily diet related then what is the point of LCHF and why would it matter what DUK put up as prizes in their raffle and yes I do realize autoimmune diseases have been around a while but there are those who believe that grains and wheat are a trigger for autoimmune disease as well. However I do think that they could have given more thought to how people and in particular the general public would perceive what they where doing.
 
Whether it's diet that caused diabetes in the first place or not, there's no doubt that once diabetic if you eat sugary carby rubbish in large quantities you are very likely to get complications! I'm concerned that if newly diagnosed diabetics see DUK selling cakes and the like they may be tempted to think that it's ok to eat these foods. I know those on insulin can eat cakes and sweets in moderation and bolus for them but most newly diagnosed will be T2/ diet controlled
 
Robinredbreast said:
There should a selection of different raffle wins, more appropriate than just choccies and sweets.
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Absolutely, the charity I work for (hospice/life limiting conditions related) does lots of fundraising that does NOT involve sweets and chocs, at least not exclusively
 
If the great British public laugh at the incogruity of their actions, then surely this indicates that the message is getting through at last?
 
the_anticarb said:
Absolutely, the charity I work for (hospice/life limiting conditions related) does lots of fundraising that does NOT involve sweets and chocs, at least not exclusively
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How about a raffle prize of a BGL meter and a years supply of strips and lancets then? This would be appropriate, would it not? Or a free LCHF training course given by specialists at DUK (Oh sorry, they do not support this bandwagon). Or a day at a Health Spa?
 
Oldvatr said:
If the great British public laugh at the incogruity of their actions, then surely this indicates that the message is getting through at last?
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I believe it may well be negative to object, as all we are saying is if you eat chocolate or cakes, or sweets, you'll get fat, you'll get unhealthy, you'll get diabetes.
Do we want to keep propagating the belief that diabetes is self inflicted, that you have to have eaten badly, that obese people are always going to be diabetic?
Or do we want to spread a message that it isn't, other factors cause it, and it's not simply a case of diabetics should have watched what they ate in the first place, and if you don't watch what you eat it'll happen to you?
 
I've just had a response from my contact at DUK - a fuller response will be provided later. Result!!!!

Dear (my name removed)
All well with me thank you. I hope you are well.


As I understand it, stores have all been asked to refrain from holding fundraisers which involve sugary foods but it sounds like in some areas they are continuing to do so. I don’t actually work in the Tesco Partnership team, but I will pass on your query to someone in the team so that they can address your query.


I will ask that someone from the Tesco Partnerships team will pick this up with you today.


Best wishes,
 
Oldvatr said:
The rest of the world doe not see the world just like we want them to. Any diet that helps to lose weight should be valid since there is no one size fits all. Even Eatwell has its supporters who testify to it helping them.
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You are so right everyone to their own.
 

That is great news AC, so pleased you posted this and thank you.
 
Robinredbreast said:
That is great news AC, so pleased you posted this and thank you.
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I should get a fuller explanation soon and will post up - it helps that I know someone in that department who can put me in touch with the right person!
 

It will be interesting at Tesco's now.
Bear in mind the stands are run by everyday volunteers, who read the Daily Mail.

So the DUK stand will be offering the fat bloke a chance to win a day at the gym.
Probably in the normal style of stopping them, and asking do they want to win a prize.
When they ask what happened to the cake bake, '
oh, DUK says we can't offer people sweets anymore, if you eat too many you get fat and become diabetic'.
'Now, you could use a day at the gym by the look of you'

Could be interesting in store.
I wish I could be there to see it.
 
as7180 said:
Reason being stores don't have a budget for this and rely on donations from staff and customers so unfortunately unless a gym kindly donates then we use what we have available same goes for gift vouchers etc.
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I've seen a lot of dodgy prizes on raffle tables over the years.. Most of it would go to "land fill"?

It's a bit of a larf for participants as some of this stuff (lime green picture frame come to mind.) gets graciously redonated..

It's that "tin of spaghetti" at the harvest festival spirit that keeps these charities ticking over.! Lol
 
Too many carbs in a 'tin of spaghetti', even before the added sugar in the sauce.
I feel another letter of complaint coming on.
 
Minor point on cakes - they have become established as a treat because at one time you had to save up to make or buy one. They used all sorts of expensive energy dense ingredients and so tasted really scrummy compared to "normal" food.

They are no longer a treat - couple of quid down the local supermarket - but they are still being viewed as a "treat".

Eating too much is not guaranteed to give you diabetes, but it does massively increase the risk.

What was that statistic - 80% of the obese don't get diabetes, but 80% of T2s are obese on diagnosis?

So being thin won't always protect you, being fat won't always condemn you, but your level of risk goes way up if you are over weight and wallowing in sweets and carbs.

Given that the Newcastle Study has shown that T2 symptoms can be reversed by weight loss we should not be encouraging people to over eat.
 
I know just sell the raffle tickets to thin people.

Mind you when I have bought raffle tickets in the past at places like Tescos the prize was never much of a concern as I never win any way..

It was just another way to give to charity without just putting pennies in a collection box.
 

Again, we're saying fat people get diabetes, because they can't stop eating cakes?
Before, I could overeat on anything, now, I can eat a cake occasionally, as I'll plan the calories.
It's not a message I support, and I think it's a bad step, that simply shows fat people get diabetes as they can't stop eating sweets, as someone said, it's drawing a comparison to AA raffling alcohol. Diabetics need to be stopped for their own good.
It's a bad move when we start saying the popular press is right.
 
From the DUK how to hold a raffle guide.

 
DUK have now come back to me and said that their fundraisers in Tesco shouldn't be having exclusively sweet things raffles. They've asked me to let them know which stores are doing this and they will pass the message on. If anyone wants to repond on this thread (or PM me) with a store they've seen this I can pass it on.

I get that we don't want to have the 'food police' approach but I do think it's lazy of DUK to have raffles with exclusively chocs and sweets when there are many other things that could be raffled and diabetes is enough of a joke with the general population as it is without making it worse.

At the end of the day, dress it up how you like but chocolates ARE bad for diabetics and many people have suffered complications as a result of overdoing it on these kinds of foods. So I don't think a diabetes charity should be fundraising exclusively with these kinds of products, many newly diagnosed diabetics may take it as a message that they can continue to munch away as before. No one likes telling people what they can or can't eat, but it's a whole lot better than getting complictations down the line.
 

To be honest, if we're honest, whilst the raffles we see may feature sweets, cakes and so on, I'm pretty certain they will have the odd pack of shower gel or the like in them.
 
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