Edible Bites

Six Brits in every ten want to avoid GM foods, but fear they’re eating them unknowingly, reveals a Consumers’ Association survey. And how many want GM crops grown here? Only one in four – that’s even fewer than two years ago, when it was one in three. The average cost of ingredients for a school meal is 42p – less than prisons spend on an inmate’s lunch. Two-thirds of youngsters eat a packet of crisps most days of the week, and about 40% have a sugary drink. So it’s not surprising that four in five mothers wanted vending machines taken out of schools, when asked in a Times Educational Supplement survey. Junk food adverts should be banned from being shown between children’s TV programmes. That was the view of three-quarters of respondents when questioned by the BBC. 60% would also support a ban on supermarkets tempting kids with sweets and snacks displayed at checkouts. Over 80% think the government should subsidise the cost of fruit and vegetables. Two-thirds of respondents told the Soil Association that there should be limits on the amount of salt, sugar and fat in school meals, and that they should incorporate locally produced, organic food. 40% of Kellogg’s Frosties breakfast cereal is... sugar. So let’s hear it for Kellogg’s new ‘low’ version. Just one-quarter sugar... Even at the height of the British apple season, one count found that more than half the apples on supermarket shelves came from abroad. UK farmers’ share of the home organic market is finally on the way up: they provide 44% of the organic produce sold in Britain, compared with 30% two years ago.

10 November 2004