TV ban on adverts for cheese, the latest 'junk food'

Daily Mail ^ | 2nd January 2007 | NA

[neverdem]

Cheese is to be treated as junk food under new advertising rules for children's television.

Commercials promoting it will be banned during children's TV programmes and those with a large proportion of young viewers.

The rules, which come into force this month, are part of a Government drive to reduce children's exposure to foods high in fat, salt and sugar.

Much to the disgust of its makers, cheese is to be regarded in the same light as crisps, sugary cereals and cheeseburgers.

In fact, under the criteria used by the Food Standards Agency to determine junk foods, such products are actually regarded as healthier than cheese.

The ban follows evidence that TV commercials have an indirect influence on what children eat and are contributing to obesity in the young.

The Food Standards Agency model assesses the fat, sugar and salt content in a 100g or 100ml serving of food or drink.

But the British Cheese Board points out that a typical portion of cheese was 30 to 40g - not the 100g used in the agency's model.

Most cheese would be exempt from the ban if a typical portion had been used in the calculations, according to the board.

It pointed out that cheese was one of the most 'nutritionally complete' foods.

The National Farmers' Union described the decision as ' nannying gone mad'.

'To suggest there is anything inherently harmful about cheese is absurd,' spokesman Anthony Gibson said.

'There is no such thing as a bad food. It is just how much of it you eat, in what balance and how much exercise you take.'

He said the new rules were 'of no use to consumers', adding: 'It may very well put them off eating healthy things.'

Mary Quicke, who runs Quickes Cheese in Devon, producing handmade cheddar, said the rules had left her 'speechless'. ' Frankly, i t's bonkers,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She said the FSA's decision to assess cheese using a 100g portion was ridiculous. 'Imagine eating 100 grams of cheese - that's four ounces. You would have to be a pretty dedicated eater of cheese to get around that.'

Other foods banned from advertising during children's TV include: Marmite, Flora Lite, half-fat cheddar, Dairylea triangles, bran flakes, camembert, sugar-coated puffed wheat, instant hot oat cereal, Jaffa cakes, reduced calorie mayonnaise, multi-grain hoop cereal, half-fat creme fraiche, takeaway chicken nuggets, potato waffles, Greek yoghurt (from sheep's milk), ham, sausages, bacon rashers, low-fat spreads, peanuts, cashew nuts, pistachio-nuts, peanut butter, raisins, sultanas, currants, low-fat potato crisps, olive oil, butter, pizza, hamburgers, tomato ketchup, chocolate, brown sauce, cola and lemonade.

Foods which escape the ban include: Plain fromage frais, fish fingers, lasagne ready meals, currant buns, malt loaf, frozen roast potatoes, chicken curry with rice ready meal, frozen oven chips, sliced white bread, cottage cheese, supermarket frozen chicken nuggets, milk, brazil nuts, canned strawberries in syrup, diet cola and chocolate-flavoured milk.

[Irish Eyes]

Good one :)

[Frwy]

Hey, they better not mess with those hilarious cow adverts. The earthquake one is priceless. But I know I'm a little "quarkie'.

[derllak]

Wow, you must be one really old dude! :P
Like one poster said, it's the processed cheese crap that's bad. Nothing wrong with the real stuff! As for myself, I'm addicted to swiss. Nobody better touch my holey cheese!

[republican4ever]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

[Just Lori]

Oh, come on! This can't be for real!

Yes, children, if you eat nothing but cheese and sit on your butts all day every day........this might not be good for your health.

I'll just keep living by my grandma's credo....."everything in moderation".

[RinaseaofDs]

"I hanker for a hunk of CHEESE"

Remember the ads on ABC back in the 70's?

"Put a piece of cheese between two round crackers! Now you've got yourself a wagon wheel!"

C.S. Lewis said it best: "I'll take a despot over a moralist any day. A despot's efforts wax and wane over time, but the moralist sees no end and never tires in doing right."

[LowOiL]

Just ate my cheese and crackers... going to bed when I saw this article...

Ugggg..

[Just Lori]

Ooooooo, yuck! Stilton! Btthhhhppphhhhhooooey! My Father-in-law's wife sent us an entire round of that nasty glop last year for Christmas. We gave it to an English chap at work. It took every ounce of discipline I had to refrain from sending her a FRUITCAKE!

[bootless]

Cheeeeeese, Grommit!

[little jeremiah]

CHEESE?!?!?!?

Come on, cheese is the staff of life!

[ccmay]

This is complete and utter horse sh!t. Fish fingers, lasagne, white bread, and chicken nuggets make the cut, while olive oil, bran flakes, oatmeal and Greek yogurt are forbidden.

Some problems will not be solved until worthless $120,000-a-year bureaucrats are rounded up at gunpoint, horsewhipped, and run out of town.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

Yipes! I thought this was a joke at first. What in the heck is this world coming to? Sheesh!!!

[Choose Ye This Day]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOv_Dg1ZALM

[CarrotAndStick]

A European specialty:

Casu Marzu:

Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider to be decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly, Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called "lagrima", from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as transparent, white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches), prompting recommendations of eye protection for those eating the cheese. Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.

Appearance and taste Yaroslav Trofimov, writing in the August 23, 2000 edition of The Wall Street Journal, describes the cheese as "a viscous, pungent goo that burns the tongue and can affect other parts of the body". Susan Herrmann Loomis reports an encounter (in a 2002 Bon Appétit article):

He … grabbed a piece of pane carasau, the traditional flatbread of Sardinia, rinsed it quickly under water to soften it and went to a large glass jar on a side table. He opened the jar, scooped out a mound of what looked like thick cream, and folded the bread around it. …When he was finished I asked what he had eaten, and he got up to show me. Inside the jar was pecorino, busy with small, white worms. I'd heard about this cheese, but this was the first time I'd gotten so close. … A friend of his … said, 'It's formaggio marcio [literally, "rotten cheese"], cheese with worms. It's a delicacy. It's the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd.'

The cheese is typically consumed with Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and Cannonau, a strong red wine.

[CarrotAndStick]

The above:

Country of origin: Italy
Region, town: Sardinia
Source of milk: Sheep
Pasteurized: No
Texture: Soft
Aging time: 3 Months
Certification: none

[derllak]

No, I won't share, no matter how loud you squeal - get your own! :p

[garandgal]

Well, that is just disgusting.

We raise sheep; pinging my sis for a new business idea!

[weegee]

Q: Do you in fact HAVE any cheese?

A: Of course, sir. It's a cheese SHOP.

[SAJ]

Perfect!

<<---stealing your comment, too !

[Goldie Lurks]

"Cheese is to be treated as junk food under new advertising rules for children's television"...There goes the food pyramid.