Reflections on food in the US

Thursday 17 December 2009

I have just arrived back from four days in California where it was, thank goodness, decidely warmer than here. But despite the chill I'm relieved to be back in the UK because to be honest I had had more than enough of US food. Even in LA, where people are a lot more body concious than elsewhere and a stroll on the boardwalk risks collisions with joggers, cyclists and yummy mummies on roller blades pushing prams, it's almost impossible to buy or order food that is not unnecessarily sweet.

The concept of 'low fat' has been a major player in the US for years, but low fat certainly doesn't always equate with 'healthy'. The supermarket shelves abound with low fat products - but read the ingredients labels and you find that sugars in one form or another - fructose, glucose syrups and sucrose (table sugar) - have been substituted for the fat. Breakfast cereals taste particularly sweet - even the wholegrain versions are much more highly sweetened than here and the 'wholesome cut steel oatmeal' (the closest I could get to porridge) ordered in a good hotel restaurant looked and tasted more like creamed rice pudding from a tin!

On the positive side, Americans are very good at salads - you get great platefuls, which is good news - and you can order them with 'dressing on the side' without the strange looks you get in restaurants here. Again though, sweetness creeps in, often in the form of walnuts - usually a healthy ingredient, but guess what? Yes, they too are sweet because the walnuts are 'candied'!

So remember, it's always worth checking the sugar and calorie contents of 'low-fat' products, just to make sure that your well-intentioned healthy option is all it's cracked up to be.

Have a great Christmas and New Year.

Dr Juliet Gray
Consultant Nutritionist

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