Why are supermarkets ignoring diabetes?

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Rebecca Varcoe

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Hi all,

I don't have diabetes, but I follow a low-carb diet for health reasons and because I love to eat this way. I have recently fallen in love with a man with diabetes type 1 and it's fantastic to enjoy the same foods which work for both of us. I love to cook and cooking for someone you love is part of showing them you care.
HOWEVER, what is going on in the supermarkets? It is SO easy to find all sorts of foods for all sorts of conditions in the 'Free From' section of most supermarkets...all but diabetes! Sugar is in almost everything! Come on Diabetes UK... Isn't it about time that the Supermarkets in this country were put under pressure to meet the needs of it's diabetic consumers?? And for the rest of us who just want to eat sugar-free!
 
Rebecca Varcoe said:
Hi all,

I don't have diabetes, but I follow a low-carb diet for health reasons and because I love to eat this way. I have recently fallen in love with a man with diabetes type 1 and it's fantastic to enjoy the same foods which work for both of us. I love to cook and cooking for someone you love is part of showing them you care.
HOWEVER, what is going on in the supermarkets? It is SO easy to find all sorts of foods for all sorts of conditions in the 'Free From' section of most supermarkets...all but diabetes! Sugar is in almost everything! Come on Diabetes UK... Isn't it about time that the Supermarkets in this country were put under pressure to meet the needs of it's diabetic consumers?? And for the rest of us who just want to eat sugar-free!
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Hello, and welcome to the forum. I must say, it had never occurred to me to look for sugar free items in the free from section, I don't feel the need, I just vote with my feet and don't buy anything that's got a lot of sugar in, ( except as a treat), or for that matter, anything with a lot of refined carb. My supermarket still seems to have a lot of choice of items that tick all my boxes. Is there any particular food range you were thinking about?
(You won't find anything these days labelled 'suitable for diabetics, or 'diabetic jam' or such like, btw, as this has been outlawed. It was felt that many such items were unnecessarily expensive, and often contained polyols, which can have an unfortunate effect on the digestion!)
 
Rebecca Varcoe said:
Hi all,

I don't have diabetes, but I follow a low-carb diet for health reasons and because I love to eat this way. I have recently fallen in love with a man with diabetes type 1 and it's fantastic to enjoy the same foods which work for both of us. I love to cook and cooking for someone you love is part of showing them you care.
HOWEVER, what is going on in the supermarkets? It is SO easy to find all sorts of foods for all sorts of conditions in the 'Free From' section of most supermarkets...all but diabetes! Sugar is in almost everything! Come on Diabetes UK... Isn't it about time that the Supermarkets in this country were put under pressure to meet the needs of it's diabetic consumers?? And for the rest of us who just want to eat sugar-free!
Click to expand...

You don't need to look in the free from section for low carb foods they are freely available where ever you look in a super market. The free from section is for people with allergies I.E lactose. Coeliac, nut.

It's also the carbohydrate you have to be aware of when dealing with diabetes not just sugar.
 
Most stuff is labelled with the carbs so it's usually easy to make an informed choice IMHO
 
Hello and welcome to the forum Rebecca. 🙂
 
Welcome to the forum, Rebecca Varcoe. As long as supermarkets sell food, labeled with nutritional content, ideally per 100g for comparison between similar products, plus per portion for calculating total carbohydrate in a meal, that's all that's needed. For some fruit, vegetable and bakery products, the information isn't on the packet, but is available in files in the shop and online.
 
Welcome to the forum. Up until recently some products were labelled as suitable for diabetics or diabetic friendly but they change the ruling on those labels and are not allowed to say that anymore. Most of us know what we can and cant eat now and looking at the carb content on the labels is easy enough.
 
You don't need specifically diabetic food as diet, food, and nutrition for diabetes is basically the same as any sort of 'healthy living' diet, so try to understand the principles as well as particular meals
Browse through your library or Surf & Search on Google or YouTube, and you'll soon get the hang of things

Are you or your boyfriend a member of Diabetes UK? They have a magazine which covers all things diabetic, including diet & recipes
they also have several cookery books
 
I don't know, but I suppose is because diabetes isn't "hip". "You get diabetes because you re a fat lazy glutton" "if you have diabetes don't ead sweets and you're ok" and some **** like this...
The biggest problem I find is that one has to read the labels to find what they're putting in.
In the more industrial foods they are putting a ton of sugars and starches.
Especially in the ones labelled 'light', fat is substituted with starchy things, or worse there's added dextrose in so called 'whole wheat' bread. I'm talkong about 'just baked bread' you can find on a lot of malls and bakeries too, not only prepackaged bread.

Even meaty products like wieners, sausages or ham (in the light version of the "healthy" chicken bologna you find both starch and sugar!).

I suppose that is because adding sugars and starches is way easier than using quality ingredients and fats, and the hip thing to do now is to eat bio, vegan, or gluten free.

http://www.slowfood.it/lo-zucchero-...on-la-maggiore-quantita-di-zucchero-nascosto/
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...th-high-amounts-of-hidden-sugar-10218253.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...n-your-healthy-brown-and-wholemeal-bread.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...ods-stuffed-with-harmful-levels-of-sugar.html
 
Totally agree. I have lived in Spain for five years and there products are clearly labelled "sin azucar" without sugar. Here I have found lots of "fat free" or "low fat" labels but you really have to scrutinise the label to find if it contains sugar. We need more clear "sugar free" labeling here.
 
Hello @Rebecca Varcoe

It's an interesting observation, but personally I am extremely grateful that such labelling has been outlawed.

For many years there were products labelled 'suitable for diabetics' in supermarkets. Boots even had their own range! Almost without exception they were worse choices for people with diabetes than the regular versions. Often high in refined carbohydrate, additives and chemicals, many having a laxative effect.

It has always been much better to eat all things in moderation (just like everyone else is suppose to!). And to use a BG meter to establish a diet which is enjoyable, varied, nutritious, satisfying, sustainable and which achieves as healthy blood glucose ranges as possible. This will be slightly different for everyone - but general thinking on the forum is to pay particular attention to the effect of carbohydrates, and to eat as much 'real' food (with as little processing) as possible.

Diabetes UK published this update when the legislation changed, though I note that some companies (Franks Ice Cream?) continue to flout the new rules. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Suitable-for-diabetics-food-labels-outlawed-from-today/
 
Jeandp said:
Totally agree. I have lived in Spain for five years and there products are clearly labelled "sin azucar" without sugar. Here I have found lots of "fat free" or "low fat" labels but you really have to scrutinise the label to find if it contains sugar. We need more clear "sugar free" labeling here.
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Trouble is though sugar free means other cr*p is used to replace the sugar. As already stated it's not the sugar you need to worry about it's the total carbs. 🙂
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Hello @Rebecca Varcoe
It's an interesting observation, but personally I am extremely grateful that such labelling has been outlawed.

For many years there were products labelled 'suitable for diabetics' in supermarkets. Boots even had their own range! Almost without exception they were worse choices for people with diabetes than the regular versions.
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Because they meant the wrong thing, actually the fact the food didn't contain sugar, normally without saying noting about the refined starches content.

Food naturally low on carbs wasn't labelled as such. I suppose that saying that olive oil or hard cheese is suitable for diabetic was too quaint and wasn't a "special" food for which one was willing to pay a premium price. (Ok for a top quality extra virgin olive oil I'm willing to pay a premium price, and also for a slice of aged Castelmagno, Fontina, Parmigiano Reggiano, Bleu d'Avergne or Roquefort)
 
There was a big announcement recently by alpro - a new icecream.
When I checked, it is 17 percent carbs, all sugar.
The company responded to my comment about it that it is for an occassional treat - and I replied no it isn't, because it has too much sugar for me ever to consider buying or eating it. There are three plain youghurts they make which I do buy - two are flavoured with almonds or coconut and are perfectly acceptable at below 5 percent carbs, so why is it thought to be a treat to have a sickly sweet 17 percent sugar product where it is simply added sugar?
 
My friend is sugar free (I'm not, because I carb count). I'm a coeliac though and depend on the free from for that.

But she manages to find lots to eat. I can ask her next time she's around where she gets most of her food from.
 
TESCO do not. Raising £10 mill one year & then £16 another for DUK😎. Food manufacturers put lots of sugar in all sorts o_O
 
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