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Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.What's happened to cheddar cheese?
Comments
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I don't see any snobbery on this thread. Just statements of reality. You get what you pay for. Waitrose sell cheddar cheeses that range from £6 to £19.50 a kilo. The prices reflect quality and production methods. You can't expect a £6 cheese to be the same as a £19.50 one.
Proof that the free market works. You pay your money and you take your choice, and there is something for everyone.
I don't see how more regulation would help. If regulations required all cheddar to be made to the same standards as the a £19.50 cheese, the £6 "cheese"would no longer be available.
Food had never been so cheap. But if you buy cheap food, you won't get the quality as the more expensive traditionally produced foods.
Its like flying with Ryanair and expecting the seats to recline. Or buying disposable clothes from Primark and expecting them to last.0 -
I don't see any snobbery on this thread. Just statements of reality. You get what you pay for. Waitrose sell cheddar cheeses that range from £6 to £19.50 a kilo. The prices reflect quality and production methods. You can't expect a £6 cheese to be the same as a £19.50 one.
Proof that the free market works. You pay your money and you take your choice, and there is something for everyone.
I don't see how more regulation would help. If regulations required all cheddar to be made to the same standards as the a £19.50 cheese, the £6 "cheese"would no longer be available.
Food had never been so cheap. But if you buy cheap food, you won't get the quality as the more expensive traditionally produced foods.
Its like flying with Ryanair and expecting the seats to recline. Or buying disposable clothes from Primark and expecting them to last.
My highlights. No, it's much worse than that, which is my entire point. It's like flying with Ryanair and expecting a passenger plane to turn up and then being confronted with a rowing boat.
Quite simply, the phrase 'not fit for purpose' suggests itself - and this is where tighter regulation over the years would have made a difference. And why has this not happened? Because the same phrase can be applied to governments in this country, unlike their mainland continental counterparts which tend to take a more active role in maintaining food standards at the consumer level.
Love and fawn over Americana? Don't be surprised if you get American-style c rap...0 -
Not sure why you are bringing America into this, but the standards that apply to Cheddar Cheese in the USA are exactly the same as the standard that applies in the UK - the Codex standards established in 1966.0
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Not sure why you are bringing America into this, but the standards that apply to Cheddar Cheese in the USA are exactly the same as the standard that applies in the UK - the Codex standards established in 1966.
Exactly my point once again. Producer/industry-friendly ones, as opposed to ones which might favour the consumer.
You want light touch, non-'interfering' government? This is the inevitable result.0 -
Charlton_King wrote: »Exactly my point once again. Producer/industry-friendly ones, as opposed to ones which might favour the consumer.
You want light touch, non-'interfering' government? This is the inevitable result.
Indeed. And it's an excellent result. A huge range of different Cheddar cheeses for consumers to choose from at a wide range of prices, ensuring all tastes and budgets are catered for.
Far preferable to a Soviet style system of state regulation that might leave the consumer with only one choice; take it or leave it. Assuming of course that there is anything available to buy at all.
You've bought a cheese that doesn't suit your needs. Your remedy is simple. Don't buy it again. Buy one of the countless others. If you take it back to the supermarket, they will probably happily give you your money back anyway. (I'd have liked to see you try that in Gum in the 70s)0 -
moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »Would organic cheese have the same problem?
All cheese is organic. (*Not subscribing to that !!!!).
And no organic does not mean less processed.0 -
After reading this thread I decided to have some toasted cheese!
My preferred cheese for this is Red Leicester, it does everything I need for a great toasted cheese. Today, no Red Leicester in the house so I used Co-op matured white cheddar.
The result was bubbly and 'burnt' cheese, all brown blisters and gooey cheese. :j One half covered with black pepper and one with ketchup...yummy!
Thanks for the suggestion. :rotfl:0 -
Indeed. And it's an excellent result. A huge range of different Cheddar cheeses for consumers to choose from at a wide range of prices, ensuring all tastes and budgets are catered for.
Far preferable to a Soviet style system of state regulation that might leave the consumer with only one choice; take it or leave it. Assuming of course that there is anything available to buy at all.
You've bought a cheese that doesn't suit your needs. Your remedy is simple. Don't buy it again. Buy one of the countless others. If you take it back to the supermarket, they will probably happily give you your money back anyway. (I'd have liked to see you try that in Gum in the 70s)
All I'm proposing is to have the standard, mass-produced Cheddar which DID do the required job at a modest price a few years ago back again...
...and not to have it bigged up as some kind of 'artisan' production, luxury item (which it isn't) requiring the kind of prices which many people here simply can't pay.
Indeed, as things stand, your so-called 'remedy' of 'not buying it again' - or anything else - is just about all that's left to such people.0 -
Charlton King it was worth posting because as with everything on OS there's ordinarily a solution to be found. Get yourself to the Coop and pick up their mature cheddar as recommended by Gers. It looks like it might suit what you're after in a cheddar.0
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I had this exact same problem the other day using 3 different cheddar brands! It's definitely akin to how 'low fat' cheese melts, so maybe the big producers are under pressure to reduce the fat and calories in their cheese, and as such sacrifice the melty-ness?
I wouldn't be surprised if the entire thing is to shift consumer attitudes and buying patterns. Artisan, organic, and local are all very much in vogue these days. It's in the major producers interest to very slowly adjust their cheap products to a standard below expectations, so their higher priced 'artisan' looking products are more attractive to those with more money to spend. Exactly how tins of chocolates at Christmas reduce in size until they magically bring out a 'new', bigger, heavier tin for about 3 times the price.
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people thought they were buying extra special fancy cheese, unbeknownst to them that it was made using Polish milk by Cathedral City for almost the same manufacturing price as the cheap stuff...
For instance, do people realise that Green & Blacks chocolate is made by Cadbury/Mondelez? You won't find any mention of the parent company on the packaging, as people want to believe what they're buying is super-duper fancy and independent and special...0
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