What foods are a false economy?

ti1980

Saw it mentioned in another thread and thought it was a really interesting point.

I'm still learning loads on this site about cutting down my food bill but am always getting more tips from here.

For me personally, I don't buy value mince as I did a nutrition course at University and however cheap they sell it for, it is still too much because of the rubbish they put in it. We did quite a lot on Food Technology and the minimum amounts of meat they are allowed to get away with and it put me off meat completely for a while as we had to make some value products from scratch with the same amount of meat, fillers and fat that they use in cheap lines and it made me sick. Didn't eat much meat for about 6 months as I was a very poor student at the time so chose to have no meat rather value meat. No way I could afford decent meat at the time.
Its the same with value sausages. I love sausages but would rather get half decent ones when they are on BOGOF or a % extra free etc.
Also I'm sure most people don't weigh it after they have drained all the fat that comes out of these products, as if they did they would get a nasty shock.

Value fruit/veg is fine as usually the only difference is they are not all more or less the same size/shape, they may be more misshapen but come from exactly the same place and taste the same.

Junk food such as value crisps etc are often made using oil that has been used to make more 'premium' crisps first, they may taste ok but more research is coming to light about hydrogenated fats that are created by reusing oil.

There is much more but I have to go now. Will be interesting to see what others think and also if you could put prices on things as comparison that would be fab and would help loads of people I think. :T

[Deleted User]

Apples and oranges that have been stored in gas for a year or so. They look fresh but no vitamin C left

veg which is grown on nutrient deficient soil ie the majority of `fresh` veg sold in supermarkets. Not therefore providing vitamins and minerals needed. eg grave shortage of selenium

Rubbish wilted veg sold in shops local to some people who cannot get to farmers markets, supermarkets etc due to distance and lack of buses

Katgoddess

I like economy orange juice. I read somewhere that it is made from the cheapest oranges available at the time, where as the brand names stick to their own suppliers for a consistant taste. Doesn't bother me. Also they don't have a fancy spout.

I wouldn't touch economy ready meals but ingredient type products like flour and tomatoes I would.

mirakl

Ready frozen chicken chicken breasts are also completely false economy. There's a hell of a lot of water in them so they shrink when they're cooked so you nearly need 2 to feed an adult, plus they're often disgusting. Far better buy them on BOGOF at the supermarket and freeze what you don't get through before the sell by date.

Heth_2

We don't buy value food for ourselves, but I have cooked with value food before we got married (husband used to buy it) and on club trips. I definitely noticed how more water came out of the chicken, and I didn't like value tinned tomatoes either (they seemed more watery than the sainsburies own ones to me). I try and buy expensive sausages, and recently have been getting them from the butchers, and have definitely noticed the difference in the amount of 'gunge' coming out. We don't eat much meat at the moment, so when we do we get good meat.
We do sometimes get the value bags of peppers in sainsburies to put in soup or chop up in pasta sauces. Don't buy crisps very often so when we do it is a treat and we get more expensive ones.
I guess it all depends on your budget and taste buds. To me there is a difference between the pasta I get and value stuff, for others there isn't. I want to enjoy the food I eat, so for me it is false economy to buy something really cheap that we won't enjoy eating. If you're on a tight budget though your priorities will be different.

Alleycat

For me its veg from the market. I know it won't be the same for everybody and there are ethical concerns from getting it at the supermarket, but I find it goes off within a day of purchase. I tend to stick to supermarket fruit and veg now as at least I know it is going to last a couple of days. I work part-time and so can't get out to buy fresh fruit/veg from the market, so Morrisons will have to do for us.

Also the huge bags of potatoes from the supermarket. We bought them for a while as they were a lot cheaper, but ended up having to throw nearly half the bag away as they were either really battered, had split or were worm infested, yuk!

mirakl

When Lidl do their 1/2 price fruit and veg I tend to go mad and overbuy and Lidl fruit and veg is notorious for having a really short life. Now I ration myself to a few more expensive pieces from a better source or just enough to make jam, ice cream and juices if I'm feeling energetic.

@Alleycat - perhaps your maket only stocks organic, I hate organic foods it's upsetting that it rots so fast you can actually watch the fermentation process lol

Curry_Queen

I completely agree with the above comments regarding supermarket value meats, especially chicken, and putting aside the ethical reasons for a moment, I don't want to essentially be paying for water!

However, I am quite happy to buy value ranges of tinned tomatoes, beans etc which helps me to be able to afford better quality meat, fruit and vegetables.

Heth wrote:

I guess it all depends on your budget and taste buds. To me there is a difference between the pasta I get and value stuff, for others there isn't. I want to enjoy the food I eat, so for me it is false economy to buy something really cheap that we won't enjoy eating. If you're on a tight budget though your priorities will be different.

I agree with you here and I too enjoy my food, in fact you could say cooking is almost a hobby of mine, so where someone else might spend money pursuing one of their hobbies, I would prefer to spend a little extra on ingredients I might need to try out a new dish

I also have a fairly limited budget but with the help of MSE I have been able to considerably slash my bills in other areas - phones/internet/sky tv etc - so I can afford to pay the extra for organic products.

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

Washing up liquid - have tried all economy brands and still end up going back to good old Fairy cos I don't have to use half a bottle to get the plates clean. Plus there are only 2 of us, so only really wash up twice a day.

Heth_2

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt wrote:

Washing up liquid - have tried all economy brands and still end up going back to good old Fairy cos I don't have to use half a bottle to get the plates clean. Plus there are only 2 of us, so only really wash up twice a day.

I've found washing up liquid false economy too. We use sainsburies own and only wash up once a day (or every couple of days, depends how lazy we are).

I got an economy roasting tin once, knew it wouldn't last ages, but it was fine for a year or so and for about 70p was great when a student and sharing with people I didn't trust not to spoil good stuff.

Also economy plain manilla envelopes were fine.

Curry_Queen

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt wrote:

Washing up liquid -

You eat/drink washing up liquid??? :eek:


:rotfl:





(Hint: this thread is about food ... we did a general false economy a while back I think so might be useful to dig it out again ... Squeaks? )