The Men Who Made Us Fat

[glitch]

Tonight sees the last episode of what has so far been a fantastic little series about how those responsible for changing our eating habits has influenced the way we see and eat food and how this in turn brought about the rise in obesity levels - BBC Two and BBC HD from 9pm, if anyone is interested.

EDIT: Due to the extended Wimbledon coverage, the third and final episode of The Men Who Made Us Fat has been rescheduled for Thursday 12th July at 9pm.

Links to the previous two episodes below:

Episode 1 focuses on the impact that high-fructose corn syrup had on the food industry and the knock-on effects for the consumer.

Episode 2 deals with how food manufacturers used advertising campaigns to promote the idea of snacking between meals, looks at the ever-increasing size of meals and portion sizes and charts the rise of fast food in the UK.

And Episode 3 will deal with the assumptions we make about what is and isn't 'healthy food' and looks at some of the marketing strategies used by mainstream food producers to keep our custom. Also seems to be some stuff in there about the recent impact of various health campaigns - 'traffic light' labelling and so forth.

Admittedly the series hasn't been without its flaws, but it's well-researched and Jacques Peretti is a very watchable screen presence.

 

[glitch]

About to watch the third episode now. Missed the first unfortunately.

There's an iPlayer link in my OP if you need it?

 

[glitch]

anyone got a link to ep 3, tried the one in the OP and it comes up as ep 2, tried a search on iplayer but nothing came up.

I cant find it either, perhaps the food companies have forced it to be removed.

Sorry about that, not sure what's happened there.

I could have sworn I used the correct URL for Episode 3 on iPlayer, but it takes you to Episode 2 instead.

I guess Auntie have taken it down until the show is actually aired on the 12th of July.

 

[glitch]

Okay, just a reminder for those interested that we're finally going to get the chance to see Episode 3 tonight at 9pm.

The iPlayer links from my OP have now expired, so I've changed them for YouTube links to the first two episodes. I'll try and remember to do the same or similar for Episode 3 when I get the chance.

 

[glitch]

Is this still on the iPlayer, all episodes?

No - read the OP and you'll see the links have been changed from iPlayer to YouTube.

I've just updated Episode 3 with the appropriate iPlayer link and when that expires I'll change it to a more appropriate one.

 

[glitch]

How would you know that coke contains a huge amount of calories.

Because the information is freely available providing you know where to look - sometimes it's as easy as looking on the side of the can or bottle you are drinking from.

But people are lazy and ignorant and will blame everyone but themselves for their problems rather than facing up to things and admitting fault. Okay, not everyone can make the leap from sugar-laced carbonated beverage to unhealthy, but ignorance can't always be the excuse here, can it?

Even if you do know, drinking it just makes you want more, its designed to make people want more.

Well, yes and no.

We've all got a weakness for unhealthy food in one way or another, but there's nobody forcing it down our throats or making us eat or drink as much of it as we do. Sure, lifestyle is partly to blame, as is the ready availability of such foodstuffs, but you can always choose to eschew it in favour of something healthier instead.

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw cola for sale and there wasn't a much healthier option right there alongside it, just waiting to be picked up instead.

If we keep blaming the people for this problem it will never be solved.

It could be argued that 'people' are as equally, if not more, to blame than the manufacturers. Sure, they are making it easier than ever for us to follow an almost wholly unhealthy diet, but we still choose to follow it.

After all, there's this wonderful thing we used to have called self-control. I'm not quite sure where it's gone, but I suppose we'll find it again should we bother to look hard enough.