They are cheating on us!

[bluesed]

Somehow it always seems that products which are marked healthy/nutritive/low fat/etc. is more expensive then the regular products. It seems that as soon as they put on the label healthy they put on an extra 10% on the price even though the production costs usually is lower.
Most low fat products have the oil/fat substituted with thickeners as tree fibers, corn starch, E472, E407(extracted from red seaweed) and other stabilizers which ALWAYS is cheaper then "real" fat.
Another thing which is kind of funny is unrefined sugar is more expensive then refined. You skip a step in the process and then you get a more expensive product. Sure i know that the price is like this because the demands are less and then the factories are set to produce refined sugar which make the cost of making unrefined sugar less profitable. Also the shipping as they sell less then white sugar.


The same goes for integral flour/wholegrain which is more then twice as expensive as plain white flour. As i use serious amounts of flour in my restaurants the price does make a difference so i have found out a nice solution that keeps the expenses down.
I buy plain white flour and mix it with wheat bran which i can buy very cheap(about 50cents/kg) and mix it with white flour. Then you get something very similar to the store bought integral flour in a much cheaper price and you can even adjust how coarse you want your flour.

Luckily with the help of tmx we can produce our own much better products without strange additives which taste so much better and is so much healthier

[meganjane]

This very thing often crosses my mind. So wrong, isn't it? Glad you have found a solution with the flour.

Same with diesel fuel. It's unrefined, yet costs more than unleaded due to demand for it. Used to be only farmers who used it, now everyone and his dog owns a 4 WD.

[Cuilidh]

Big business certainly does rip the public off (what's worse - dare I say it - it is not unknown for it to have the support of our governments as well) - it's no wonder we are all getting more cynical by the day. 

I love your solution to flour and, if it works for you, it will certainly work for me!!!

[stef]

i have a food allergy so i kind of dug in to this .. the real fact is, by processing food they can extend the shell life, they can inhance the flavor and that means they can use leftovers ..

do you know that lipton or pickwick tea is more expensive per kilo than a high quality tea ? and all THEY do is buy up the 'tea dust' that is left when sorting high quality tea leaves...

flower.. add stuff and you may not have calanders .. that is a nice thing .... 
take bad quality stuff, add msg and you have produce that makes pple believe it is more tasty then the natural thing ..

children that are used to eat strawberry flavored yougourt ... and then are presented with a strawberry  fresh from the plant, are not able to connect the flavors .. they do not even realise that this thing is supposed to be the thing that their yogourt makes have strawberry taste..

take a look at diet cookies ... 60+ ingredients ...   

custard powder is nothing more then : corn starch, vanilla flavor and some coloring
cost? about 30 euro per kilo ...
make it yourself : vanilla essence (take a cheap bottle of vodka and put a few split vanilla pods in it, let rest for a few months - cost about 10 euro per LITER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  - corn starch and some tumeric for the color .. costs about 5 euro per kilo ...   
read the labels and yes raw sugar is more expensive then rafined sugar because the produce is more time consuming
sea salt is more expensive then kitchen salt, because in kitchen salt they just combine the right chemical substances and there you go
i am eating additive free since 8 years (as is my man)  ... and guess what .. no more astma, no more heart aritmea, no more migraines.... alll gone ... 
since then i make it all myself from scratch. the only thing that makes it expensive is the time you put in to it .. but hey ..  making chicken stock takes 5  minutes of time and while you watch tv the stove does all the rest of the work for you ....  cheaper then buying stock cubes

[brazen20au]

try buying gluten free.... 

[stef]

gluten free what ?

[CreamPuff63]

i think brazen is trying to say 'gluten free' items overall are aa rip off, she is not necessarily saying you should buy gf   
(her family also have special dietary requirements)

[bluesed]

I have tried several gluten free products which sellers tries to offer for my restaurant and i have not liked any one yet. The bread is so bad that i would not serve it to anyone. The gluten free line of cakes is horrible! They taste so artificial that i feel sorry to those who buy them.
Which reminds me i have a nice recipe for a nice apple cake with no gluten.

8-10 good apples (best sorts are not too sweet and not to modified. If you have apples in your garden they are probably the best)
150 g sugar
3 eggs
120g chopped almonds
5g cinnamon
100g cream

peel, core and slice the apples and put them into a ovenproof mold(preferable silicone if not you probably have to grease it a bit, about 22cm diameter and 5-7 cm tall.

Whip eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (probably something with butterfly in the tmx)
add cinnamon and cream and stir softly until mixed.
Pour over the apples and with your hands mix the apples a bit around to get the "dough" mixed in well.
Flatten the top firmly with your hands and sprinkle over chopped almonds or hazelnuts if you prefer.

Bake in oven for aprox 45 minutes at 160 celsius

Cool down in fridge for 2-3 hours.
loose the sides with a spatula and flip it out on a plate and flip it back into another plate.

Serve chilled with Crema Inglese

 

[Cuilidh]

That sounds really, really nice, Bluesed.  Have you posted it in the cakes and / or special diets threads as well?

[meganjane]

Ho yes, gluten free flours are horribly expensive!

[bluesed]

No i only have posted it here but i guess it is in the wrong category. Anyway i made this cake so the celiacos had a nice dessert option but its as good as any other cake with gluten. I have had customers who have ordered a 2nd piece of it right after having had the first

[judydawn]

That speaks for itself bluesed - nice to see you catering for their needs.

[brazen20au]

yes, i meant that anything marked gluten free is automatically more - even if it's naturally GF - it's a lot like using the word "wedding"

[cookie1]

So true Karen.