Meadow Lea adds sugar to margarine to entice kids

By November 17, 2014Sugar, Vegetable Oils

Just when you thought margarine was about as dangerous as any ‘food’ could get, Goodman Fielder have released their new range with added sugar.

That’s right, now you can get margarine with added sugar.  And not just a smidge, one fifth of the product is sugar (sugar content ranges from 17.8% to 20.5% depending on the flavour).

The omega-6 fats which dominate ordinary margarine are implicated in (at least) osteoporosis, male infertility, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, allergies, asthma, macular degeneration, impaired intelligence and cancer.

But now with twice as much sugar as an equivalent quantity of Coke, Meadow Lea Breakfast Twists put the unwary consumer on track for an even more spectacular array of chronic diseases including Type II Diabetes, Kidney Disease, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Erectile Dysfunction and Alzheimer’s.

If I tried to think of a way to combine the very worst of a processed food diet in a single product, I don’t think I could do any better than this.  Besides the obligatory preservatives, flavours and colours there’s really nothing in this product but seed oils and sugar (with a pinch of salt and a dash of ‘milk solids’).

Ingredients: Vegetable oils 45% (containing 36% Canola & Sunflower oil), water, sugar, salt, milk solids, emulsifiers (soy lecithin, 471), preservative (202), food acid (lactic), colour (beta-carotene), flavour, vitamins A & D.

But perhaps the very worst thing about this stuff is that it is being marketed to (and for) kids.  The site proudly proclaims

“And because it’s been taste tested with kids, you know they will love it!”

This is especially appalling because the evidence is clear that many of the diseases associated with omega-6 fat consumption develop in childhood.  Worse, the damage is cumulative and likely to be irreversible.

None of the research on the harm done by sugar and seed oils is a secret. No-one should ever eat margarine, but children especially should be kept as far away from it as possible.  And yet, Goodman Fielder appear to have explicitly designed this product to make it more appealing to kids (by adding a ton of sugar).

It is despicable behaviour of the highest possible order and it should not be rewarded with commercial success.  Please tell everyone you know to avoid this product like the bubonic plague.

Join the discussion 7 Comments

  • Rosy says:

    “Worse, the damage is cumulative and likely to be irreversible.”
    Frightening. Could you please elaborate David…TiA.

  • David Gillespie says:

    Rosy many of the conditions associated with Omega-6 consumption cause (largely) irreversible damage. Macular degeneration for example, once the drusen accumulate there is little that can be done about it. And once the neuronal damage (which causes Parkinsons) has happened it cannot be reversed. In each case of course, we can stop the progression by removing the cause (omega-6 fats) but that will not reverse the damage that has already occurred. With fructose we usually get symptoms before the damage is irreversible. Insulin resistance is a symptom that provides forewarning of impending pancreatic failure. Decaying teeth are a symptom of impending organ destruction from fructose etc. But with omega-6 the body throws off few (if any) visible symptoms before the damage is done.

  • Clare Kendall says:

    All this product needs is the Heart Foundation Tick

  • David Gillespie says:

    I’m sure it would get one – its lower fat than most margarines (because of all the added sugar)

  • Rosy says:

    Yikes!
    I’ve been focused on sugar of late and gradually getting to everything else. I think I need to hurry! Fortunately there’s a lot of useful info available out there – thanks David 🙂

  • […] not the only ones outraged by these new kid-approved spreads; David Gillespie took to his blog to pull apart the new range, and we could not agree with him […]

Leave a Reply