I was
raised on AA Milne’s The King’s Breakfast. I, like the King, preferred
plain butter to marmalade on my bread. I still do… spreading it thickly on
nasty old crusts to make them more palatable. Do I feel guilty about this
“guilty pleasure”? Just occasionally – when friends and relatives flaunt their
holier than thou healthy spreads: Flora, Benecol, etc. But these are not only
disgusting to eat (I’d rather skip the toast or bread, to be honest – which
probably would be healthier – than have them spread with one of these) I have
spoken to many experts over the years who’ve strongly disputed their much
marketed health claims. Last summer one of the PRs for Flora told me the
company was planning a press event at which we journos would all get to make
our own Flora from scratch – fascinating! – it sounded like something from
Jimmy’s Food Factory and I couldn’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get stuck
in, certain I’d be even less likely to want to eat it as a result. But when the
invitation finally came through, it was for a demonstration with chef James
Tanner and dietician Nigel Denby ‘cooking and serving scrummy recipes using
Flora Buttery’… Not quite what I had in mind.
Next to the huge companies who make spreads like Flora, poor old butter hardly gets a look in PR-wise. The voices who shout loudest always tend to be believed. But last week a heart expert stepped up and spoke out about butter v spreads, and today Dr John Briffa has a great piece on this in the Times newspaper.
Next to the huge companies who make spreads like Flora, poor old butter hardly gets a look in PR-wise. The voices who shout loudest always tend to be believed. But last week a heart expert stepped up and spoke out about butter v spreads, and today Dr John Briffa has a great piece on this in the Times newspaper.
I was
delighted, reading it, as I spread some lovely butter on my bread to eat with
my tomato and mozzarella salad. As Dr Briffa says, butter should not be a
guilty pleasure – just a pleasure. As AA Milne’s King knew only too well.
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