Dammit! Another food goes off the menu

[miriam_e]

Nestle has bought Uncle Toby's. For the last few decades I've enjoyed eating oats every morning. Lately I'd become a little puzzled at the crappy quality of Uncle Toby's Oats. They have always been reliably the best. However now they taste bitter instead of creamy and have adulterants in them -- little bits of round, black stuff, and bits of what look like mould. Well, I've found the reason. Uncle Toby's has been taken over by the biggest vampire of them all: Nestle.

No more oats from them.

It is no suprise that a high quality company gets swallowed up by one of the biggest collectives of immorality and then the quality drops through the floor. I mean, after all, they have no problem killing thousands of little children who are their customers (earlier in Africa, more recently in Bangladesh). They do everything they can to ram as much sugar, coloring and flavoring down Western kids' throats, helping to build a generation addicted to the stuff and in line for terrible health problems. Have you ever noticed how hard it is becoming to buy food that isn't sold to you by Nestle? They are clearly aiming at controlling as much of the food market as they can. They are definitely not the sort of organisation that you want controlling your food supply.

I wonder what it is in the oats that makes them taste bitter now. Probably pesticides. I don't think they are deliberately poisoning us -- I think they just don't care.

Comments

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

You could ring and ask.

I wonder why they would change the production process?

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Don't know... but don't really care that much. I have absolutely no trust in anything connected with Nestle. They have shown time and again that they have no compunction about hurting or killing their customers. I don't want to be on the receiving end of their casual damage.

I'll buy my oats elsewhere from now on.

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

Now I feel guilty for that sweet, delicious block of Milky Bar I treated myself too last week... it's still sitting in the cupboard unopened.

Are there not farmers' markets or the like near you from which you could source your oats?

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Huh. Another great idea! Yes. Thanks. I'll do that.
Wonderful! :) How did I not think of that? (Of course I'm not the sharpest person on the block at the moment and will be relatively stupid till my course of treatment ends in mid-May.)

Uh... sorry about the candy. Milk chockie is one of the few sweets I actually like, so I feel your pain. :(

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! :) How did I not think of that?

Too obvious?

I always figured you were the kind of person to make your own muesli and such, so it made sense to me off the bat.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

heheh :) I used to make my own meusli, bread, grow veges, etc, but I have gotten lazy. Time to get back to that.

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

Crap! :(
I thought [past tense] UT was a reasonably reliable brand and worth paying a bit extra for the quality.

I wonder what it is in the oats that makes them taste bitter now. Probably pesticides. I don't think they are deliberately poisoning us -- I think they just don't care.

It's all about churning-out much stuff per square metre of farm-land and getting it sold on a shelf for as much money as possible with as little care or expense in-between. If they lace the crops with pesticides, rip-off farmers, trash the land, accidentally breed-out flavour and nutritional content, then so be it...
All we need now is for Nestle to merge with Monsanto (or whatever it's calling itself this year to avoid the flak...Bayer, Pharmacia?)

Also, it's worth looking at the fine print near the ingredients-list of most packaged food nowadays.
The label can say "Australian Made" even if the contents aren't Australian...all they need to to is package it here and pay the regulatory fee for the green&gold kangaroo "Australian Made" logo.
Likewise, "Australian Owned" only applies to the parent company or label/brand and doesn't say anything about where the farms/factories/workers are or where the ingredients/contents came from.
The new scam is to say: "Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients"...which can mean anything.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Yes. I seem to recall that Nestle are the second biggest food supplier now. (Not sure if that is worldwide or just in Australia.) Ever get the feeling you're on a runaway train piloted by monsters?

Monsanto, as you say, are another dangerous corporation buying up our food supply. We really don't want these people to control what we live on. I have to organise the electric fence and greenhouse to grow my own food. Each time I try, the cattle break in and destroy it all.

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

Is Dick Smith still doing his thing, are are they an alternative for you?

Of course, considering Nestle took control in 2006 probably not much point getting upset by the symbolism of Nestle now.

But if the food quality has changed, maybe you should ask where they source the oats. They'll lie, of course, but you could ask Choice (http://www.choicefoodforkids.com.au/review/UNCLE-TOBYS-Oats).

They do seem to be buying local oats (http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2008/11/07/22255_grain-and-hay.html) - I wonder if there's some drought connection in the changes?

Nestle ingredient buyer Michael Arnone said the company had struggled to source oats in the past, importing the shortfall from Canada and Western Australia last year.

Seems like Nestle don't control the food chain, so that's something.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Dick Smiths is a very good idea. I already buy a number of things from them. Don't know why I didn't think of their oats. Thanks for that. I'll look into it.

Nestle do control much of the food chain and seem to be trying to own it all. If you ever want to see what kind of future they're attempting to set up for us, see the scary 1975 science fiction "Rollerball" (not the stupid 2002 action flick with the same name).

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I didn't notice that you'd said 2006. That explains a lot. I think it was early 2007 when I started noticing the drop in quality. Now, however, after progressively worsening, these expensive oats are worse than the cheapest 3rd world offerings.

[blackgrrr.livejournal.com]

Strangely, I am on Wikipedia now looking up various Nestle products.... (completely unrelated to your post - I discovered US Smarties are not what we know as Smarties).

They are certainly a more expansive company than I realised.

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

What always surprised me is that they seem to think people won't notice.
They buy a company that's doing well because it's a high value product, change the product to a low value one and think they're gonna keep people buying it. That's bizarre.
I used to buy Tom of Maine's toothpaste. It got bought out. I've tried it since. They've obviously changed the formula somehow. It doesn't taste right and I feel I get less benefit from it. I won't buy it again.
Really that simple.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

That always puzzled me too. I have no explanation. But you're right, it happens time and time again. A good quality company is taken over by a bigger one and quality goes straight down the plughole.

What astonishes me even more is when I tell people about these ruthless corporations people look at me with this blank look and tend to say things like "I don't let morality influence my shopping." I always point out that, while it is partly a question of morality, by far the major question should be survival -- these are companies that don't care about their customers, as they've shown time and again. Our survival depends on not getting food from people who have no qualms about poisoning or killing you. But people have this extraordinary ability to close their eyes against what they don't want to see. [sigh]

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

Yup.
Funny, seems like most people I know do let morality influence their shopping. At least to some degree.
Personally I really like spending money on the good stuff and not the bad stuff. For one the good stuff is always better, for two, by doing so I influence the market to change in the direction I want. Makes me feel powerful. Lol. :)

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I had to do a project on them in 8th grade. Once I started reading into it I refused to do the project.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Yay! Hiya. :)

Sorry I haven't been posting much. I'll probably fall back into silence again after this, until late May when I get my brains back. :)

I can just see you refusing to do a project on them. :) Good on you.

How's University life in the UK? Hope you are making lots of great friends and learning heaps.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

Hello!

Awwr, sad to hear you won't be posting much. Do you do emails when you're not posting? Brain back? Confusion on this part.

University life in the UK is WONDERFUL! Field trips and lots of science discussion. Lovely friends I'm housing with next year and I'm learning a lot.

I keep having dreams of living with you in Australia for a while, working in a coffee shop or the like and reading on porches at dusk for some reason. They're pleasant dreams, though!

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I've been unwell for a couple of years, taking treatment which makes me even more unwell, but will be worth it if it cures me. I find out how it worked in May, when the treatment ends. That's when I get my brains back. :)

I envy you having lots of fun with science field trips, interesting discussions, and oodles of learning. The older I get the more convinced I become that the trick is to never stop learning. I'm at my happiest when I'm gulping down knowledge.

Heheheh :) I reckon anybody'd hate living with me. Apart from being an absolute slob, I'm the most boring person in the world. When I'm well I listen to talks, read, work on the computer, and sleep. When I'm unwell (rare, except in the last couple of years) I sleep and read. :) Great for me, but dead boring for anybody else. :)
But I am glad they're pleasant dreams. It certainly is beautiful out here in the country... especially at dusk and dawn. (Mosquitoes can be ferocious at those times though.) The nearest shop of any kind is in the little town of Kenilworth, about 10 minutes drive away. The next reasonable sized town is more than half an hour's drive. Do I like isolation? A born hermit. :)

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I will keep you in my mind and heart about the treatment and getting well/being cured. I'm not sure it actually DOES anything, of course (probably not) but sometimes it's nice to know other people are thinking of you and sending love, hmm?

I reckon *I* certainly wouldn't hate living with you. Slobbiness puts me at ease far more than cleanliness. Boring people are delightful. The things you mentioned sound wonderful. I spend most of my time reading, working on the computer, writing and sleeping. Occasionally singing or playing the ukulele or just sitting. But I don't expect others to do such things. Sleeping and reading are probably my favourite. They are great to me! I'm impossible to bore.

Hermitage is wonderful.

[hestia.livejournal.com]

Ah that would explain the nasty little hard bits of grit or whatever it is I've found in the muslie bars. Bastards.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Goddess knows what they allow into their foods.