“The world will have gone mad if we have a TV chef deciding health policy,” declared Ian Wright, a spokesman for the Food and Drink Federation, in response to Jamie Oliver’s latest crusade to tax sugary drinks. This was the key agenda in Jamie’s Sugar Rush on Channel 4. After waging ‘absolute war’ on sugar for an hour, interspersed with suitably healthy ads, you wonder when the broadcaster dared air its next Coke or Irn-Bru commercial. Perhaps it’s still waiting.
Arguments rage on both sides. One camp says it’s entirely a matter of personal responsibility, and that self-appointed moral guardians like Jamie Oliver should back off. Others argue that we have become helpless sugar addicts thanks to the relentless marketing of food and drink giants. The truth lies somewhere in between, though I can’t help feeling the ‘cheekie chappy’ from TV does have a point.
Meanwhile in the corporate HQs of ‘big alcohol’ as some call it, there may be sighs of relief. After years of being in the cross-wires as public health enemy number one after tobacco, perhaps the guns are finally shifting to sugar. Or perhaps not in Scotland where the stushie over minimum unit pricing rumbles on and on.
However booze cannot escape the diet issue, at least when it comes to calories. You get seven of them with every gram of alcohol compared to four with every gram of sugar. A medium-sized glass of white wine has as many calories as a bag of crisps according to health lobbyists who have realised this may be a better way of persuading women to cut down than banging on about alcohol units.
Of course it’s a bit disingenuous since calories are merely a measure of energy and they are certainly not all the same. There is pressure to force booze companies to put calorie content on their labels, though some health lobbies fear it may boost sales of spirits which have proportionately fewer calories per unit.
There has been a range of Weight Watcher’s wines since 2002 and demand is said to be steady. In the meantime American TV star Bethenny Frankel launched her Skinnygirl brand of spirits and cocktails. Its huge success suggests that some of us may be trying to drink ourselves thin. I am no expert on dietary matters as my family can attest, but I doubt that’s a good idea.
Fleurie Louis Josse 2014 £6.49 Tesco (12.5%)
This rosehip-scented Beaujolais Cru has a gentle red fruit character and the softest tannins.
Koenig Riesling Reserve 2014 £7.99 Lidl (12.5%)
A crisp, dry, apply, relatively light-bodied riesling from Alsace and part of Lidl’s new push of French wine.
Villa Wolf Pinot Noir 2013 £10 Villeneuve Wines (11.5%)
Fragrant, slightly off-dry German rosé whose sweetness is natural and offset by a tangy finish.
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