Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 September 2007 21:01:20
Right from an early age, I have never liked tomatoes. If I eat them, I feel like I'm going to vomit; therefore I try to avoid eating them wherever possible. That said, anything tomato flavoured but no longer really resembling tomatoes in taste or consistency anymore (ketchup, tomato soup, pizza base etc) is fine.
So today, I was in Tesco looking for some pasta sauce, and as I was looking at the label on a Dolmio jar to see how many servings it contained, I noticed something quite unexpected. Apparently, this pasta sauce can be counted as one of my five recommended portions of fruit and vegetables per day.
Now, that just sounded odd to me. OK, so the ingredients list claimed the contents were 78% tomatoes, but they weren't really in any state where I would consider them to be tomatoes - after all, I was actually planning to eat them. Maybe this is one of those oddities where I'm thinking something's bizarre and everyone else in the world doesn't, but I just didn't expect that.
However, it's got me thinking now. I always used to say, somewhat tongue in cheek, that a packet of Opal Fruits/Starburst (delete as applicable on the basis of how old you were when you ate them) should qualify as five portions of fruit - strawberry, orange, blackcurrant, lemon and lime, unless they've changed the flavours since I last ate some. I was only joking, but now I'm starting to wonder.
Well, if it's true, and there really are lots of things that count as portions of fruit and veg despite appearances to the contrary, it's going to make it much easier for me to stay healthy. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm still a portion down for today, so I'm off for a Terry's Chocolate Orange...