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Written by Paul B. at 31 Aug 2002 10:49:53:

As an answer to: Re: Anti-circumcision lobby groups written by Jim at 31 Aug 2002 00:22:18:

> Spam is a cheap canned chopped up meat that I believe is a combo of beef and pork. ... It actually tastes pretty good when fried and put between two pieces of nutritionally worthless white bread.

Jim, given that over the next forty-four hours, I am going to be either sleeping, or practically too busy to scratch, travelling some 840 km one day, spending a number of hours working standing up (and as you may realise, genuinely "unable to scratch") the next, I shall try and remember to look in my favourite supermarket and see just how cheap or otherwise the local incarnation of "Spam" is, and what contents and nutritional information is quoted on it.

I suspect it is just about as good as any other "whole" meat, though it might have some salt and preservatives (as does even some "fresh" meat), similar in fat content and - protein is protein - hundreds of millions in today's world might be glad of it. My particular point is that taste and appeal are not always indicative of nutritional value. While we tend to avoid cartilage and bone, they are actually very important nutritionally, and lack of them in our diet requires special balancing by consuming other products, especially for the calcium (milk - which adds fat and more, possibly undesirable, protein).

As for white bread - well, calories (starch) are calories, you don't actually expect much more from staples, including polished rice and peeled potatoes. Any vitamins are just a bonus.

You are certainly right in that fat is the big "killer" and is quite cheap in our societies. Unfortunately F&V are very expensive for their calories.


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