Hacker News Reader

Comment by sdfhdhjdw3 | Hacker News Reader

I think part of it is that UK standards are lower when it comes to food, yes. I know this might be offensive, but I think there's some truth to it. The reason I think there's truth to it is that it works in the opposite direction too. Standards for food are higher in Italy than in Portugal and guess what? Their grocery stores are better than the Portuguese ones.

Comparing meat specifically in Portugal vs UK, it's generally awful in the UK, but I've never heard anyone there complaining about it. Therefore, the standards must be lower, even if by simple virtue of people not knowing any better.

View on HN

> I think part of it is that UK standards are lower when it comes to food

This is patent nonsense. Current UK food standards for the moment are aligned with EU standards despite Brexit.

> Comparing meat specifically in Portugal vs UK, it's generally awful in the UK, but I've never heard anyone there complaining about it. Therefore, the standards must be lower, even if by simple virtue of people not knowing any better.

Yet more nonsense based on absolutely no evidence at all.

I think they mean personal expectations, not safety or technical standards.

Then that's what they should have said.

You interpreted one way, everyone else interpreted it the way I meant it.

You have misunderstood the comment.

The food selection in Italy, in most areas, is unmatched anywhere else.

It's because of what Italians demand.

If UK citizens really wanted better food, it would appear.

'Health and Safety' standards and even 'grade certifications' etc. have nothing to do with it.

> If UK citizens really wanted better food, it would appear.

You can get top quality ingredients in Scotland and eat well here too (despite the "west coast" problem).

I'm sure Italy has its own fair share of shit-end supermarkets punting low quality produce as much as any other European country.

> You have misunderstood the comment.

Hardly my fault if the OP chooses to use a very specific phrase with a very specific meaning when it comes to food quality.

I think you're right. For example in EU supermarkets you will typically find, separately: white onions, brown onions, sweet onions etc. In the UK: onions. Maybe sometimes also 'large onions'. Same goes for most other produce.

It's chicken and egg, as the demand for this won't materialise without awareness and the awareness won't arise without the knowledge there even are different types of onions, I imagine most Brits are clueless.

What type of onions are the UK "onions"? I'd assume white onions because they're attractive and versatile?

As a British expat, the “yellow onions” you see in US supermarkets are most familiar.

Also as a British expat, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in Bath had all of the types of onion you’d find in the US pre-pandemic - though I haven’t been back since. I’d imagine Brexit may have ruined that.

I haven’t been back in a few years, but the selection of onions in my local Kroger would be staggeringly exotic next to the offerings of Tescos of the north-east.

Yes, I suppose it doesn't really surprise me that the regional variation would be different. Bath didn't have a Tesco until recently, but it did have a Safeway/Morrisons which had a slightly worse selection than the "posher" two. It also had a farmers market though which was by far the best place to buy anything.

I am absolutely baffled by the local grocery store’s (Midwest US) supply of potatoes. They have something like five+ varieties of midsize ones, two types of big ones, bags of both, and an entire end cap dedicated to various little bags of tiny potatoes.

I can't speak for Sainsbury's or Waitrose in Bath specifically, but neither Brexit nor the coronavirus has impacted my onion buying ability.

I was in Sainsbury's in Edinburgh this morning and there were yellow white and red onions, and shallots and spring onions too!

Yeah but where else can I get the unhealthiest food in the world: prepackaged scotch eggs

This is a ridiculous claim and entirely false (just go look at the online grocery sites e.g. https://www.ocado.com/browse/fresh-chilled-food-20002/vegeta... ). I have never experienced this in the UK. What kind of shops are you guys going to in the UK?

Red onions, brown onions, white onions (normal, large, bulk bags, loose or bagged, pre-chopped etc), shallots, echalions, spring onions, red spring onions, tropeas etc (them also organic + non-organic varieties of each) are all normal to see in UK super markets (at least in my local part of London). Even Tesco - a chain that many would say is the lowest of the low super market "for poor people" in the UK - carries these.

Depends where you are. Food deserts exist, even in relatively affluent countries. The range of goods at a supermarket is different in Bath (affluent) to Maerdy (poor).

Also size and population though?

Bath, being a major city, has far more residents and visitors than Maerdy, a small rural village.

My guess in Maerdy is that the residents probably drive somewhere (Aberdare?) with a supermarket. I'm not sure I'd live there without a car...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com