BS: Ribena

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 18 May 07 - 01:38 PM

You can actually drown from drinking a gallon of water all in one go. It has happened.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 May 07 - 10:41 AM

My old Escrima Master Cacao Canette said that one should drink a gallon of water from the village well first think on waking. I did check to see if there was some conversion over unit conversions - but he insisted - a bucket full - I manage about a litre - and that has 'interesting' results...

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 May 07 - 02:54 AM

And water alone doesn't shift the old system along like liquorice and figs do!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 18 May 07 - 02:44 AM

Well you are entitled to your opinion Q but as a herbal person I disagree entirely. I have seen many occasions when it works and no, it isn't just psychological. Drinking lots of water is necessary for the proper functioning of the body, especially the kidneys, but if you have conditions like some forms of rheumatism, psoriasis and many others, just drinking lots of water doesn't help.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 May 07 - 12:07 AM

Burdock- a minor antioxidant.
Dandelion greens- recommended as a salad ingredient.
See Mayo Clinic on line.

The concept of flushing toxins with herbs is largely nonsense; a big money-maker for the herbalist snake oil salesmen.

Drinking enough water is sufficient. Men should take in about 3 liters per day and women 2.2 (normal activity); remember that 20% of this comes from food in a normal diet. Greater activity, heat and high altitude cause more water loss, which should be replaced.
Recommendations of the Institute of Medicine; see Mayo Clinic articles: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/NU00283
Water

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Gurney
Date: 17 May 07 - 11:04 PM

JohnInKansas, it didn't work on me and my(WAS she my wife at that stage?)wife, but as the smell spread through the house, the couple upstairs came down looking flushed. ??

I tasted it. No way was I drinking it!

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 17 May 07 - 02:57 AM

Is she? I did wonder because it's not exactly a common name. They have a range of about three or four drinks in our local Tesco. There's the D&B, Ginger beer, traditional lemonade and something else I think...I'll have a look today.

Robyn perhaps you can buy the dried root if you can't find it fresh in NZ? I used to make ginger beer too and the kids love it but I haven't had time for years. All right, I know it's full of sugar too but at least I know exactly what else is in it!

Burdock is a plant which, obviously has a root and it is the root that is used in the drink but you can also use the young stems, both as a vegetable and candied like angelica. The drink was originally taken as a health drink, as were many of the herb beers. Dandelion is a diuretic which will flush out toxins through the kidneys, and burdock is a blood cleanser and purifier which takes out the toxins for the dandelion to get rid of.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 16 May 07 - 06:47 PM

Lynne - Anni Fentiman is related to the ginger beer Fentiman, but I didn't know they did dandelion and burdock. Or Tesco even.

Kitty

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 May 07 - 06:36 PM

Gurney -

Never mind the smell.

          Did it WORK?

John

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Gurney
Date: 16 May 07 - 05:46 PM

Burdock, from memory, is a root. It is also reputed to be an aphrodisiac.
It stinks the house out when you boil it up, but that is a story from long ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Folkiedave
Date: 16 May 07 - 04:30 PM

A tea blend that taste like champagne? Prefer the real thing myself.

And I may be mistaken which is why there is no name - but I do believe that the brand manager for Ribena was a certain folkie in his day job you understand.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Little Robyn
Date: 16 May 07 - 04:06 PM

I see in the description of burdock it is considered superior to Sarsaparilla. Now there's another drink with a similar licorice sort of taste. You can buy that in NZ now but I've only found D&B amongst imported (expensive) stuff which isn't available where I live.
I used to make ginger beer so I'd be keen to try D&B.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: JennyO
Date: 16 May 07 - 08:52 AM

Liz, your tits probably didn't work because they were worn out from all that bouncing around in the garden ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 May 07 - 07:41 AM

http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/burdoc87.html

Don't know how to do a clicky, but go here for a description of burdock. Not a very good picture though

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 May 07 - 07:39 AM

The Fentiman's dandelion and burdock I bought from Tesco also had liquorice in. I don't know if that was in teh old-fashioned one but that could account for the aniseed flavour. Damn! Can't find the recipe I had. I'll have to search a bit further



Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Little Robyn
Date: 16 May 07 - 06:48 AM

Our dandelions look the same as the pictures of British dandelions but I'm not too sure about burdock. Is that what gives it the slight aniseed taste?
I checked the Pam's Blackcurrant juice label: Vit C - 59mg/100ml.
I'm pretty sure when we compared it with the Ribena bottle there was more in Pam's but the Ribena bottle has disappeared into the recycling so I can't check (and I don't wish to buy another).
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 May 07 - 05:59 AM

I was lucky and never had any problems feeding Liz. I know a lot of people who have got quite distressed because they wanted to feed and couldn't. Though I have to say that I think with a little more time, help and perseverance a lot of people who think they can't could.

I like darjeeling too, but I don't think it's at all bitter...I can't stand anything bitter which is why I don't like beer. And I agree with Rowan...I NEVER use tea bags!

Had a lovely drop of Old Rosie on the weekend though...

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 May 07 - 05:47 AM

That's a titillating tale, Liz...

Squeak!

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 May 07 - 05:05 AM

Bitter and herbal? Tried Heather beer yet?? That should suit your tastes.

Lynne - it's ironic really that despite my hating bottles, Limpit was bottle reared because (and this is REALLY ironic) my tits didn't work.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Gurney
Date: 16 May 07 - 03:11 AM

Champagne? Sour bloody stuff! My taste runs to bitter and herbal, so it's Darjeeling for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 16 May 07 - 03:07 AM

Robyn, I'll dig out the dandelion and burdock recipe and post it later. Do you have dandelions and burdock in NZ though? I'm pretty sure there's no burdock in Oz and in WA the things we called dandelions are not the same as English dandelions at all.

As for smoothies, my kids are amazed that whatever you put in them they always taste wonderful. You can also add alcohol btw and it makes a lovely summer evening drink. A shot of sloe gin in the mix is lovely!

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 May 07 - 08:51 PM

While we're off the original topic (sorry, couldn't resist!) - did you know that now someone has created a new tea blend that tastes like Champagne?

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Rowan
Date: 15 May 07 - 06:46 PM

And in a 'hole in the wall' in Surabaya I found nirvana's tipple; te tjai (phonetically tay jye) is ginger tea with lime juice.

Various companies that sell bags on strings with bits of vegetable matter in them and which you dip into hot water try hard, but just can't cut it. For me, that is.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 May 07 - 04:22 PM

Some of the bottled drinks are adding vitamins, usually C. Here in the frozen north, doctors say we need more vitamin D.

Herbal teas are products of the modern snake oil salesmen. They were better when they had an alcoholic or opium base.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Little Robyn
Date: 15 May 07 - 04:04 PM

Lynne do you have a recipe for Dandelion and Burdock?
We acquired a taste for it when we were in Britain but you can't buy it here in NZ.
Gurney I threw out the Ribena bottle so I can't check but in the fine print where it gives quantities of ingredients, the 'Pam's' concentrate has much more Vit C per mls. We're using it at work for a little old lady who has lost her taste for tea and doesn't want plain water. It's the only way we can get fluids into her at the moment and she's enjoying it. She has false teeth and in the last years of her life so we're not too worried about Ribena upsetting her health. And yes, we have tried more healthy drinks - fruit and herbal teas etc. but she just pushes them away.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 May 07 - 01:57 PM

MBSLynne and her smoothie maker reminds me of the great drinks (often spoon needed) that we got in Chiapas, Mexico, when we were on a collecting trip down there.
Opposite one corner of the plaza in the town of Tapachula was a place that Osterized (trademark mixer) the many fruits found in the area, sometimes with milk or ice cream. Wonderful! I will never forget sitting outside there in the late afternoon enjoying the various concoctions that they made, and people-watching.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 May 07 - 07:21 AM

'bot bot'

Now that reminds me of an old song

"Feet up, pat him on the po-po,
let's hear him laugh!"

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 15 May 07 - 07:11 AM

We seem to be of one mind Liz. I agree entirely. Neither of my kids ever actually had bottles at all. I breast-fed them till they were 11 months and 13 months and they started on trainer mugs at about 4 months. I NEVER gave them squashes or the like and diluted fruit juice only occasionally. Mostly it was water...ot weak chamomile tea to try and get Richard to sleep! If a child continues to have a bottle after the age of about 12-18 months, it tends to become a habit and often very hard to break.

Fruit juice also has so much acid it can damage tooth enamel.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 May 07 - 05:16 AM

The problem with toddlers and teeth as Sandra mentions is due to the habit of putting sugary drinks in bottles. The child is usually sucking on the bottle for several minutes (or hours) and the drink is held in the mouth for some time before being swallowed. Babies don't have the ability to just open their throats and chug it down. Drinking plain water is best but if you must give fruit drinks, use a sippy cup or beaker.

I'm of the opinion that it's sheer laziness on the part of some parents to have a child that has been weaned, still sucking on a bottle (and how many times is it referred to as their 'bot bot' euurrghghgghghgh). Children over 2 do not need bottles. They can drink perfectly well out of cups, sippy cups, beakers, water fountains, sports bottles and cat bowls. And don't get me started on dummies, binkies, comforters, dum-dums, suckydums, or pacifiers!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 May 07 - 04:55 AM

Speaking about fruit juices & carbonated drinks, we've had a lot in the news recently about 2 year old children having zillions of cavities, & children under 5 needing many or all of their baby teeth removed cos of excessive use of sweetened drinks in their bottles.

Doctors & dentists are saying give 'em plain water when they are thirsty.

We also have lots of Juice Bars around, where folks can get "healthy" drinks of real fruit & vegs, & smoothies made of real fruit & icecream/flavoured yoghurt & honey!

Another trend is the cute little bottles of fresh juices & fruit crushies & smoothies - the way nature intended.

They claim you don't need to eat any fruit, cos they have a day's fruit in every bottle, however there is no pulp, & really far too much fruit for a day - some say they have the juice of more than 6 pieces of assorted fruit. And they're such tiny little bottles ...

As always, check labels (sugar is sugar whether it's white, honey, or made from fruit), eat fresh fruit & vegs, and drink water!

Water is my main drink (no tea/coffee/alcohol/carbonated drinks) & a slurp of lemon juice makes it yummy, & home-made banana smoothies are part of my Sunday brekkie! I occasional get commercial banana smoothies but they aren't as good as the ones I make. I have a small juicer & the only time I use it is when Jennyo's lemon tree is yielding lemons.

sandra



sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 May 07 - 04:34 AM

Limpit will drink water sooner than anything but does enjoy a purple Fruit Shoot - I'm not too happy about them as they do contain sugar or sweeteners and getting her to eat healthily is a big enough struggle as it is. Left to her own devices she'd live off eggs, pasta, peperoni and pizza.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Sooz
Date: 15 May 07 - 02:48 AM

Dandelion and Burdock was my poison when I was a child and Morrisons have recently started selling a version with no added sugar!

I've drunk a lot of fruit teas in recent years but my dentist cousin tells me that there is enough acid in them to make them a threat to my enamel.

Ribena - yuk.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 15 May 07 - 02:39 AM

Don't care about the vitamin C. I drink Ribena 'cos it tastes nice.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 15 May 07 - 02:20 AM

Some pubs went through a phase of serving freshly-squeezed orange juice. Haven't seen it advertised in years. It's so much nicer than bought orange juice as to be a different drink.

We very occasionally allow my daughter a bottle of coke if we are out somewhere. My son appears to be allergic to caffeine and gets a head ache if he has even a very small amount. At home he drinks fruit teas. I've no idea how much actual nutrition there is in them, but I think they are fairly harmless.

I bought one of those lovely looking Kenwood smoothie makers a couple of years ago and we often have fruit smoothies. Nothing in them but whizzed up fruit. It's actually better than juice as you get the pulp as well. I keep some fruit in the freezer because a handful of that makes it lovely and cold and thicker. We often have to eat them with a spoon rather than drinking them.

I used to love dandelion and burdock as a kid and bought some recently...it was horrible! Soooo sweet. I'm going to have a go at making my own when I've got enough burdock growing.

Sorry for the length of this, but I'm enjoying the thread

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Joybell
Date: 15 May 07 - 01:35 AM

In Melbourne, up until about the 60s, you could get freshly squeezed orange juice at the main train station. The oranges came on the early morning train from Mildura (up on the Murray River) every morning. They were picked one day and on the train the next. Progress means that we can't have it this way any more.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Rowan
Date: 14 May 07 - 11:03 PM

Most vitamins are denatured by being frozen; yet another reason to prefer fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegies. I don't think Ribena ever entered my house and my kids refuse any of the cola-flavoured acids-with-sugar and caffeine.

But, when it was broadcast on ABC TV (Oz), I relished the story of the two girls from NZ just getting stuck into a science project and then taking on the company and winning.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 May 07 - 06:07 PM

This thread gave me an idea.
In Paris, I saw a small bar across the street from my hotel, where a manual juicer was being used to squeeze oranges. Every morning during my stay, I drank fresh-squeezed orange juice. I hadn't thought about that until I saw this thread.
Here in Canada, they have frozen OJ in containers which can be kept in the fridge freezer after opening; that is what we use. They also have the juice in cartons, which most people seem to buy- more expensive and once opened, doctors tell me that the vitamin content is lost rapidly.

I will look for one of those juicers, which seemed to work well. Bags of oranges are quite cheap here. I think that the juice not only will be much cheaper but will taste better. Once the cost of the juicer is recovered, cost will be less and vitamin content higher. Found one advertized for $50.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Gurney
Date: 14 May 07 - 04:56 PM

Tizer, eh. I've had just two cans of that since I came to NZ 30+ years ago. Imported, and the same price as Guinness.
I used to prefer Vimto when I was a kid, in that great knobbly bottle. And I adored Horlicks tablets. Are they still about?

Robyn, wasn't that twice as much as oranges?
Chris.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 14 May 07 - 04:47 PM

My kids mostly have water too. We keep heaps of bottles half-full of water in the freezer and if any of us are going anywhere we take one out, top it up with water (filtered) and have cold water with us wherever we go.

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Little Robyn
Date: 14 May 07 - 04:09 PM

The concentrate has a little extra Vit C but the readymade bottles have none. If you believe the amounts on the labels, the plain pack stuff has almost twice as much, at least, here in NZ.
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:26 PM

Vimto - yuk! I love Ribena - hot of course but rarely buy it. I give the kids very dilute Tesco apple and blackcurrant but mostly just water. They are not allowed any drinks other than water at school even if they take packed lunches. Some parents do complain but most like me are glad that we don't have to spend a fortune on bottles or cartons.

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: GUEST,Bainbo at work
Date: 14 May 07 - 10:07 AM

When I were a lad there was some sort of scare that Ribena would make your teeth fall out (presumably the sugar content) - so we switched to Vimto instead. It was only recently I discovered that the main flavour of Vimto is grapes. I was astonished. But I'm easily impressed.

And, Liz, it was more specific than just a Northern drink. It was only North West, made by J N Nicholls, in Manchester. When I first moved to North East England, I used to have to bring my own supply.

Apparently, the Manchester bottling plant used to supply the Manchester area, as well as the Middle East, where it had acquired a following thanks to servicemen. Demand became so great that a bottling plant was opened in the Middle East, creating extra capacity at the Manchester plant, thus enabling the drink to go nationwide.

Isn't it amazing, the amount of rubbish that clogs up your brain, just waiting for an outlet? Do you think there's an opening for a Vimto historian?

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 May 07 - 09:52 AM

Mmmmmmmmmmm, Vimto....

Yes, I know... strange choice of drink for a self confessed Southerner (it being a mostly Northern drink until comparitively recently) but I love the stuff. Much tastier and less earthy than Ribena.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 May 07 - 09:16 AM

Vimto was always much nicer anyway...:-)

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 May 07 - 05:44 AM

Nah, they come out burple.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 May 07 - 05:38 AM

But Liz - it's purple - I always thought they just squashed up all the left over Smurfs...

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 14 May 07 - 04:27 AM

I always wondered how they could prove that a certain percentage of the UK's blackcurrant production went into this drink. What about the blackcurrants my aunt grows? None of her crop goes into Ribena but there's no way she produces the missing few percent....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:38 AM

"packed with sugar"

Well, you never used to know just how much that they put in until they were forced by law to put the sugar content on the label...

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: MBSLynne
Date: 14 May 07 - 03:05 AM

Ribena is one of the drinks I've not let my children have, mostly because it's either packed with sugar, or in the sugar-free one, with sweeteners, both of which I avoid like the plague. It's actually quite difficult to find good, healthy drinks for kids apart from straight fruit juice, and even then you have to make sure it's actual juice not 'juice drink'. I'm glad this has happened. I hope it serves as a warning to other companies who make money from falsely promising health benefits, especially to children

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: Ribena
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 May 07 - 02:03 AM

This hit Aus Media a while ago - wasn't home so didn't get around to putting it in my "Fools in the Real World" thread...

Subject: BS: Ribena rip-off.
From: Gurney
Date: 14 May 07 - 01:22 AM

I've been waiting for the story to come up, in vain.

So, here it is. A couple of young ladies at the school that my son used to go to did a science thing to prove that inexpensive vitamin C drinks are inferior to expensive ones. They found that this product, much lauded by its makers as containing copious quantities of the stuff, was in fact very deficient.
Having contacted the makers, they were given the brush-off, so they publicised their findings.

Here, the Managing Director, or someone claiming to be him, is on TV in full damage-control mode, striding through fields of Blackcurrents and apologising for 'misleading the public' and blaming quality-control and manufacturing systems for the problem.

They are liable for a huge fine for false advertising, and it ought to be much larger. For many years they have made the same claims, and mothers have been giving their children lolly-water, thinking that it would reinforce the kid's immune system.

As for the fine, it is about five times as much as I would be liable for for doing electrical wiring without being an electrician.