FOOD FOR THOUGHT
SIMON RIMMER INVESTIGATES HOW THE 1970s CHANGED OUR EATING HABITS…
Those of us of a certain age can remember when things like Smash instant mashed potato and Ski yoghurts were enticing new products on the shelves – but what made them so exciting to shoppers? In this new twopart series, Sunday Brunch’s Simon Rimmer looks back at the advances in food technology – and marketing tricks – of the 1970s to see how we became a nation of convenience-food lovers.
“One of the things that really comes across from all the guys we spoke to is that people were excited by new technology,” Simon tells Inside TV. “Nowadays, we’d shy away hugely from any chemicals in our foods – but back then, that was almost a plus point. ‘We’re using chemicals to create this flavour, look how amazing this is!’ – it was celebrated rather than feared.”
Making the show meant sampling lots of forgotten treats from his youth, including a personal favourite – butterscotch Angel Delight. But there was one convenience food Simon was in no rush to revisit…
“Crispy pancakes were the one thing I couldn’t stand as a kid!” he recalls. “My sister loved them, but I hated the texture, the flavour, the fact that the first bit you ate burnt your mouth off! A friend used to like the minced beef crispy pancakes in a sandwich, – that was his go-to thing. How disgusting!”