Kitchen Garden Forum

We had just been enjoying a leisurely finish to our lunch with some Roquefort cheese and biscuits when my husband picked up the cheese packaging and read that this was "unsuitable for the elderly"" .

At what age does "elderly" start and why is this type of cheese unsuitable for this age group.. My husband always maintains that " the elderly" category starts at ten years older than he is !

"Unsuitable for the elderly"

Rubbish. If you have got toan age where there is the slightest suspicion that you might qualify for the description, then you have also learnt what you do and do not like ot which does or does not agree with you.
A few bits of cheese, blue, yellow or white, soft or hard, cow, goat or sheep, pasturised or not, isn't going to make a huge difference. The most unsuitable thing for anyone is to deprive them of something they enjoy.

I do hate the weasly word "elderly",
I have no objection to being old, though I still recall a conversation a year or two ago when I said to a Welsh neighbour "Dw i'n mynd yn hen" (I'm getting old). No she said "Dim hen ond hŷn!" (Not old but older).

I entirely agree Stephen! I am sick to death of being warned that I shouldn't eat stuff, not by my doctor, but by the nanny state. "Unsuitable for the elderly", how dare they! I am on the long approach to what may be considered eldery (I don't feel it) and I am damned if someone is going to stop me eating what I want. I am currently eating a plate of brie and roquefort in protest. If this is my last ever post, you'll know what finished me off.

If you compare a bit of blue cheese to the true mouldy cheese we ate as children with the bad bits cut off, the lack of refrigeration that was reliable at keeping temperatures, no sell by / use by dates but a sniff, the stews left on the stove to reheat summer or winter & we survived to be older individuals able to choose for ourselves without the nanny state dictating. It might be interesting (if we live long enough) to see the longevity drop again as we are both healthier & have a stronger constitution. Oops! Bang goes the cost to the nation as well if people don't live as long as us - will they lower the pension age again???

I am always tickled by the contradictory research reports which regularly appear in newspapers and magazines: don't drink a lot of coffee/drinking lots of coffee keeps you alive for longer etc etc etc. etc.
My motto is: everything in moderation.

My motto is: everything in moderation.
Quite right Monika.

I still eat bits of cheese with the mould cut off. So does my husband, but he doesn't know it...

Well, he probably does now if he's reading this !!

Chantal wrote:I still eat bits of cheese with the mould cut off. So does my husband, but he doesn't know it...

Snakey.

He doesn't read this

Even if he did, it would merely confirm his suspicions that I am trying to poison him. He's caught me scratching sell by dates off stuff before now and claims I fed him baked beans from 1996 in 2014. He was totally wrong, those beans were dated 1998!

He's still alive and kicking

[quote="Chantal"]He doesn't read this

Even if he did, it would merely confirm his suspicions that I am trying to poison him. He's caught me scratching sell by dates off stuff before now and claims I fed him baked beans from 1996 in 2014. He was totally wrong, those beans were dated 1998!


In my late Mum's day, smell and tast was all that was rrquired.

"In my late Mum's day, smell and tast was all that was rrquired"

Sadly all that has gone from the supermarkets, unless you like the smell of plastic.

As for taste never know anything better since growing my own.

Local supermarket used to have a deli all gone, same with fresh fish counter, all is only offered prepacked.

"Unsuitable for the elderly"

I have never come across this.

I always cut moldy bits of the cheese and still enjoy it I just think it's maturing but it's not suitable for young people

robo wrote:I always cut moldy bits of the cheese and still enjoy it I just think it's maturing but it's not suitable for young people

No, they wouldn't be able to appreciate it.