Swiss foods

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aagaag
aagaag Posts: 89 Member
My motivation to start this group is that MFP is great, but its databases are - by necessity - very USA-centric. I have found myself adding many foods from Migros and Coop (all of which have great nutritional info), and I have discovered that many foods had already been added. I therefore surmise that many MFP users are from Switzerland (the most cosmopolitan country in Europe) - and I figured that it may be helpful to link us up.

Also,I hope to make new (local) buddies through this group - which would help motivation, endurance, and would certainly make the whole weight-shedding adventure more fun!

As for myself, I am a medical doctor (MD-PhD, to be specific) active in research at a Swiss university. My focus is on diseases of the nervous system. The reason for my being on MFP is that I have found it to be a great tool that helps me get a better hold on food intake and energy expenditure.
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  • swissbrit
    swissbrit Posts: 201
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    Be glad that you live in Switzerland! There is much less junk food in Swiss supermarkets than in the UK and USA!
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    I agree - but only partially. When I was living in California in 2007, I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent fruit and vegetables we could get in Whole Foods, Andronico, Trader Joe and even Safeway - for less than half of the Swiss price! Sliced mango, ready-to-go garlic, etc. etc.: it wasn't bad at all! Having said that, the same places (including "organic" vendors) had plenty of junk food as well.
  • nomorebamboozles
    nomorebamboozles Posts: 73 Member
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    Hey! I'm glad you started this group. I also find myself adding my own custom foods here or just simply using American brands that I'm familiar with that I think are the same as the Swiss (I'm American living in Switzerland). I think your motives for using this site are really interesting! I live in the Zurich area and anybody living in Switzerland is welcome to add me :) It's really interesting to see what people living in the same country as me are eating!
  • swissmardi
    swissmardi Posts: 57 Member
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    I'm so glad you started this... I've felt so "alone" in this here in Switzerland.
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    OK, I started adding Swiss foods! Today's feature: "Coop (Switzerland) - Milch Drink 1.5% Halbentrahmt". Serving size is 90ml, which is what my Jura J9 (the mother of all coffee machines!) draws from the milk bottle when you push the cappuccino button.
  • swissbrit
    swissbrit Posts: 201
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    I am getting sick of all the low fat yogurts containing Aspartame here, it doesn't matter if its Coop, Migro or any other shop anyone have any ideas??
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    I am trying out Stelvia (by Asugrin). I am not all too impressed by its taste though. It's derived from a plant - but in my opinion it tastes like it was made from some nasty chemicals. Others love it though.
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    Next entry: Coop (Switzerland) - Magerquark Prix Garantie, 750 g
  • hupsii
    hupsii Posts: 258 Member
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    Hey guys,

    Great to meet you all. I am Swiss but use this tool as I think it's the best ever !! Thanks for all the stuff you add. This helps a lot :))

    Happy Easter to all of you - be careful with the chocolate eggs ;-)
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    Thanks and Happy Easter to you too! My kids have hidden chocolate eggs all over the place - it's tough to be disciplined, but I am trying to be brave and not touch them...
  • ragazje3
    ragazje3 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for the invite. There are quite a few swiss products on MFP - let's keep adding friends :)
    Happy easter everyone.
    I don't know how you feel about Aldi - but i keep adding new prods ;)
    The eating out cals are a little more difficult.
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    I agree, eating out is a killer, when it comes to calorie counting. And not only that! Sometimes I have business dinners which I cannot avoid, but I rarely enjoy them. Hanging out for >2 hrs in overcrowded "trendy" restaurants, with background noise levels that makes it impossible to communicate unless you shout, gives me headaches (and a sore throat) on the next morning - even if I never drink any wine!
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    New database item: Coop Fine Food (Switzerland) - Fine Food Black Sesame Wasabi Dressing

    highly yummy!
  • pca1273
    pca1273 Posts: 3
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    I am getting sick of all the low fat yogurts containing Aspartame here, it doesn't matter if its Coop, Migro or any other shop anyone have any ideas??

    Thank you for inviting me to this group.

    I have done a pretty thorough trawl through the yogurt aisles in Switzerland and can make the following recommendations:

    High-fat:

    - Coop Bio Yogurt a la Grecque plain
    - Migros Yogo plain Greek yogurt

    Low-fat

    - Coop Biphidus & Acidophilus plain yogurt


    None of these have any added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Flavoured yogurt you can pretty much forget about if you want to avoid sweeteners.

    Another option would be to get one of the plain yogurts above and add a bit of Birkenzucker (xylitol) for sweetness then maybe a few berries. Sweetness without too much of an insulin spike.
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    So, what I tried over Easter is to shred 1kg of strawberries with a food processor, and mix them with 360g joghurt (Coop Naturaplan Bio Nature). It makes for a reasobably satifsactory dessert - but the pureed strawberries contain a lot of water and the whole thing eventually became a tad too liquid (but still enjoyable). Next weekend I will try again but with Magerquark instead of joghurt...
  • Beaupeep
    Beaupeep Posts: 11 Member
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    I've added a lot of Swiss Foods too. I'm American but have been here 14 years and gained a nice healthy 50 pounds after the move! Part menopause, part change of lifestyle. When I was single and living in the US I never ate dinner and would go to step aerobics at least 3X a week. Drank maybe two glasses of wine a month.
  • swissbrit
    swissbrit Posts: 201
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    Thanks for the invite. There are quite a few swiss products on MFP - let's keep adding friends :)
    Happy easter everyone.
    I don't know how you feel about Aldi - but i keep adding new prods ;)
    The eating out cals are a little more difficult.
    [/quote
    Aldi has the best tasting Sweet Potato's in Switzerland at the moment and they are half the price of the ones in COOP or Migros :-)
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    Newly added:
    Coop Switzerland - Joghurt Nature Teilentrahmt, 500 g
  • circenyc
    circenyc Posts: 4
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    Thanks for starting the group for Switzerland, I have been adding my own food while using the iPhone app, and today used the website for the first time and was pleasantly surprised to find some of the Swiss food I eat already in the database.
    Regarding yogurts, I eat three kinds: 1. Activia Prune. I don't know if Activia uses artificial sweeteners, but I don't think so because I can usually taste it, and the prune variety does have more fiber and natural sweetness than the other Activia varieties (for those of you who live in border regions, I believe Activia in France has a different composition and prefer to buy it at the Coop in Switzerland); 2. Fage 0% Greek yogurt. Fage has the highest protein percentage and best nutritional concentration, and it is the only real "Greek" yogurt. Not all Coop's carry the 0% kind, and I think that the full fat version is worth it for the protein if you can't get the 0%; 3. I treat myself now and then to the Coop blueberry yogurt that they sell with their fresh sandwiches. It is not lowfat, but it is good, fresh, quality yogurt that satisfies my sweet tooth when I am craving a dessert.
  • aagaag
    aagaag Posts: 89 Member
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    Many thanks, that's very interesting. I had always thought that the "Greekness" in the yoghurt came from the fat - thereby making it a "calory bomb" by necessity. I am positively surprised to learn that real Greek Joghurt can have 57 kcal/100g - which is truly at the acceptable end of the spectrum! I wonder what is the trick, i.e. which fat ersatz they use (maybe it can be used as hypocaloric fat ersatz for other foods as well).

    Only thing is, I cannot find this Fage 0% in the CoopAtHome online shop. Are you sure it's offered by Coop?