So much of our food is covered in breadcrumbs or batter. The fish and chip industry relies on the latter but increasing take home to cook food from major supermarkets is chicken, risoles - both vegetable and meat, and of course fish fingers all of which rely on crumbs - bread or otherwise.
The problem is that they, like sugar, fat and salt are addictive. They, crisped up in hot oil, which they absorb in no uncertain fashion, offer a crunchy and caramelised coating that is so inviting and, for kids, almost ritualistic.
But one must be in no doubt that the crust is really bad for you. The oil it absorbs almost certainly damaged by the heat to get the crust, the crumbs browned by the heat to produce cancer causing acrylamides and the layers of unburned refined carbohydrate at the interface with the underlying meat or whatever, represent a formidable source of calories.
The worst thing about it is that this is precisely what is served, by the tons to kids, across the world as fish fingers and apart from the initial blast to their health, it locks into them a taste for this rubbish forever. In Britain 570 million are sold annually and most of these will be to kids.
All bad news.
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