There are other things you can give them which would be better
It’s Christmas time and your pets are probably having the time of their lives.
Their humans have all inexplicably gathered in one place, which means lots of people to give them attention, and there’s loads of food going about which means more chances you’ll toss them some scraps.
Even if they don’t know what Christmas is, your pets will have some notion that this is going to be a very good day for them provided their ability to beg for food.
If you’ve got a dog, then you’ll likely have thought about how to keep them away from the big food dishes being prepared all day, so they don’t dive headfirst into a turkey that was supposed to be for everyone.
However, you might want to be careful before you toss them something more bite-sized like pigs in blankets as apparently it’s bad for them.
They look so f**king good, but it’s best not to feed them to your dogs. (Getty Stock Photo)
You might think that a sausage wrapped in bacon would be a dog’s second best friend after man, but according to a vet, Brits shouldn’t give their beloved canine companion one as a festive treat today.
Dr. Sam, a vet from Animal Friends Pet Insurance, told the Mirror that they were far from the ideal food to be handing over because they were really unhealthy for your dog.
He explained: “Pigs in blankets and other fatty meats could lead to pet obesity and pancreatitis.
“As much as your pup might beg for a meaty treat, it’s best to avoid giving them these.
“Instead, stick to unseasoned lean meat such as chicken or turkey.”
Sorry pooch, just a bare bit of turkey breast for you it sounds like.
Your dog will no doubt want part of your Christmas dinner, make sure they stick to turkey. (Getty Stock Photo)
There are plenty of other foods Brits have been warned not to pass to their pets at Christmas, including mince pies and Christmas pudding since the raisins, sultanas and grapes in them are toxic to dogs, and even small amounts could make Gromit vomit.
If you were thinking of giving your dog other trimmings from the main Christmas dinner then you ought to think again, since gravy, stuffing and Yorkshire puddings are all foods you’d best not feed your dogs.
Some of them are just unhealthy, others contain ingredients which are toxic to them or are foods which your dog will struggle to digest properly.
It’s likely that you’ve heard this one before, but you should also resist the urge to give your dog any of the bones from the meat you’ve cooked since they can be chomped into shards and then pierce organs if swallowed.
If your dog is making those pleading eyes at you then your best bet is, as the vet suggested, to hand them unseasoned turkey.Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink, Dogs, Animals
Joe Harker
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Updated 12:40 23 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 12:32 23 Dec 2024 GMT
People warned about grim reason you shouldn’t cook pigs in blankets in air fryer this Christmas
More than half of UK households now own an air fryer
What do all air fryer owners have in common?
They won’t stop talking about their air fryers.
With more than half of UK households now having one, ownership has increased by a whopping 70 percent from 2022, reports leatherhead food research.
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Credit: ITV
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And there’s no doubt that users will definitely be taking advantage of theirs this Christmas. From air fryer roast potatoes to crispy brussel sprouts, there’s all sorts of Xmas classics you can try. You can even do an air fryer turkey breast by wacking it in for 25-30 minutes, flipping it halfway.
But according to the BBC’s Good Food section, there’s one food you should avoid air frying – pigs in blankets.
Those savoury little sausages wrapped in crispy bacon perfectly compliments your roast dinner, and Yorkshire puds (controversial, but essential).
However, putting bacon in an air fryer can be a big issue.
More than half of UK households now own an air fryer (Getty Stock Images)
As dietitian Brenda Peralta explains, the fat content in bacon – though being the reason it tastes so good – can actually be a bit of a disaster for air fryer cooks.
“It is a fatty food, and when it is cooked in an air fryer, the fat can drip down and cause smoke or splatter,” she told the Huffington Post.
“This can make the bacon difficult to cook evenly, and it can also produce a lot of smoke and odours.”
The uneven distribution of fat content in the bacon can make it difficult to cook the meat evenly. By putting pigs in blankets in the air fryer, you’re at risk of not cooking it all the way through.
No one wants food poisoning from uncooked meat, especially at Christmas time.
Cooking pigs in blankets in an air fryer this Christmas might be a problem (Getty Stock Images)
As Brenda mentioned, the fat content will also make your air fryer smoke the place up like Winston Churchill. Not only that, but if the fat splatters out of the pot, you could accidentally burn yourself.
When it comes to pure bacon strips, there’s also the issue of trying to scrape them out of your air fryer once they’re cooked. If you don’t use a baking sheet, they can quite easily stick to the bottom, which isn’t ideal.
Brenda added: “A bacon strip is a small and delicate food, and it can be difficult to flip or remove from the air fryer basket without breaking it. The air fryer basket may not be large enough to accommodate a large quantity of bacon.
“This can make it difficult to cook a lot of bacon at once, which can be inconvenient if you are cooking for a group.”Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink, BBC, Health
Anish Vij
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Updated 12:43 23 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 12:39 23 Dec 2024 GMT
Baby Guinness warning issued to millions of Brits this Christmas
A popular little tipple this time of year – but millions need to realise what they’re drinking
It’s one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in the United Kingdom, with countless more set to be drank as Christmas finally arrives.
But it comes with a significant warning to millions of Brits who are partial to the odd micro glass of the black stuff.
Unless you have been living under a rock, no, Baby Guinness is not the same as the product made by Arthur Guinness way back in 1759.
It’s actually something you can easily make at home, unlike a creamy pint of the original drink it’s named after.
Millions cannot drink it if it’s made with a particular coffee liqueur (Getty Stock Images)
Created in a shot glass, it it made up primarily of coffee liqueur before being topped with Irish cream. And voila, you’ve got something looking a lot like a tiny glass of Guinness (if you can pour it correctly, anyway).
It’s incredibly fun and is god damn delicious, so it is no surprise it’s loved by millions across the country.
But for those saying slainte before knocking one back, better check what coffee liqueur is being used.
That’s only if you’re a vegetarian or vegan; of which there are around 5.6 million.
So many of them (Getty Stock Images)
Unfortunately for those who follow either of these lifestyles, one of the major coffee liqueur brands in the UK does not fit into said lifestyle.
You’re all good if you’re on the Tia Maria, which uses coffee beans, cane spirit, vanilla, and sugar alongside a ‘vegan-certified’ supply and manufacturing process.
Sorry if you’ve been having Kahlua, though; it doesn’t not hold either vegan or vegetarian status.
It’s not to do with the ingredients. Rather, the creation process.
“We can clarify that Kahlúa is not directly manufactured with any animal derivatives,” a spokesperson from Kahlúa’s parent company Pernod Ricard said this year.
“However, it’s important to note that a bone char filtration process, which does involve contact with animal derivatives, is employed by one of our sugar suppliers during refinement.
“This widely accepted practice in the sugar industry currently prevents us from categorising Kahlúa as suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets.”
It’s also used to make espresso martinis (Getty Stock Images)
Kahlúa has in fact not been vegan since 2016; although it’s clear not everyone was aware going by reaction on social media.
In an additional statement from earlier this year, Kahlúa explained: “We can confirm that Kahlúa is NOT suitable for vegetarians or vegans. This is because of the sugar refinement.
“It appears there was some confusion as, prior to 2016, Kahlúa was deemed suitable. At this time, Kahlúa is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans.”
Kahlúa is also used by some in espresso martinis, so you better check next time you order one.Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Food And Drink, Alcohol, Christmas, Vegan, Vegetarian, Health, Lifestyle
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 20:57 11 Apr 2024 GMT+1Published 20:55 11 Apr 2024 GMT+1
Vet warns dog owners over five breeds he would ‘never’ own
He warned that the breeds may have health issues and cost more to keep
A vet has revealed the five dog breeds that he wouldn’t recommend having as a pet due to how much they could cost you.
Of course, they are still very good boys and girls, however, many dog breeds can come with plenty of health issues.
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For instance, this popular dog breed is at a high rate of heart disease – which can affect them up to 20 times more than other breeds.
So, it’s always best to thoroughly research the type of dog you’d like to get.
However, Australian veterinary surgeon Dr Scott Miller, who many will recognise from TV shows such as ITV’s This Morning, has admitted he will ‘never own’ these dogs with a certain characteristic.
Scott said he wouldn’t recommend having a flat-faced dog as a pet due to ‘breed-specific’ issues and increased costs.
Flat-faced dogs tend to have more health problems. (Getty Images)
And five breeds that fit under that category are Pugs, British Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, Boxers, and Chow Chows.
“I don’t know if I’d ever recommend a Pug as a dog because they have so many breed-specific issues.” he told The Sun.
“I would always choose a breed with a nose, anything that’s flat faced will have eye problems, and ear problems, and joint problems, and dental problems,” Scott told The Sun.
Flat-faced breeds are highly prone to conditions like brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS), which can impact your dog over time.
Common symptoms often include unprovoked sneezing, coughing and snoring, as well as gagging or vomiting.
The vet went on to say that insurance companies tend to ‘increase the premiums’ on these breeds due to how likely they are to have health issues.
Flat-faced dogs are prone to breathing issues. (Getty stock image)
He added that this is especially important as during the summer, just like humans, dogs can have a pollen allergy – which can cause breathing issues.
If your pup comes down with a case of hay fever, then Scott suggests getting a damp cloth and ‘wiping down’ when you get home to stop them eating it when cleaning themselves.
Scott isn’t the only vet to issue a warning about specific dog breeds, however, with a fellow vet recently expressing their frustration over a certain type of dog.
They took to Reddit to warn those thinking of getting a type of poodle, as they said they desperately want to ‘stop this mayhem’.
They also added that they didn’t want to ‘shame clients for their choice of dog’, but really wanted to ‘stop this trend’ or ‘at least warn them before they get one that it’s not what they expect’.Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Danni King
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Published 12:47 23 Dec 2024 GMT
Experts have explained what not to eat on Christmas day to avoid ‘food coma’
You don’t want to be dozing off before the end of the day
There are few days in the year which have more meticulous planning going into them than Christmas Day, so you’d best not spoil things by sending yourself into a ‘food coma’ and missing a big chunk of it.
You simply can’t doze off before the day is done, there’s a new Wallace and Gromit to watch as well as the very definitely final episode of Gavin and Stacey to get through.
Your Christmas dinner might be the centrepiece of the day but you ought to be careful not to load of on things which will leave you dozing off before the good telly begins.
According to Wired, the finger of blame has long been pointed at too much turkey as the cause of this fatigue, as apparently it’s full of a chemical called tryptophan which makes a person sleepy, but it’s a case of misaligned blame here.
Shouldn’t have filled up on spuds guys. (Getty Stock Photo)
While turkey does have some of the sleepy chemical, it’s not exactly dripping with it any more than other dishes of meat, and the experts say what’s really sending you into a food coma are all those carb-heavy side dishes.
Food and nutrition scientist Dr Emma Beckett said that a food coma was a real thing and the high carb dishes you might be serving up at Christmas dinner were the real cause.
She explained that carbs need insulin to process and this might affect other parts of your body with the consequence of making you drowsy and leaving you in the dreaded food coma.
Your eyelids might be feeling incredibly heavy before Wallace has even munched his first cheese-laden cracker of the new movie and you’ll know that’s you done for another Christmas.
Even if everyone is blaming excessive consumption of turkey for the food coma, it’s really those spuds, sauces and side dishes that should bear the burden of blame.
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This man has just eaten roughly his own body weight and is feeling a little bit sleepy. (Getty Stock Photo)
In general, the vast amounts you’re likely to consume over Christmas is part of the food coma phenomenon, as you’ll be tucking into plates of food piled high with gluttonous portions.
That’s going to make you feel heavy and sluggish, with your sofa beckoning as it makes many promises of comfort.
While one of the possible solutions to ward off the food coma might be to eat less, there have also been warnings about keeping leftovers around for too long.
You’re unlikely to get through the entire dinner on the day itself, especially if you’re trying to avoid overeating, but you ought not to leave it too long before chowing down on what’s left over.