When Shopping For Vegetables...

A recent scare in the news this week got me to thinking.  There was a beef farm in Alberta that issued a massive recall of their beef due to possible contamination of E. Coli 0157. The alerted the Food Inspection Agency that something was wrong and then issued a voluntary recall.  Thank goodness it was found and alerted before any illness has occurred, but some of the most known grocery stores were affected by this recall, including Walmart, Costco, Giant Tiger, Sobeys, the Superstore, Safeway, Shop Easy, Extra Foods, SuperValu, the Real Canadian Wholesale Club, Foodland and No Frills, among others.

I found myself thinking, thank goodness I don’t have to worry about eating contaminated meat or any animal products that could potentially cause me harm from dangerous bacteria… but then my mind wondered to a place that had me concerned. What other serious health risks are there in food that we should be considering when purchasing?  Of course there have been recalls on vegetables that have been exposed to E Coli – I remember a few years ago, bean sprouts were a big concern.

So I looked in my cupboard and fridge and basically picked out my concerns, one being canned foods, two being my fresh produce and the third being corn chips.

The first thing of course that I started my research on was pesticides. At this point in time, I would say majority of people know that pesticides and toxins that are present in food, is not healthy for us to consume and the way the food industry is going to provide “fast large amounts of foods” we can be certain that more and more pesticides are being used in our food.

Did you know that over two and a half million tons of pesticides are used each year around the world to destroy organisms that interrupt the production of their crops, the unfortunate thing is, these pesticides that are dangerous for organismas are also very dangerous for humans.  A heavy exposure to pesticides can cause serious health concerns and risks to human.

So how can we help ourselves?  

• Purchase organic where you can
• Peal your vegetables that are non-organic
• Wash everything thoroughly before eating

Then I researched my canned beans and tomatoes:

How many of us purchase canned beans or tomatoes to save time?  Guilty as charged.  As working professionals who have families to tend to, we don’t always have the luxury of time to soak beans (unless we are organized in the mornings) but lets be realistic here, most of us today are always in rush, trying to quickly put something together. Well unfortunately with living a rushed lifestyle, there are concerns with eating canned foods.

1. Bisphenol A (BPA) - manufacturers use BPA to protect their food from metal corrosion or bacteria growing in the cans.  Problem with this is BPA is linked to heart disease and cancer, among other serious health risks, even affecting neural development in fetuses.  
2. Sodium - can be vey high in canned foods, but the upside is that many manufactures will offer a low sodium product to purchase.  Yes, we do need sodium but too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure.  We just need to be careful.
3. Sulphites – used to preserve products, there freshness and color, however 1 in every 100 people are allergic to sulphites and the reaction can be sever including hospitalization.  Sulphites can actually destroy the vitamin B-1 present in food.  Just be concerned and aware.  Many products are now sulphite free, in my opinion the less additives to my food, the better!

So do we cut out using canned foods?  I concluded the answer for me is no, at the end of the day with all the unhealthy food present on our shelves, ultimately vegetables are the healthiest choice, but I think that buying organic is my best option, but fresh is the important part,  frozen or canned would be the second choice for me.

As for my last concern of Corn being in my cupboard, we did a newsletter back a few weeks ago about GMO’s – Genetically Modified Organisms.  Corn being present at the top of the list! This one was no surprise to me. But I love salty corn chips! So what can we do? 

• Buy organic
• Substitute of Lentil Chips or Black Bean Chips or Kamut Chips – but just make sure Corn isn’t in the ingredients, it carries many names including syrup & sugars

So what is in your cupboard that has you thinking you should know more about?

Have a fantastic weekend!

Lyndsay & Laurie

New Vegetarian Goodies to Share!

This past weekend was the Canadian Health and Food Show (CHFA) in Toronto ON Canada. I was there on behalf of the company I work for, Signature Foods ∣Natural Gourmet and I was looking to pique interest on some of our products to distributors and brokers outside of our reach. It was the second time I had attended this show and it was a great time and I discovered some great new products. This newsletter is a departure from what we often present to our readers, but I thought it might be a welcome change. 

The first product I wanted to share with you is a Toronto company called Sweets From The Earth Bakery.  This company did not have a booth at the show, but let me tell you as I walked the aisles with SFTE Vice President Marc Kadinoff, I realized that the natural food world know his product and love it! Lyndsay and I discovered this vegan dessert company years ago while shopping in a natural food store in Toronto’s east end neighborhood Bloor West Village. Lyndsay bought a GF Chocolate Caramel Pecan Bar for us to share after our take out sushi we were on our way to pick up. well...Lyndsay couldn't wait till sushi time and ate the bar before we reached home, and not a morsel for me!  Long story short, Sweets From the Earth was the first product I brought to the Ottawa market under the company I work for.  Check out their website www.sweetsfromtheearth.com and if you are lucky enough to live in a city where this product is available, go out and sample my favorite  the Gluten Free Cashew Cookie or their best selling Peppermint Nanaimo Bar!

Last year, Lyndsay had emailed me information about Field Roast Grain Meats. I had done my research and thought they sounded interesting. I had not tasted them until this show. I was absolutely amazed at their flavour profiles, the texture and the presentation; so much that I am very interested in discussing business with this company. I was also very impressed to learn that they use Alberta Hard Winter  Wheat, are very loyal to this product, and as a Canadian, this made me proud. Check out their website http://www.fieldroast.com for more information.

A new product to the natural food market in Eastern Ontario just over a year ago is the Enerjive Quinoa Crispy Thins  http://enerjivefood.com/products-2/quinoa_snack_crisps/ . This product was brought to the market by Naturopathic Dr. Joel Villeneuve and Healthy Food Advocate Korey Kealey from Ottawa ON. I discovered this healthy snack at last year’s show and it will be coming to a Canadian City near you very soon. You can also shop online and have a few boxes sent to your home.

Now for beverages, Krisda Natural Soda was on my radar before I arrived. I had tasted this stevia sweetened beverage last year and had recently been speaking with the sales and marketing coordinator about one of their other products, Stevia based, Krisda Baking Formula for a new project I have on the go at work.  In addition to the soda and the baking sweetener, the also offer  flavoured coffee sweeteners, water enhancers and sweeteners. This company has taken the bitter aftertaste that often accompanies stevia.  Not often that I am impressed with a product, but http://www.krisdasweetener.com is certainly one I would recommend you look for. 

If you have a new product you think our subscribers would like to hear about, send the information along and we will do the research! I am heading to the Grocery Innovations Canada tradeshow this coming week and let’s hope i another new item or two.

Happy Cooking,

Laurie and Lyndsay

More About New Vegetarian Foods....

I just got back from another ‘food show’ business trip to Toronto. The Grocery Innovations Show is a tradeshow for Food and Consumer product manufacturers, equipment, technology and service providers to exhibit their wares to manufacturers, brokers, wholesalers, distributors and government. My initial walk thru was  to establish which booths were of interest to me on behalf of Signature Foods ∣ Natural Gourmet, the company I work for.  After the quick dash through the aisles, I sat down in the comfy hip wireless lounge, made my list and set out to discover new things and gather lots of information.

You would think that in this day and age, suppliers, manufacturers and producers care about sustainability and offering their customers alternatives and better options. I was saddened by how little I actually came across, booth after booth. I approached a reusable bag company who boasted Canadian made products when asked. As I stood staring at a plethora of colours and prints, I inquired as to which bags were from Canada, the reply was ‘we have one bag, it comes in black only and is more expensive than the others.’ Not much information was offered other than this and in fact had to confirm that the bag was customizable. There was no promotion of why one would consider the purchase of a Canadian bag, how using a Canadian product lowers carbon footprints, supports our own economy etc... It appeared that this one item was there just so this company could say they offered Canadian content. 

On the topic of bags, I was also looking for paper bags for our artisan bread program and I wandered into the booth of the only paper exhibitor at the show which was an American company. We are good trade partners with the US, so of course this did not deter me. Although this company offered a display of bags that included an eco line, I was given a package of information. The sales representative apologized for knowing very little about this specialty product and directed me to check out the website. I appreciated his integrity in that he told the truth, but really?

I have to say that it was quite a change from the Canadian Health Food Association show from the week before. It is very interesting now that I look back at both tradeshows and compare the focuses of each. We have the select, less affordable natural food world and the show that feeds into the mass market.  One promotes health and wellness in many of the foods offered, endorsing the eco packaging, using post consumer recycled fibres, vegetable dyes and the sort. The other, not quite so! 

On a more positive front, I did come across a few booths that I think are worth mentioning:

Mrs. McGarrigle’s Fine Mustards

A cottage industry business that has blossomed from a one woman operation, to a successful retail store in Merrickville ON, an additional store in Warkworth ON and with more than 300 hundred retailers across Canada carrying her products. Mrs. McGarrigle’s offered handmade, all products made in her own production kitchen without using any preservatives or additives.  Visitors to this booth were greeted by a warm friendly representative of the company who was very proud to advocate the selling features people like me want to hear.

Mom Brands 

A family run Cereal Company that has a history of cereal making that goes back to 1919 in Cannon River MN. Their innovative, ‘bag the box’-free packaging caught the attention of larger retailers offering better quality products in larger formats for a lower price.  This company has social and environmental principles which I believe is why they are winning awards for quality, value and innovation. This is definitely a company worth reading about http://mombrands.com.  

Seasnax

“A nutrient-packed roasted seaweed snack which is vegan, gluten free and Non-GMO Project verified. It is made using 100% olive oil and just a pinch of sea salt.”  As I am a salty snacker, these are right up my alley! Seasnax is a socially conscious company that “believe it is important to contribute 10% of our annual net profit to non-profit organizations committed to making the world a better and gentler place for our children and our earth.” www.seasnax.com. Not local to me, but definitely worthy of writing about, and they taste great!

Nude Fruit

Although Zast Foods, the company behind Nudefruit was not at the show, I met with Ryan Pennie, one of the principals and I was particularly impressed with his new product.  It is a frozen fruit product that offers local Ontario fruit at the same price as the other brands containing fruit from far away. Eye catching packaging along with plans to offer more than the present 5 skus, I truly hope that this product makes its mark on the retail industry. http://zast-foods.com/Products/Nudefruit/0/0/0

There were a number of other booths that I thought were of interest and as I see these products on the market, I am sure I will find a need to share them with all of you at some point or another. If you have found a product you think we should know about, send us an email and share it!

Happy Cooking!

Laurie & Lyndsay