Carol's Culinary Cues - March, 2006

(c) Carol Fenster, Ph.D. - President, Savory Palate, Inc.

8174 South Holly St., #404, Centennial, CO  80122

800.741.5418

ISSN 14244


IN THIS ISSUE:


A Preview of New Products from Natural Products Expo West

This year's trade show, open only to businesses who serve the natural foods industry, was a fascinating look into the future. Keep in mind that some of these products may not appear right away, but are usually available on-line before they hit the stores.

1. As usual, there is no shortage of bars at this show. Lara bars (www.larabars.com) has a new flavor, Cinnamon Roll, in its traditional line of bars. They also introduced a new line of organic bars with flavors like Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Mint, and Chocolate Coffee. Think products also has a new line of gluten-free bars (www.thinkproducts.com).

 

2. Glutino/Gluten-Free Pantry has many new products, but one that caught my eye is their new frozen entrees and their skillet meals. Another one is KA-Me Noodle (www.mybrandsinc.com) boxes that are easily reconstituted with water and/or heated in a microwave oven. Namaste has a new macaroni  and cheese dinner and also a new bread mix. (www.namastefoods.com)

3. There were lots of new cookies. Pamela's (www.pamelasproducts.com) introduced a little "mini" cookie called a SimpleBite which will be great for traveling OR when you just want a little bite of cookie. Their Oatmeal-Raisin cookie has been re-formulated to exclude oats and is called Old-Fashioned Raisin and Walnuts---moist and chewy, you'll never miss the oats. Other new cookies included sandwich cookies (like Oreo cookies) from Kinnikinnick (www.kinnikinnick.com) and Mi-Del Sandwich cookies (available at www.allergygrocer.com) Arico has reformulated some of its cookies and introduced new ones (www.aricofoods.com)

4. If you haven't heard of the Australian company, Orgran, you should check them out at www.orgran.com. They have an extensive line of gluten-free foods and ingredients, too numerous to mention here.

5. A few new cereals are available. Barbara's (www.barbarasbakery.com) has a new Honey-Rice Puffins cereal which is gluten-free. (You may be aware of their Cinnamon Puffins, which are wheat-free but not gluten-free.) These little cereal pillows are great by themselves but will work in a Party Mix (remember the cereal mixes we used to make?) Heartland Ingredients has a new "O" shaped  (www.heartlandsfinest.com) cereal made of extra-nutritious bean flour and you'll find Perky's "O" cereal by Enjoy Life Foods which will also work in the Party Mix ( www.enjoylifefoods.com)

6. Funster Foods (www.funsterfoods.com) introduced a fun food called potato letters. Mashed potatoes are shaped into alphabet letters and frozen. You bake them in the oven for a hot side dish that kids will love.

7. There were a variety of hemp products and many "green" colored drinks. Hemp seeds are a good way to get lots of protein and fiber into our diets. Also, there is a hemp-based protein powder that makes a very nutritious green-colored breakfast smoothie (www.nutiva.com).

8. Two new brands of sweeteners appeared. One is Zsweet made of erithrytol at www.zsweet.com and the other is called Xylitol made from either birch trees or corn  (www.emeraldforestsugar.com) Both should be available at your local health food store soon. They are lower in calories than white sugar and have lower glycemic levels.

Food for Thought

More and more companies are choosing to put the words "gluten-free" on their labels, which tells us that awareness is growing.

 

There were also many educational sessions at this show. Remember the article in Sunday's (March 19) Parade Magazine by Dr. Mark Hyman? He was a featured speaker and talked a great deal about the gluten-free diet. Unlike many doctors, he routinely checks for celiac disease because he knows that it is widespread. Hooray for Dr. Hyman. Other sessions highlighted the growing awareness of the need for special food for those on special diets. I left the trade show with the feeling that our diet is gaining wide acceptance.

 

Where in the World is Carol?

My only travels this month were to the Natural Products Expo West  which I summarized for you in this newsletter. I'll mention other new products later.