Wellness Foods - December 2007 - (Page 21)

By Diane toops, news & trends editor NeW producT revieW on the shelF Wild Bar A review by the Wellness Foods staff on the face of it, the Wild Bar, by Ancient Sun Nutrition Inc. (www.ancientsuninc.com), Asheville, n.C., seems to have a lot going for it: red cocoa, macadamia nuts, lots of fiber (14g per 45g bar – half your daily needs) and lots of trace minerals. It also has more than half the daily vitamin B12 and an antioxidant profile eight times that of an equivalent serving of blueberries. the main raison d’etre for this bar, however, is as a delivery system for the “superfood” blue-green algae. so what’s the problem? As happens all too often with products designed for the nutrient profile first, taste seems to have taken second seat. of the score of reviewers (made up of staff and their family), only two gave positive comments; three gave neutral ones. the rest were overwhelmingly – and in some cases forcefully – negative. of the two flavors offered, “Mountain Mint” and “Mayan spice,” the latter fared best: “nice [raw] chocolate taste, with an interesting peppery aftertaste (and) a good crunchy texture.” “Both are surprisingly good. the ingredients (blue-green algae) were a little scary, but the bars are amazing.” that’s it for the nice comments. the neutral comments included statements such as, “It’s not bad, really, but neither is it good enough to make this a preferred snack” and “I guess it’s food – the label says so. If the wrapper intrigues you, take a chance.” From there, comments went downhill fast, proffering adjectives such as “bitter,” “yuck” and other, even less flattering assessments of taste and texture. Suggested retail price is $4.95 per 45g bar. Beverage Bonanza Cell-nique Inc. (www.cell-nique.com), Weston, Conn., gathered just about all the trendy nutraceutical ingredients known into its Super Green line of beverages containing “31 superfoods and botanicals.” Alongside designations such as “calming,” “cleansing” and “energizing,” the drinks are marketed as providing a laundry list of health benefits: DnA cell integrity, anti-wrinkle and -aging, digestion, alkalinity, hydration, cellular detoxification, cellular anti-oxidation, brain memory function, healthy hair, skin, nails, optimum organ function, immune system booster. Cell-nique super Green drinks come in five flavors: Embody Citrus-vanilla (blend of orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, grapefruit and vanilla), Emerge Pomegranate, Enlight Apple, Evolve Tropical Paradise (mango) and Lau-Tzu Kukicha Tea. Suggested retail price is $4.99 per 14-oz. bottle. Liquid Gold World Artisan Guild LLC (www.worldartisanguild.com), Milwaukee, is the exclusive U.s. provider of Argand’Or argan oil. Argan oil is a rare, healthy gourmet oil noted for its light and nutty flavor. the multiple award-winning oil is entirely hand-crafted by Berber women cooperatives in UnesCo-protected groves located near rural villages in southwest Morocco, using century-old artisan manufacturing methods. After handharvesting and sun-drying the argan fruit, the nuts are opened with stone tools to remove the oil-rich seeds. next, the seeds are lightly roasted and crushed in traditional stone mills. this ancient cold pressing technique results in the highest possible quality. Also, the flavor and nutrients – specifically the high amount of anti-oxidant tocopherols as well as the rare plant sterol combination – are retained. Quality control, fine filtering and bottling are conducted in a UsDA-certified organic facility in Germany. Suggested retail price is $49.50 per 8.5-oz. bottle. Trendy to a Tea Sweet Leaf Tea Inc. (www.sweetleaftea.com), Austin, texas, one of the fastest-growing bottled tea companies in the U.s., launches its Pomegranate Green Tea. sweet leaf Pomegranate Green tea is made with organic cane sugar, organic pomegranate juice and organic green tea, and has only 60 calories per 8-oz. serving. Green tea and pomegranate juice offer health advantages. sweet leaf tea’s Green tea has more antioxidant eGCGs (epigallocatechin gallate) than any other bottled tea. In addition, the pomegranate juice has a high level of antioxidants. Suggested retail price per 16-oz. bottle is $1.39. Food Processing’s Wellness Foods™ www.wellnessfoodsonline.com December 2007 | 21 http://www.ancientsuninc.com http://www.cell-nique.com http://www.worldartisanguild.com http://www.worldartisanguild.com http://www.sweetleaftea.com http://www.wellnessfoodsonline.com

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Wellness Foods - December 2007 Well Noted Healthbites New Ingredient Profiles Wellness Trends in 2008 On the Shelf Expert Opinion

Wellness Foods - December 2007

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