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Update on FACT Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that you made the most of your holiday and came out rested and relaxed. We managed to take some much needed time off, but we’re back at it now! The biggest news this month is the launch of our eCommerce site. Select FACT products are now available for sale over the Internet, direct to the consumer. For FACT, this signals the beginning of a new and potentially lucrative revenue stream. For devotees of fine baked goods and sweet pastries who take care to choose only products made from the most healthful ingredients, and for those who have dietary conditions, the new website is good news indeed! If you aren’t familiar with us, FACT is an innovator and supplier in the functional baked goods arena. Our current product lineup – bread, muffin, cake and various other commercial dough premixes – form the core of FACT’s business. For the complete product listing, click here. Does ‘sugar free’ equate slimming? Is ‘fat-free’ always better for you? If you’re not one of the few who files their own tax return, you likely have trouble making heads or tails of the nutritional and ingredient information on food packaging. And for most of us it’s near impossible to understand the exact interaction between nutritional information, percentage of daily values and portion sizes. We go into some detail below, so read on as we expose the myths of labeling. We would love to hear from you! If you have any questions, feedback or news of your own that you would like to share, please let us know and we will discuss it in this journal. Jacqueline Danforth, President |
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Myths of Labeling How easy is it to know just what you’re buying at the grocery store? Is ‘low carb’ really low carb? Will ‘sugar-free’ snacks help you shed pounds? How many servings are you eating and what are the repercussions? It’s tough to know what you are getting, even with the nutritional labeling now required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many processed and packaged foods are just not that healthy. How can you steer a path to health? Can you safely rely on manufacturers’ claims? Portion Size Perhaps the most poorly understood concept among those who make an effort to eat responsibly is the ‘serving’. The FDA advises us to “pay attention to the serving size, especially how many servings there are in the food package. Then ask yourself, ‘How many servings am I consuming’?” Good question. Most of us look at the nutrition facts – calories, percentage of daily value for fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates – and then eat the whole box. But a single serving may be as little as a handful, and the FDA is pointing you towards a modest total daily consumption of around 2000 calories. Margin of Error You don’t always get what you see. Statistically, one out of every ten foods on the shelf is off by 10% in terms of calories. A food label must be more than 20% off in order to violate federal law, and government labs themselves have a 10% margin of error. So an item labeled at 200 calories could have as few as 140 or as many as 260. How accurate is that? Even worse, some foods do contain some ingredients that aren’t listed, and don’t include ingredients that they do list. Sugar Free Sugar Coating Do foods that advertise themselves as ‘sugar free’ automatically qualify as diet foods? Are they inherently healthier? No and no! One thing you can take for granted: sugar-free products are no more likely to be healthy or to help you to lose weight than their sugary counterparts. When sugar is taken out, it is most often replaced with simple carbs, and when you eat them they turn into...sugar! So how can you tell what a food’s effect on you is going to be based on reading the label? A good rule of thumb is to keep an eye on calories per portion, and stick to eating that number of portions. A calorie is a calorie, and while 2000 of one kind of calorie can be much better for you than 2000 of another, the body will burn them just the same. Fats The body needs fat to stay healthy. What’s not good is saturated fat (mostly animal fat) and trans fat, which is mostly partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. The process of partial hydrogenation forces oils which are naturally liquid at room temperature to become solid, making them a functional substitute for saturated fats in various food products, though not a healthier one as recent studies are revealing. When using partially hydrogenated oils in products, the food’s chemical composition is changed in the process, and not for the better. You won’t necessarily find trans fat information on most labels until required by law in 2006, so look for ‘partially hydrogenated’ on ingredients listings. Carbohydrates Keeping an eye on total carbohydrates is a good idea. This you can find on the label. What you won’t find is the kind of carbs that the food contains. There are three kinds – those that break down into glucose quickly, those that break down more slowly (simple and complex carbs) and those that simply don’t breakdown into glucose (fiber!). A quick breakdown of carbs spikes blood glucose levels and overworks the pancreas by forcing it to produce lots of insulin. It also forces the body to store all that instant energy as fat and leads to a low feeling after a brief high. Sound familiar? It’s a sugar rush! Most carbohydrates are sugars, and there is more than one kind. For a complete listing of how different foods stack up, have a look at their Glycemic Index rating. Fiber & Protein There is no bad dietary fiber, and so you really can’t overdo it. The worst that can happen is that you become more regular than you want to! Protein is important for muscle building, and again, it’s tough to overdo it on protein. Make an effort to consume 100% of your daily value in both categories. If you exceed the limit, no sweat. Just keep the proteins lean and low in saturated fats! To navigate safely around unhealthy and fattening foods, don’t rely on the manufacturer’s packaging claims. Go a little further:
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Spotlight: FACT consumer website
Here it is…in all its glory… the FACT retail website at www.eatwellstaywell.net. We have six delectable bread and sweet baked goods premixes for sale, as well as the four flavors of Aunt Lydia’s non-dairy Italian Crèmes. Plus you will find recipes for the various premixes and a growing library of articles on healthy eating. |
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The Cremes, the Mixes The Crèmes 
They come in Chocolate, Mocha, Strawberry and Vanilla, are shelf-stable, non-dairy and contain only one gram of net carbs per serving. Did we mention delicious? Buy them individually or in cases of 12. They are ideal for cakes, as a topping for ice cream, fruit or cupcakes. They require no refrigeration. The Mixes 
Do you associate brownies, chocolate chip cookies and other sweet treats with unhealthy eating or extra pounds? No longer! Our premixes are now available to the public. Every FACT formulation is a healthful combination of ingredients with no added sugar, few calories and lots of healthy prebiotic fiber. Choose among the five Nutrition First™ sweet baked goods mixes on offer or create your own bread, pizza dough and more with our All-purpose Bake Mix.Brownie Mix Now you can enjoy scrumptious brownies with a healthy edge. Our delicious home baked brownies provide increased fiber, reduced digestible carbohydrates (only 3 grams per serving!) and have no added sugar. They’re the perfect treat if you’re looking to watch your weight, reduce your carb intake, follow a sugar reduced/low glycemic diet, or simply indulge yourself with a more healthful baked treat. We’re sure you’ll find their homemade taste irresistible! Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix It’s a dream come true! Rich home baked chocolate chip cookies with no added sugar, high fiber and reduced digestible carbohydrates (only 1 gram per serving!). Who says that if it’s good for you it won’t taste good? Our cookies are decadent, delicious and suitable for sugar-reduced, carbohydrate-reduced and low glycemic diets. Once you’ve tried them, you’ll never go back. Double Fudge Cookie Mix The name is decadent and so is the taste, but that’s where it ends. These rich, home baked cookies are suitable for sugar-reduced, carbohydrate-reduced and low glycemic diets. How do we do it? Why, it’s our secret recipe, of course. Our double fudge cookies will be sure to satisfy your chocolate cravings without added sugar, and with the extra bonus of lots of healthy fiber, reduced calories and digestible carbs (only 2 grams per serving). So go ahead, give in to the decadence! Blueberry Muffin Mix How do you make fluffy melt-in-your-mouth blueberry muffins with no added sugar, lots of healthy fiber, reduced calories and only 6 grams of digestible carbohydrates per serving? You spend a lot of time perfecting the recipe! Try them and you’ll see – our home baked muffins taste great and are better for you without all the extra sugar and empty calories! Mix up a batch and indulge. Our muffins are suitable for sugar-reduced, carbohydrate-reduced and low glycemic diets. Pancake/Waffle Mix Never before has the term ‘breakfast of champions’ fit so well. Our delicious, fluffy pancakes and crisp waffles are sure to help you start your day off right! Suitable for sugar-reduced, carbohydrate-reduced and low glycemic diets, these breakfast treats taste great and are simply better for you. Our secret? Let’s just say that it took a good long while to perfect the recipe. Reduced carbs and calories, no added sugar and the benefits of high fiber never tasted so good. Whip up a batch and see for yourself! All-purpose Bake Mix (for breads, rolls, bagels, pizza shells, pie crusts and more!) Finally - home baked foods with a healthy edge! Breads, pizza shells, pie crusts and other fare made from our all-purpose mix bakes up flavorful and satisfying….and simply better for you. Our bake mix uses only the finest ingredients and is suitable for sugar-reduced, carbohydrate-reduced and low glycemic diets. We've removed the refined flour and replaced it with healthy fibers, although we bet you can’t tell! Try our mix and we’re sure you’ll agree it makes your own family recipes better. Something to get you started Now that we’ve whetted your appetite, here are a few recipes to get you going! Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe It’s a dream come true! Rich home baked chocolate chip cookies with no added sugar, high fiber and reduced digestible carbohydrates (only 1 gram per serving. Ingredients: 1 package of Nutrition First chocolate chip cookie mix (241g) 5 Tbsp butter flavored Crisco vegetable shortening 1 large egg Preheat oven to 375F degrees (350F degrees if using convection). Place cookie mix in a mixing bowl, add in margarine and egg, and mix well for 1-2 minutes using an electric mixer. Chill cookie dough for 5 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and roll dough into golf ball size portions. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and space the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet. Blueberry Muffin Recipe How do you make fluffy melt-in-your-mouth blueberry muffins with no added sugar, lots of healthy fiber, reduced calories and only 6 grams of digestible carbohydrates per serving? You spend a lot of time perfecting the recipe! Ingredients: 1 package muffin mix (241g) ½ cup water ¼ cup vegetable oil 2 large eggs Preheat oven to 375F degrees (350F degrees if using convection). Place muffin mix in a mixing bowl; add in water, vegetable oil and eggs. Mix well for 3 minutes using an electric mixer. Spoon prepared batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners and fill 2/3rds full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. (Baking time may vary.) Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. |
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