I'd love the freedom of just walking into a bulk barn and scooping up cheap ingredients. But bulk food sections are a no-go zone for people with allergies. I've been on a mission this week to find safe dried fruit to use in granola, or cookies or whatever. I'm embarrassed to say how easy it was. I went into my local fruit and vegetable store, which I have come to love for the greatest fresh organic and/or local produce, and I found a small variety of 'nut free' dried fruits.
The first, 7D dried mangoes, $5.99 for 200g and from the Philippines, were really good. They taste just like sweetened mangoes and are in big soft slices. My concern is that the labeling laws may be different. So far all I can find on allergen labeling rules for imported foods is that 'Importers are encouraged to identify these ingredients on food labels when they appear as ingredients or components.' The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is encouraging them to label foods safely. Good, that's all taken care of then, wiping our hands of this issue....
My fruit market sells several Earthbound Farm Organic dried fruits. I wanted to try the mangos (to compare with 7D) and the dates. The mangoes have even more fruit flavour, but are not as pretty, they are in smaller, dryer, browner pieces. I have never had a fresh date, but I'm guessing this is what it is like, these are soft and sweet. This brand sells for $4.99 (85g) and comes in a resealable bag. The company is from California and the FDA/USDA insists that allergens be labeled on domestic or imported producuts.
The last product I tried was pretty horrible. HaHa all natural tropical whole fruit chips have four ingredients; pineapple, banana, jackfruit and vegetable oil. Unfortunatley all I could taste, and what is leaving an awful aftertaste in my mouth now, is the oil. They are the cheapest at $2.75 for 75g, but I wouldn't bother buying them.
So I guess my mission wasn't so easy. I've only found one decent and definitley safe brand of dried fruit. Aren't there any Canadian companies out there drying fruit (nut free)? I'm going to keep my eye open...
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