Discovering what this year’s Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert had to offer
The best place to see what’s new in health-food and better-living products is the annual Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert, held this year at Montreal’s Palais de Congrès March 20-22.
Health food and natural-product industries respond to consumer trends as fickle customers flock towards certain products while rejecting previous favourites, sometimes with little regard for whether there is any truth in their health claims.
In previous years berries were touted as an all-natural miracle food, with syrups and juices being promoted at many booths. This year we saw growth in the popularity of “gluten-free” products.
It seemed that every direction we turned at this show another product was suddenly promoted as gluten-free, even though this is only truly relevant for those suffering from celiac disease – about 1% of the population.
Gluten, a protein found in wheat, helps bread and other baked goods bind and prevents crumbling. This feature has made gluten widely used in the production of many processed and packaged foods.
Celiac disease produces an inability to absorb nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for good health. Common symptoms are anemia, chronic diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, cramps, bloating and irritability.
In recent years however, some health gurus have pointed the finger at gluten as if it were some demonic substance responsible for everything from weight gain to bloating to feeling foggy or mentally sluggish. That’s why labeling a product as gluten-free has become a powerful new marketing tool.
Our first product encounter was a Quebec-made gluten-free cereal bar called Croque ta vie. It is dairy free, tasty and contains 11 grams of protein per serving. However, at $10 a bag, these cookie-like bars are more appropriate for those who have specific dietary needs.
Next up, the Noobox restaurant chain offered a line of seven cooking sauces ideal for Asian stir-fry that will soon be available in regular grocery stores. The gals at the kiosk were handing out chunks of tofu dipped in the sauces with flavours like teriyaki and chili-basil-lemongrass. Both of the aforementioned sauces were quite tasty and we would definitely give them a second glance on the store shelf.
Attracted by rows of small cups of flavoured chopped tomatoes, we decided to stop by La Tapani. According to Paulette, La Tapani “offers flavours for health” by adding herbed salts and other flavour mixes to “enhance” vegetables and dips.
“Health should taste good so I work mainly with garlic flowers and my line here uses freeze-dried garlic flowers,” she explained.
Featuring product lines with salt, without salt and some with pepper, when sprinkled on tomatoes these blends are quite tasty and would be ideal to jazz up a plate of vegetables.
The Made Good organic granola products line was one of our favourite discoveries last year. They are the perfect school-safe granola treat for your children that – unbeknownst to them – contains a serving of vegetables.
Made Good is a family company from Toronto that has been in the business of making bars for 20 years, but this particular brand is less than two years old. The products are peanut-free and feature an added serving of vegetables, upping the nutrition content for this product.
New this year is the Raw Fruit and Nut bars, a gluten-free product geared towards adults. An energy-packed treat for those on-the-go without added sugars or syrups, it was very good. We particularly liked the Brazil Nut Orange flavour.
Keeping on the topic of snack bars, we tried the Simply Veggie Savory Bar, a granola-type snack in a sesame/chive flavour geared at grownups. Ringing in at 150 calories and featuring five grams of protein, this bar also features five grams of fibre per serving and only four grams of sugar. Though a little odd since you expect a bar to be sweet, this savory treat was quite satisfying and would be an ideal snack in the bush as it is nutritious, and is made from vegetables, brown rice crisps, peanut butter and other natural ingredients.
Offering an alternative to chemically based bug repellents, the locally based natural cosmetic company Druide has stepped up its citronella product line for those who want to repel insects naturally.
Druide has been making these products since 1979, and they claim tests carried out by Health Canada’s Health Management Regulatory Agency and two separate universities have confirmed the effectiveness of their repellents.
At the same time, with snow still on the ground, we couldn’t try out any of the products in the kit we received at the show. The kit includes an outdoor soap, which is said to have no harmful perfumes and is biodegradable so that it can be used in lakes and rivers, a similar shower gel, a multi-purpose soap for your hands/outdoor gear/clothing and equipment, and an all-natural mosquito repellent spray.
If you want to clean your home with natural products, Eco Max was showcasing its many eco-friendly, biodegradable, animal-testing-free products.
“Our products are all natural, contain no perfumes and are made with all essential oils,” said Sonia Marchand.
Lovely smelling, hypoallergenic and safe around children and pets while we didn’t have a washing machine on hand or dishes to test out the efficacy of these products, we appreciated the fact that they do exist and come in laundry soap, all-purpose cleaner, dish soap and automatic dishwasher packet formats for those who prefer natural products to heavy-duty commercial products.
Theobroma Chocolate was showcasing its many exotic varieties for dark chocolate fans who prefer organic sweets.
“We are one of the only Quebec-made chocolates. Theobroma comes from the ancient Greek ‘theo’ for god and ‘broma’ for food, translating into food of the gods. It is also the scientific name for the cocoa tree,” explained Jean.
Theobroma is a family owned company that employs 20 people to create these fair-trade, organic chocolates and chocolate bars that are now distributed throughout Quebec and are sold online. Flavour combinations feature 60% dark chocolate with Himalayan salt, lemon and lime chunks, and jalapeno pepper chunks, which they were sampling that day, Theobroma offers high-end chocolate experiences for the sophisticated palate.
Our next sampling came courtesy of La Grand, a company that started out making natural dips and sauces. They have now moved on to soups, which they were showcasing at the event, giving away tiny warming cups of goodness.
“We have a Tuscan vegetable soup made with lots of white beans, vegetables and millet, an Indian Dahl, which is a spicy lentil soup made with coconut milk, onions and squash, and then we have a Thai soup that is also made with coconut milk, corn, vegetables and soy. La Grand is an all-natural company based in Blainville, Quebec. All of our products are gluten-free and vegan,” said the smiling Arianna.
The Tuscan vegetable and the Indian Dahl enchanted us with their textured and fragrant flavours. A definite treat!
Patrons at this event were predominantly mothers with babies or women in the 50+ crowd in search of a miracle cure that could give them a new lease on life or at least look like they were enjoying one. Catering to them were many natural cosmetics companies. Among them, we decided to check out Keriderm Products.
“Kariderm is a Quebec-based line of natural skin-care products that are all made with Shea butter (which comes from African Shea trees). We have a line of facial-care, body-care and hair-care products that are all organic.
“These are wonderful for people who have very sensitive and dry skin and are looking for something natural to moisturize with,” said the sales rep as she spread the cream onto my hand.
The cream was thick, luxurious and lovely with a buttery scent. I quite liked it, but whether or not it would work better than another similar product remains is hard to say.
For those looking to add nutrition to their regular diets, a wide variety of products, like nutritional yeasts and grains, were showcased. We tried the “Rawsome” whole food meal. A light tasting grainy substance, this product was made from organic sprouted whole flax-seed meal, hemp-seed meal, sprouted chia-seed meal and other vegetables to create a product that contains seven essential nutrients including vitamins, minerals and Omega-3 fatty acids, plus antioxidants all in one teaspoon.
While it tasted like ground granola, the product was rendered completely innocuous when stirred into yoghurt. It seems like a great idea for moms who want to add nutrients to a picky child’s diet or for adults looking to add more zip to their meals.
We perused hundreds of products promising everything from improved health, enhanced beauty, peaceful relaxation through massage, to chiropractor treatments amid throngs of miracle seekers.
While we may not have discovered a fountain of youth, many products were promising the same result. Whether they can live up to their claims is in the eye of the consumer.
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