| Customer FAQ's |
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Below is a list of frequently asked questions. Hopefully you can find the answer to your question here. If not give us a buzz!
Q. Why are the dried Apricots darker in colour? A. As fruit is dried, the sugar from inside the fruit comes to the surface and you may get a white coating on the outside of dried fruits (especially dried figs & dates). This is sometimes mistaken for mould or sugar, when in fact it's just the natural sugars coming to the surface, which increase as the fruit ages. Q. What is the difference between red, white & black quinoa? A. There is no nutritional difference among different colours of quinoa. They all have high concentrations of protein, Vitamin E, B vitamins, calcium and phosphorus. When cooked, white quinoa resembles white couscous or rice. Red quinoa, like red lentils, turns a brownish colour when cooked. All quinoa has a slightly nutty flavor when cooked, but red and black quinoa are chewier and crunchier than their white counterpart. Q. What is the difference between the Organic Fruit & Nut Muesli and the Sulphur Free Muesli? A. Organic muesli is made from 100% organic ingredients.Sulphur Free Muesli is not organic, but all of the ingredients are sulphur free, pesticide & insecticide free. The two muesli's also contain different fruits, and the Sulphur Free muesli contains Triticale (a man-made hybrid of rye and wheat). The fruit/nut to oat ratio is similar in both muesli's. Q. What is Tamari? A. Tamari is a variety of Japanese soy sauce, which is wheat and gluten free. Tamari is slightly thicker than soy sauce and has a stronger flavor. It is used as you would regular soy sauce, to season foods such as Asian soups, stews and our delicious tamari roasted almonds of course! Q. What products are nut free? A. Our grain products, rice, legumes and dried fruits are nut free. Although these products are "nut free," we pack a wide range of natural food products on shared equipment including nuts, seeds, grains and cereals. This includes sesame, peanuts, soy and gluten. Any of our products may contain traces of these. Q. Are your almonds pasteurised? A. No, none of our almonds are pasteurised or heat treated in anyway. This question arises regularly because of U.S food regulations which require all almonds for consumption in the U.S. to be pasteurised. Even if almonds are imported from the U.S. into Australia, they are not pasteurised. Q. Are herbicides used on the Insecticide Free Almonds? A. Herbicides are not sprayed directly on the produce. However they are used on the orchard floor. Q. Why we don't range more Australian products? A. We love to sell Australian produce and support our Aussie farmers as much as we can, although there are times when weather conditions affect supply, products are not readily available in Australia, or poor quality forces us to look a little farther afield. We also actively support sustainable agriculture and ethical sourcing. This means we also prefer to source some of our products from parts of the world where that product originally comes from. Cooking & Preparation FAQs... Q. Do I need to wash Quinoa prior to use? A. In its natural state, quinoa has a coating of bitter-tasting saponins, which naturally protect the crop from birds & insects. It is essential to thoroughly wash & rinse our Organic Australian Quinoa at least 2-3 times before cooking, to remove this bitter coating. The Quinoa from Peru has already removed the saponin, however we would still recommend that you rinse it like you would most food products prior to use. Q. How do you cook quinoa? A. To cook quinoa, add 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water or stock, bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 15 mins. Once cooked a tiny white spiral appears encircling the grain. Q. Can you sprout any Honest to Goodness products? A. Yes you can! The most ideal Honest to Goodness products for sprouting are: Alfalfa seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Chickpeas & Mung Beans. Anything which has been heat treated or fumigated will not sprout – most locally grown organic & natural seeds, beans and peas will be able to sprout. Q. How do you blanch nuts? A. Blanching is to immerse the food product briefly into boiling water. This inactivates the enzymes, loosens skin or soaks away excess salt. Almonds are blanched by pouring over them boiling water, and letting them stand for a few minutes until the skins become loose. Then by pressing the nut between the thumb and finger the kernel will jump out of its jacket. For walnuts and brazils, you can place the nuts in the oven just long enough to get hot. Remove, and once cool, rub off the skins with your fingers.
A. Gluten must be avoided by individuals who have coeliac disease, which is caused by intolerance to gluten. For coeliac's & gluten intolerance sufferers, exposure to gluten causes the lining of the small intestine to become inflamed and the finger like projections (villi) to become flattened. This reduces the surface area of the small intestine, limiting its ability to absorb nutrients and can lead to malnutrition and deficiency diseases such as Osteoporosis. Sufferers experience abdominal symptoms ranging from severe diarrhoea to constipation, cramping, bloating, and nausea & vomiting. Due to the wide range of symptoms, approximately 75% of people currently affected by coeliac disease remain undiagnosed. Coeliac disease can never be cured but it can be controlled and symptoms completely eliminated by adhering to a gluten free diet. Q. Which grains contain Gluten? A. Wheat, Rye, Barley, Triticale, Spelt, Oats, Kamut Q. Are Oats gluten free? A. Oats and teff do not contain gluten, but are sometimes grown directly adjacent to, and/or milled on the same equipment as other grains that do contain gluten, and so are commonly contaminated. From the Australian Coeliac Society......'In Australia, the majority of oats sold are contaminated with either wheat and/or barley which makes them unsuitable. Studies done have found that some people with coeliac disease still react to oats. Some coeliacs may be able to tolerate oats, however it is on an individual basis. Q. I am allergic to gluten, what gluten free products do you have? A. Flours: buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, millet flour, quinoa flour Rice: all our rice products are gluten free Grains: amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, millet Beans: All our beans & pulses are naturally gluten free Cereals: puffed amaranth, puffed buckwheat, puffed brown rice, puffed millet, rolled quinoa Snacks: organic rice cakes Seeds/Nuts/Dried Fruit: all our seeds, nuts and dried fruits are naturally gluten free Q. Why do your gluten free products still say 'may contain traces of gluten'? A. We can guarantee that any of our products which are labelled as gluten free, are naturally gluten free. On all of our packaging there is the warning that all of our products may contain traces of gluten. As our gluten free products are stored and packaged in the same warehouse as products containing gluten, there is always going to be that very slight chance that contamination may occur. Although the chance of this is unlikely and caution is taken at all times, we would rather ensure that our customers are fully aware of this so they can then make the decision as to whether or not the product is safe for them or not. Q. Is 'wheat free' the same as 'gluten free'? A. No. Although, gluten-free foods are also wheat-free, you are still able to eat some wheat grains that contain gluten (e.g. rye, oats, barley). For more information, download our Honest to Goodness "Going Gluten Free" flyer. Organic FAQs... Q. I found a bug in my muesli! A. All our products are insecticide & pesticide free, meaning they have not been fumigated during any part of their processing or storage. Naturally, by choosing to eat organic food, you are going to have the chance of encountering some of nature's critters. We recommend freezing any organic food which you think may be at risk of bugs. For more information on how to control bugs in your pantry, click here! Q. What treatment is the imported food exposed to as it comes through quarantine? A. Through a careful selection of products, countries of origin and packers of the products; it is possible to avoid mandatory fumigation of imported foods. If an imported organic food is subject to treatment on arrival in Australia, at the direction of Australian Quarantine, the treatments still comply with the Australian Organic Standards. The 2 main pest control measures for organic foodstuffs are freezing and modified atmosphere treatment (MAT). MAT involves decreasing oxygen content in the atmosphere immediately surrounding the foods to below approx 4% which is toxic to bugs. Some conventional foods may be fumigated with a chemical called methyl bromide but is never irradiated. Our warehouse and production facility are organically certified and therefore never fumigated. We follow strict food handling guidelines and have a quality management system in place to ensure the best possible quality and handling of our products! Q. Radiation & Food – what are the Australian Standards? A. Food Standards Australia has comprehensive consumer information regarding food irradiation in Australia. Here are two important take home points; 1. Only herbs and spices, herbal infusions and some tropical fruits have been approved to be irradiated and sold for human consumption in Australia. 2. Food (including any ingredients or components) which have been irradiated, must be labelled with the statement that the products has been treated with ionising radiation. Irradiation is prohibited under the Australian Organic Standard. So, if it's organic and sold by someone operating to the Australian Organic Standard (i.e. they are a certified organic supplier), then you can be assured that it has not been irradiated. |