Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I've been fooled.
Natural Ovens claims to be a natural whole grain bakery. They are stationed out of Manitowoc in Wisconsin. I used to loveee their products and please let me emphasize, loved their products.
Last night, I was making up some black bean burgers. Earlier in the day I attempted to make some whole wheat buns. They kind of flopped and were more dense like a biscuit than a bun. I'm planning on making some chili to accompany them so we can still use 'em up. Anyway-- I needed some buns! I sent Baker's Daddy to the store to get some. He acted on behalf of me, saw Natural Ovens, knowing they are a respected local company and purchased some whole wheat buns. When he returned home, I checked over the ingredients and was appalled to find high fructose corn syrup in a product that claims to be "100% WHOLE WHEAT"! What the fuck, I do apologize for my language, but really?! I am just astounded. I still am!
I wrote them a letter and posted a note on their Facebook page which probably has since been deleted. But really? Most people don't know what they're buying. Most people don't care to even look. But with health so closely tied to what we put in our bodies, companies should never claim something they are not to sell a product.
This has only made me want to make more of my own food and rely less on companies that use false advertising to sell their crap.
Natural Ovens, we are so over.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteFirst, we have no plans to delete your comment on our Facebook page; we realize that there is always room for improvement, and count on our customers to point out where progress can be made.
Natural Ovens has 23 items in its product line. Of those 23, only 1 of those items has high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in its recipe - the 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns.
Why? These buns were not originally intended to be sold on the retail shelf under the Natural Ovens banner. They were formulated by request for a food service account whose priority was that they be made with 100% Whole Grains, and they are made by the Alpha Baking plant in Chicago, where HFCS is the primary sweetener that is used. These buns are purchased by many other food service accounts as well, including hospitals and schools. We received many requests for a soft hamburger bun, so we decided to package and sell them at the retail level.
We make no claims that HFCS is natural (unless you're referring to our company name being an implied claim, and we have no plans to change it because of 1 ingredient in 1 product out of our entire product line). We do still offer our Better Wheat Buns, an option for customers who prefer not to purchase hamburger buns containing HFCS. We also continue to work on a new formulation using 100% Whole Grains and brown sugar, but have not been pleased with the results thus far as working with natural ingredients makes it hard to come up with a consistent product.
As to the comment about finding HFCS in a 100% Whole Grain product, the claim 100% Whole Grain refers to the flour/grains used in a recipe; it has nothing to do with any of the other ingredients used. The label "100% Whole Grain) does not automatically mean that the product is natural.
Congratulations on your healthy lifestyle, Lisa, and thank you for your past patronage.
Natural Ovens Bakery
Natural, I really appreciate your replies to me personally and on my blog. Sure, it is true that products labeled 100% anything doesn't mean that is natural. Although, it is a shame that a company known for having healthy, whole wheat and most of the time natural products doesn't live up to their name. Like I stated, it's my fault for not reading the ingredients before purchasing your product.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the day when your company produces whole wheat hamburger buns without HFCS. It sounds like you're already working on it!