Taste of Penn Part III: Pulmuone Wildwood, Inc.,

This is part of the series about the Taste of Penn.

I'm very picky and judgmental, especially when it comes to food and food companies. I suppose this is why I'm interested in talking to representatives, because it offers me the "inside" (or however "inside" they feel like showing) of the company philosophy, and their attitudes (seem to) demonstrate to me sincerity. Or something. I don't really know, but attitudes do matter.

My first impression from meeting the representative from Pulmuone Wildwood was that she was really cheery and devoted. She pushed the sample to me, urging me to eat it and she spewed out the benefits of eating organic/soy/etc. I guess it seemed a bit belittling, because, hey, I'm not a complete neophyte. I told her the soy veggie burger patty and the tofu were delicious (it was true. They were scrumptious!), and she thanked me and moved on to feeding other people. About half an hour later, I came back to take a picture and I told her I was going to blog about her company. She kept repeating, "Don't forget to write about how we are about sustainability, and how our products are made with the best ingredients..."

I'm not actually sure what she said because she kept repeating herself and stuffing in more facts, but the general gist is the cliche "we sell organic, healthy, better-for-you food".

This blog is an advertising tool. Or, it's a reverse-advertising tool, because I will end up butchering the company profile (in the next paragraph).

At one point in her spiel, she mentioned the word "celiac", and it wasn't in a good way.

"...and did you know that in the 1970s, when there was a rise in GMOs and transgenetic products, there was a rise in celiac disease? Celiac was rarely diagnosed before; but after the rise in transgenic foods, it doesn't take much to see the correlation...And with that rise was a rise in obesity and heart disease and other things, all because of the rise in these GM foods, and our foods are organic and completely healthy...."

Celiac disease wasn't diagnosed before because it wasn't seen as a disease, much like how diabetes wasn't seen as a legitimate disease in the Middle Ages. Celiac is a genetic disease when you have issues digesting gluten. It has nothing to do with freakin' GMO! Chances are, if someone can engineer wheat without gluten, people with celiac disease can actually end up eating wheat flour! And honestly, how can you merely conclude that a rise in GMO caused a rise in disease? What about flour refinement? Increased caloric intake? More sedentary lifestyles? There is no "one" answer, and CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION! So, I just lost some/all respect for the representative/company. I'm not really sure what that means, because I'd still eat their food because it's delicious, but I believe that the company image in my mind is completely dented now.

Lentil Chips!

One thing that really irks me after learning about celiac disease is that "gluten free" is not "healthier" than a normal diet. Celiac disease is when your body can not break down gluten; celiacs lack the enzyme. This does not mean that gluten is bad for you. GLUTEN IS DELICIOUS. It is a protein found in bread! "Gluten-free" food does not mean it's somehow more salubrious, or more "natural". Gluten-free wheat bread is well... not really "natural" [although I'm starting to despise that marketing gimmick too]. Yet, "Gluten Free" appears right under "Trans Fat Free!" and "No Cholesterol!" Now, I know that the Mediterranean Snack Foods company is not the only company that does this [Pirate's Booty is another], but in general, this practice is like labeling an apple as "No Cholesterol!", or water as "Calorie Free!". It's stating the obvious to appeal to the public, because advertising and journalism tell the public that "x-Free!" = healthy.

A diet for celiacs is not deemed healthy, since many of the foods aren't fortified with vitamin B12 and folate, whereas most grain/gluten-containing foods have fortified vitamins/minerals from some law in the 1970s [in the U.S., at least]. Going on a "gluten free" diet as a non-celiac is like going on a "peanut free diet because some other people are allergic to peanuts".

How many people do you know are true celiacs? I know one. Apparently it is 1% of the population, although this doesn't state much since Graves' disease is also 1% of the population and I know 3 other people with it [not including myself].

Anyway, I had to put this out there because I'm getting sick of hearing people/girls [yes, sexist generalisation, but I believe more girls do this than guys] talking about their salad and their complete abstinence from bread and cool foods, not that salad isn't cool.

I got these Lentil Cucumber Dill chips [no packaging image, but here is the shiny image for the website] because there was a rather high protein content compared to potato/corn chips, and cucumber dill seemed like an amazing combination! I was thinking that it'd taste something like dill pickles. That would've been amazing; imagine a sour, watery, crispy chip like that! Speaking of which... are there burger flavoured chips out there?

Unfortunately, I was really upset with the quality and taste of these chips. Firstly, there was an overwhelming amount of saltiness. I just checked the sodium content: 260 mg/serving. In comparison, Lay's Original Potato Chips has 180 mg sodium/serving, and I think those are salty already... So, I believe there is 44% more sodium in the lentil chips. Uh, bleh.

The second part that I was highly discontent with was that it tasted like there was sour cream powder smothered over it, but it wasn't even fresh sour cream. It was like... salty, garlicky, pungent sour cream.

No cucumber taste.

Some dried dill flakes.

No lentil taste.

Super crunchy, though.

In other words, stay away. They're also kind of very expensive [probably due to the high markup. I'm telling you, a Dining Dollar equals at least 2 real dollars...].