Mad Saskatoon Ban

In May, a food ingredient company in the UK, J.O.Sims joined with German supplier Dinter Trading, to begin promoting a variety of premium berry and fruit products. One of them was the saskatoon - the small berry that grows on shrubs here, for which the city of Saskatoon (25 miles down the road from here) is named.

Food Navigator- In February this year J.O. Sims launched a new Canadian produced berry - the Saskatoon - onto the market marking a fresh revenue source for the 100-year-old UK company.

With an almond-cherry taste profile, and a member of the apple family, saskatoon berries are available in the UK for the first time after 10 years on Canadian supermarket shelves.

"This is a big opportunity for the food industry, particularly those working in bakery and beverages, and those looking for novel ingredients," Jim McKee at the fruits ingredients company said to FoodNavigator.com.

The firm claims the almond-cherry flavour of the fruit gives manufacturers the advantage of providing a nutty flavour without having nuts in the factory.

A symbol of prairie culture and history, saskatoons are truly unique in flavour - the almond-cherry description is fairly accurate. They're canned, baked into pies and crisps, turned into preserves. They were important food source for native Indians for thousands of years, as well as early settlers and farm families. Today, domestic varieties have been developed (larger but less flavourful than the wild berry) and there are a number of commercial orchards in the province. The Saskatoon Berry Barn here is a popular local and tourist attraction, and specializes in dishes based on the berry.

Then, Prairie Lane Ltd. decided to ask for a permit to export the berries from Canada to the UK. The saskatoon berry went before the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes in May.

CBC- Following through on a threat, Britain is pulling products made with saskatoon berries off store shelves, and other European countries could follow.

Saskatoon berries Britain's Food Standards Agency says there's not enough evidence the wild berry is safe to eat.

And odd that the J.O. Sims use of the berry didn't spawn an investigation. Nor have they noticed the berries are now grown in Europe and are available in plant nurseries. Apparently, in the EU hysteria about genetically modified foods in Europe, the mere fact that the saskatoon is considered a "novel" food (anything not seen in Europe prior to 1997) has triggered the ban.

Bizarre.

Posted by Kate at June 4, 2004 9:27 AM