Sundance Global Food Quality Review

A number of prior business associates presented Sundance Global to me. Setting aside the outstanding pre-launch marketing materials and overall concept, for me the bottom line comes from the quality of the food.

I read nutritional labels. I understand nutritional processes and ingredients. The compensation plans associated with companies mean nothing to me if the product they are expecting our customers to eat are inferior and/or loaded with preservatives or high amounts of sodium and other harmful ingredients.

The premise of Sundance Global is based upon emergency food storage. And, in participating as a Sundance Global business associate, you will be paid in food and cash for selling product and signing up new distributors.

Emergency food storage is a good thing. With potential terrorism, martial law, natural disasters, asteroids, nuclear accidents and electromagnetic bursts from the sun that could shut down out grids, we need to have at least 90 days of emergency food and water. You would need at least a two year supply to survive an Apocalypse.

The concept of food storage is quite prevalent in churches, specifically the Mormon Church. It’s a great idea. I do it.

But with emergency food storage we really need to look at the quality of the food.

Generally the primary method of food storage is freeze dried. Add some 5 gallon buckets of rice and beans with plenty of water storage and you have the whole package.

The problem is freeze drying is a heat process and much of the enzymes and phytonutrients of freeze dried fruits and veggies are dead. This is why it is a good idea to have a powdered fruit and veggie blend that has not been freeze dried so that you can be assured of receiving the nutrients of 5 to 9 servings of fruits and veggies per day.

After reviewing the product line it is my opinion while I may survive on this food storage system, I would want to make sure I had a cardiologist with me to treat me for heart disease.

The sodium and disodium levels are way above average. A few of the products have more saturated fat then I am willing to put in my body.

It looks like most of the product line is freeze dried. Most of you have no clue what freeze drying actually is. You have heard you are not supposed to overcook your veggies? 117 degrees at three minutes kills half of the naturally occurring enzymes in fruits and veggies. Freeze drying is a process that takes place in a vacuum chamber for THREE DAYS and an average temp over the ezymatic kill point. HELLO?

My bottom line opinion on Sundance Global…

The product line is complete garbage, is unhealthy and the company is earning an income on the fears of church going people.

One word…

HYPE!

Nutritional Labeling Reality

Who knows what to think these days…

A nutritional label is published but is it reality?

I went to Whole Foods and Fresh & Easy to buy the Organic California Blend and found it was grown in China. Anybody else have a problem with that?

Maltodextrin in Organic Barley Juice Powder

Young organic barley grass is from the Gods. The nutrition gained from young barley grass if off the charts. Barley Grass contains more dietary fiber than bran and is a rich source of beta carotene, chlorophyll, iron, enzymes, vitamin C (seven times more than oranges),vitamin B-12 (important for brain function), and 19 essential amino acids.  It aids the body in DNA repair; helps improve stamina, and clarity of thought.

The usual method of taking barley grass is through barley grass powder that you add water or juice to.

In looking at which barley grass to purchase, you need to know how it was processed and if it contains any additives.

Now obviously, you would want 100% organic young barley grass when you could get it, but even without any additives like magnesium stearate, you would still need to know which method was used to convert the juice to a powder. If the process exceeds 117 degrees for 3 minutes, you start to kill off the enzymes.

In my research I was introduced to a young barley grass powder produced in Japan and distributed via network marketing in the USA. It tasted OK. Then I found a PDF file online describing the product in detail. I was reading about the product trying to determine how the juice was processed into powder. I read the following statement in the brochure, “Prepared using a cold process….No Heat, which can destroy enzymes”.

I was amazed to read this as there is only one company I know of that can turn barley grass juice into a powder below the enzymatic kill point.

I contacted a number of formulators and a farmer in Utah that grows young barley grass to figure out how this company in Japan was doing it.

One word was pointed out to me. Maltodextrin.

Maltodextrin was an additive in the barley grass powder from Japan.

This is a corn starch that was added to the raw barley grass juice to protect it from a Spray Drying process which can exceed 400 degrees.

Two things…

1) Heat processed not cold processed

2) 30% Cornstarch

Not pure young barley grass juice powder.

I feel their marketing materials are blatantly lying to the consumers about how their juice is converted to powder.

Freeze Drying IS a Heat Process

OK, so we know 99% of all commercially available juices have been heat pasteurized over the 117 degree kill point and are mostly devoid of enzymes. So the natural solution is taking a juice or fruit and veggie product and convert it to a powder.

The majority of available food powders have been heat processed. The list below starts with the highest heat settings and most damaging to enzymes. (Remember 117 for three minutes is the enzyme kill point).

Flash drying takes place at over 600 degrees for 30 seconds.

Spray drying is over 425 degrees at 1 minute.

Drum Drying 160 degrees. 2 hours.

Freeze Drying 120 to 140 degrees of infrared heat for up to 72 hours.

Window Refraction drying 205 degrees for 10 minutes.

Instafresh is 80 degrees on average for 30 to 120 seconds.(No higher then 100 at the very end)

I bring up freeze drying today because there are companies selling powdered juice products that will not admit they freeze dry. There is a company that used to buy their whole food products from our farms and now they freeze dry. A year ago I called their customer service department to confirm what I already knew. The rep stated they flash freeze a puree’ and dry it in an “airless environment” at below freezing.

An Airless Environment is a vacuum chamber and if the frozen puree is in a vacuum chamber it is being freeze dried.

Once the frozen puree is placed on the vacuum chamber you have to introduce heat to cause the frozen liquid to turn to a vapor.

Scientifically, heat HAS to be introduced. If somebody claims they freeze dry without using any heat, ask them if they purchased their freeze drying equipment from the guy who sold jack his magic beans.

To wrap this up, that company now just says the use a “Proprietary Process” without explaining anything.

Flash Pasteurization with Cold Filter Bottling

Flash Pasteurization with Cold Filter Bottling is not really a good thing. Pasteurization of any kind represents a heat process that destroys bacteria and microorganisms. It also keeps juice from fermenting and gives it a longer shelf life. At issue, is the fact heat also kills phytonutrients and enzymes, the most important elements of a fruit or vegetable

117 degrees for three minutes. That is the killpoint for enzymes. Remember this number.

Standard pasteurization is done by batch at 205 degrees for a few minutes. Just before boiling.

Many companies will come out and state for the record, that they “don’t use heat pasteurization, they use Flash Pasteurization.”

The problem with this statement is that Flash Pasteurization is 400+ degrees from 6 to 30 seconds. Stick you hand in a solution 400 degrees for at least 6 seconds and tell me what you pull out.

Whether the heat is 205 for a few minutes of 400 for seconds still kills its prey…along with the enzymes.

Why do companies cold filter bottle? Sounds good, right? They have to cold filter bottle because you cannot bottle juice at 400+ degrees. The juice would continue to cook and some bottles would explode.

That is one of the reasons I call this the DeadJuice Blog