Betty Lou Carrier was an innovative lady in the seventies. After reading Sugar Blues and taking to heart the book’s preaching that “sugar causes disease,” Betty’s life took a turn. Betty Lou’s Inc. now has a 93,000 square -foot facility and 80 full-time staff, and Betty Lou works side by side with her two sons, her original testers.
This week my team and I tested a number of their products, and we think we’re hooked!
Their most popular item, Betty Lou’s Nut Butter Balls (more on this later), come in flavors such as Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Coconut, Cashew, Spirulina, and more, with an average of 9.15 grams of protein packed in each 1.4-oz. delicious ball. I see them in tubs all over the U.S. in stores.
John, one of Betty Lou’s sons, said the Nut Butter Spirulina Ginseng balls have a unique little history. The ginseng took some time to locate, due to Betty Lou’s particulars on purity. He claims their source is quite expensive per kilo due to its origin and its being the only source for ginseng on the market that’s pesticide-free. Their fruit bars were reminiscent of pop tarts. In fact, we heated them up slightly to see what happened, which made great even better.
The organic Krispy Bites are a rendition of rice-crispy treats with a hint of peanut butter, still offering bites of protein! Their latest release, the low-glycemic protein powder in three flavors, which has a whopping 20 g protein, is lactose- and gluten-free, and they are delicious—available in Orange Cream, Chocolate, and Vanilla.
John made mention of his facility being thoroughly washed out between every production as well as tested often. According to Susan Jeffries, their on-site scientist and researcher, their foods never test above 10 ppm, and by the end of 2010, there will be no gluten whatsoever in their facility.
The most popular items, the Balls, were Betty Lou’s first creations in her home in the seventies, as she attempted recipes for her two boys and herself. She’d create the recipe, use an ice cream scoop (hence the current balls), and roll them by hand in nuts. They were a hit then and even more so now.
Betty Lou’s is proud to create top-of-the-line “private label” products for doctors, nutritionists, and other companies by utilizing their team of scientists and researchers. John said that two private label products they create were proudly named in the Top 5 Best Bars in Food Engineering Magazine.
The most recent release of 2010 is their Just Great Stuff bars. They come in four flavors, each offering a concentrated variety of rich nutrients and an incredibly impressive ORAC (which stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity—that is, the antioxidant value). For example, the Organic Cacao Açai Bar ORAC test came out as a whopping 31,188 units ( μmol TE/bar). Their fruit-and-veggie Just Great Stuff bar was 25,326 units (μmol TE/Bar) and the Organic Chocolate Dream Greens is 21,700 units (μmol TE/Bar).
Susan Jeffries explained that all their testing is through the well-respected Brunswick Labs, hence these bars have had quite a bit of precise technology applied to them.
Susan went on to explain the nature of the “total ORAC” test and how it tests antioxidant power. Its testing is against the five predominant “reactive species” found in the body. She went on to explain how each affects the body is slightly different, so when the test is performed, the scientist can see the antioxidant capability of one or more of these reactive species. Anyone can visit www.BrunswickLabs.com to learn more about this amazing technology.
Betty’ Lou’s son John explained how thrilled they are with the new addition of these bars and how clean the ingredients are in them as well.
My testers and I were all convinced that these bars, one for one, were the healthiest gluten-free bars we’ve had the opportunity to test yet. They are clean and bursting with flavor and punch. Being able to eat something so good and so good-for-you is a refreshing change for our gluten-free community.
Betty Lou’s is an outstanding company with customer service that is warm and friendly, not to mention an easy, easy, easy on-line ordering system! http://www.bettylousinc.com
Tina Turbin
www.GlutenFreeHelp.info
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