WATERLOO, Ont. — With food allergies on the rise in North America, some experts say they have doubled in the past decade, Piller’s Fine Foods is now offering Piller’s Simply Free, a whole new line of deli meats with natural ingredients that are free of gluten and all other major food allergens.
Common food allergens include gluten, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, mustard, sesame, egg, fish, soy and sulphites.
“Consumers are looking for simple food products that meet the dietary needs of the whole family, especially foods that are less processed, more natural, contain real ingredients and are great tasting,” says Rita Weigel, Director of Marketing, Piller’s Fine Foods. “Our new Simply Free deli meat line meets these needs. The sliced meats, wieners, meat snacks, sausage, ham and smoked breakfast ham are free of gluten and all other major food allergens, and have the taste everyone can enjoy.”
Weigel adds that three of the new Piller’s Simply Free products are also free of nitrite, and the entire line is available in grocery stores across the country. She also notes that since September, 2012 all of Piller’s products are 100 per cent gluten free. More information can be found online at www.pillers.com/simplyfree.
According to Agriculture Canada, five to eight per cent of Canadian children and one to two per cent of adults are estimated to have true diagnosed food allergies. Health Canada estimates that about 1.8 million Canadians may be affected by food allergies and that some studies indicate these numbers are increasing, especially among young children.
In particular, gluten allergies appear to be on the rise as well. According to health experts, more than 300,000 Canadians may be afflicted with celiac disease and more than 2.5 million are gluten-sensitive.
A prevailing theory for the rise in food allergies is called the Hygiene Hypothesis. It suggests that we have become so clean in our homes, have been taking antibiotics and vaccinations, that our immune systems have less to fight than in the past and therefore have become hypersensitive to things in the environment that are harmless. This applies to the entire western world including Canada, the United States and Europe, which have experienced the same allergy trend.
About Piller’s Fine Foods
Piller’s Fine Foods is one of Canada’s leading manufacturers of specialty European deli meats with annual sales of approximately $200 million and more than 600 employees. Its corporate headquarters, production plant and distribution centre are located in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Brantford, Toronto and Arthur, ON.
It was founded in 1957 in Waterloo by Wilhelm Huber using family recipes, quality ingredients, and traditional European sausage-making methods. From those humble beginnings, Piller’s has become one of North America’s largest producers of European sausages and deli meats, famous for award-winning products such as Black Forest ham and air-dried salamis. To this day, after five generations of sausage makers, Piller’s still uses the same natural aging, curing, and smoking process that had customers lining up outside Wilhelm Huber’s butcher shop more than 50 years ago.
The company was acquired by Premium Brands Holdings Corporation in 2011.
More information can be found at www.pillers.com or by calling 1-800-265-2628.
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