3.
What is canola oil?
Canola
oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the canola plant. The plant was
selectively bred from its ancestor, a member of the mustard family called
rapeseed. The word "canola"
is a combination of four words: "Canadian oil
low acid", because it was developed
by Canadian agricultural research agencies. Many people have confused
canola oil with rapeseed oil, which is not an edible oil. However, some
countries that plant and process canola seeds continue to use the name
rapeseed, from which canola was originally bred. However the "rapeseed"
oil used in these regions, including Europe, is actually canola oil and
is very different from true rapeseed oil.
Canola is
considered to be one of the healthiest edible oils. It is high in unsaturated
and monosaturated fats, has NO trans-fats, and contains a high level
of the fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid, which has been found to
reduce the risk of heart disease as reported by several well respected
journals, including the University of California Berkley Wellness Letter
(May 1999).
4.
What does "pure expeller pressed" oil mean?
"Pure"
refers to the fact that there are no antioxidants (i.e. BHA or BHT) or
additives (i.e. antifoaming agents) which are commonly added to many vegetable
oils. "Expeller pressed" means that the canola oil is solely
derived from a physical extraction process that uses pressure to squeeze
out the oil. This is different than most commercial vegetable oils that
use solvents to chemically extract the oil from the seed.
5.
Do you use genetically modified oil and corn in your products?
No. Both the organic
corn and canola oil used in our tortilla chips and prepared foods are
non-genetically modified (NON-GMO). We have obtained supplier certificates
and lab tests verifying NON-GMO status. Unlike the organic industry where
standards are defined and policed by various organic agencies, NON-GMO
standards are still being developed. As a result, Que Pasa has developed
its own NON-GMO verification program because we want to be proactive in
meeting our customer's highest expectations for quality and safety.
6.
Why does the Que Pasa fresh salsa only have 14 days shelf life?
Our home-style
salsa is made only with the freshest ingredients. Because we want to retain
the flavours of fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, and cilantro, the salsa
is not thermally processed and therefore has a limited shelf life of 14
days under refrigeration.
Due to numerous
requests from our customers for a salsa with a longer shelf life, we have
recently developed a bottled salsa that has a one year shelf life. Our
"Salsa Mexicana" has been formulated to incorporate all the
flavors of a fresh home-style Mexican salsa and is a perfect compliment
to our traditional tortilla chips.
7.
Why is citric acid and calcium chloride used in the fresh salsa?
Citric acid,
derived from citrus fruits, is used as an acidifier to control the acidity
of our salsa. Having the right acid level in our salsa assures a 14 day
shelf life. Calcium chloride is a form of salt that is used in small quantities
to maintain the firmness of the vegetables in the salsa. Calcium chloride
is a common mineral salt, very similar to the common table salt, or sodium
chloride.
8. What does "stone ground"
corn mean?
We practice very
traditional cooking methods in preparing our tortilla chips. We therefore
use hand-carved lava stones to grind our cooked corn into dough, called
"masa". We use lava stones because they produce a higher quality,
more traditional, masa when compared to synthetic stones.
9.
Does Que Pasa provide tours of the facility?
Yes. Tours are
scheduled by appointment only from October 1 through April 30. Maximum
group size is 10 people per tour. The tour is about 30 to 45 minutes and
covers the tortilla plant, warehouse, and our deli store operations. Contact
us at 604- 241 8175 or at info@quepasafoods.com,
and we can arrange a visit.
10.
Who would be the contact for sales information in the U.S.? Canada?
Information
on sales contacts is provided in our Links Page
and Contact Us.
11. Can Que Pasa products be purchased
on-line?
Yes, you can purchase
Que Pasa products on-line in the greater Vancouver area. Just go to our
Links Page.
Our retail store
Store Page will also be happy to arrange for mail
order sales to almost anywhere. Contact us at info@quepasafoods.com
for more information.
12.
What makes the blue tortilla chips blue?
We use a special
blue kernel corn that is grown especially for use in tortilla chips to
make our blue corn tortilla chips. This corn is also organically grown
and provides a slightly different taste and texture compared to our yellow
and white corn tortilla chips.
13. What makes the red tortilla chips
a red colour?
Our red tortilla
chips are actually made from organic red corn kernels. However, to get
a nicer colour, we also use a blend of yellow and white corn that is coloured
with a natural vegetable colour. This product provides a festive alternative
to the other chip colours and is characterized by a slightly sweet flavour.
14.
Do your chips and corn tortillas contain gluten, wheat, soy, or nut products?
No,
our chips and corn tortillas do not contain gluten, wheat, soy, or nuts
as ingredients. Our corn tortilla chip facility does not manufacture products
containing these allergens. For all of the products processed in our facility
we have an allergen management program in place. This is inteded to ensure
our chip and tortilla products are not exposed to any undeclared allergens.
Please contact our Quality Assurance Department if you have specific allergen
concerns about any of our products - Links.
Please
note that while we only process whole grain corn in our plant,
it may be possible for some of these other items to occur in a batch of
corn or be present to some degree in other ingredients or foodstuffs stored
in the plant. For example, packaged wheat flour tortillas are stored at
our plant, even though we do not manufacture them at this facility.
15.
Are your products Kosher?
All
our tortilla chips are certified by Kosher Supervision of America.
The salted and unsalted tortilla chips are designated as kosher DE (dairy
equipment) and the seasoned snack chips are kosher D (dairy).
 
Our
prepared foods products and salsas are currently not certified kosher.
16.
What
is Calcium Hydroxide and why do you use it in making your tortilla chips?
Calcium
hydroxide Ca(OH)2, is a colorless crystal or white powder. It is prepared
by reacting calcium oxide (lime) with water, a process called slaking.
It is also known as hydrated lime or slaked lime. Calcium hydroxide has
many uses, e.g., in liming soil ( to control acidity [pH]), in sugar refining,
and in preparing other compounds. It is a strong base and is widely used
as an inexpensive alkali, often as a suspension in water (milk of lime)
used in medicine to treat acid burns and as an antacid.
Calcium
hydroxide has been used for centuries by Latin American countries to process
corn for traditional tortillas. It is used to break down the outer pericarp
of the corn and soften it to help create a dough. In fact, in pre-histsoric
times it is believed that ashes were used initially as a caustic to break
down the corn kernels. When dissolved in the corn cooking water it breaks
down into the calcium and hydroxide components. The added calcium is incorporated
into the baked tortillas and the hydroxide raises the pH of the water.
Then, as now, the corn is washed to remove the bitter taste of the lime
or caustic before processing. We list it in the ingredients, because there
is always a trace of it in the finished product-usually below detection
limits.
17.
Do
Que Pasa Tortilla Chips contain Trans-Fats?
No,
Que Pasa Tortilla Chips are made only with non-hydrogenated oils. Therefore,
there are virtually no Trans-Fats in our products. The new labeling on
our packaging will be introduced over the next year and will state “Zero”
Trans-Fats on the Nutritional portion of the label.
For a summary of Trans-Fat issues visit the FDA.
18.
Does
Que Pasa provide any donations?
We
frequently receive requests from various community groups and institutions
to provide donations or to sponsor groups or events. These donations
are provided only in the Greater Vancouver, BC area. In order
to assist you in making your requests, we've outlined below our general
policy regarding these requests.
•
Que Pasa will consider donations of products (We do not make any cash
donations);
•
Priority is given to charities, non-partisan educational organizations,
and community support organizations that potentially benefit any member
of the community.
•
Usually donations to any one organization are limited to once per year.
•
Donations to some community institutions, such as food banks and community
kitchens, are provided under a different program. These institutions
should contact Que Pasa directly for more information.
To
submit a request for a donation you must:
•
submit the request in writing on the organization's
letterhead, either by postal mail or delivered in person to Que Pasa.
Please note! We will NOT process any requests made by email
or telephone.
• submit
your request six to eight weeks prior to the event;
•
include a contact name and daytime phone number;
•
include information about the organization and why you are making the
request;
•
include information about the specific event;
•
if the event is a fund raising event, include information about how
the funds are to be used;
•
Please provide information about what you would like as a donation;
All
donations must be picked up at the date and time scheduled with you.
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