The Lovely Gless Ranch

I absolutely love Gless Ranch. It's the place I love to go to buy oranges, grapefruits, mango, lemons, avocados, pumpkins for Halloween, and other things all at a great price, and all grown right behind the little shop or locally.

You get big bags at such a great price, and the trip is so much fun compared to a grocery store that you'll want to keep going back!


 


For this entry I must choose one food that I enjoy eating and research it! After talking up Gless Ranch I'm sure you are all assuming I'm going to choose oranges or some kind of fruit. Though I love my healthy foods I'm actually choosing something a little different that I also occasionally buy from Gless Ranch about once a year or so as a treat to myself...

It's their old-fashioned licorice. The freshest, most delicious licorice I've ever had - and those who I've been able to get to try it also agree!

So it's not just your typical flavors that they have (because I'm not a fan of black and red licorice). They have cherry, apple, strawberry, blue raspberry, among other flavors, and my all time favorite watermelon... Yum!

Now let's do some research;

• What are the ingredients?
• Enriched wheat flour - this means most of the natural vitamins and minerals have been taken out so that the texture is finer and the shelf life is longer
• Corn syrup, sugar, high fructose corn syrup
• Water
• Food starch modified (corn) - longer shelf life again as well as a hard coating for candy
• Citric acid
• Artificial flavor
• Apple juice concentrate
• Maltodextrin - an additive used as a thickener or filler
• Salt
• Soy lecithin - used to keep licorice together
• Glycerine
• Soy mono and diglycerides - used as coating and flour treatment agents
• Malic acid - used to give food and candy a tart flavor
• Palm oil
• Ascorbic acid - also known as Vitamin C and used to preserve food
• Artificial colors (FD&C Red #3 and FD&C Red #40) 

• Where did the Licorice come from and who makes it?
•  This Licorice comes from Torn & Glasser Inc. in Pomona, California, 40 minutes from Gless Ranch.

•  How are the ingredients made?
• Some are artificially made (like the colors, flavors), salt is natural and mined, high fructose corn syrup is genetically modified, apple juice concentrate is manufactured by a company, ascorbic acid can be either natural or synthetic, really every ingredient in this licorice has been made every way possible or is natural.

• What are its environmental impacts?
•  The packaging as pictured to the right is not environmentally friendly and therefore has an impact when disposed of. The process of cooking the ingredients and the conveyer used to cut the licorice all use energy which we all know also has impact on the environment. The 40 minute drive from Pomona to California also adds emission to the atmosphere.

• What health effects might it cause?
• Basically, these licorice are delicious but unhealthy (what a surprise).
• Lets' start with the enriched wheat flour. Since enriched means that the natural vitamins and minerals are taken out it is less healthy (though they make is sound healthier). I actually read online that with those vitamins and minerals taken out your body absorbs the wheat differently, breaking it down faster than normal giving your body too much sugar at once. This can unfortunately lead to diabetes.
• High fructose corn syrup is known for possibly being a reason for obesity.
• Although some of the ingredients do no harm, there are really none that are beneficial to a person (besides the vitamin C but obviously it is not equivalent to taking a vitamin or drinking orange juice so we won't count that). Unfortunately some of the ingredients can actually do harm to a person if over-consumed, therefore I'm happy to say it's a treat I get for myself about once a year so I think I feel I'm not doing any harm to myself!

I'm very sad to say when I called Gless Ranch to find out who makes the licorice they told me that they no longer sell it because Torn & Glasser Inc. went out of business... I was devastated! Luckily however I found Kenny's Licorice on amazon that looks very similar to the ones from Gless Ranch. I ordered them so I'll update you all on how their taste compares!

UPDATE: Kenny's Licorice not only looks like the Torn & Glasser Licorice but it also does in fact taste just like it! It's just as fresh with the same flavors... downside is the only way to get it is online!

Sources:
http://institutefornaturalhealing.com/2007/08/the-hoax-of-enriched-wheat-flour/
http://www.bhawkindustries.com/blank?pageid=174&