Chili Con Carton - innovative packaging for chili product - Brief Article

Our food comes wrapped in plastic trays, cans, boxes, bags, jars, and foil. Now Taste Adventure is recycling an old-fashioned package. Its Mildly Spicy Low Fat Black Bean, Lentil, Red Bean, and 5 Bean Chilies come in what look like pint-sized milk cartons. Your job? Pour the dried ingredients into a sauce pan, add two cups of water, boil, simmer, and (ten minutes later) eat.

One bite and you won't be surprised that the label says "100% Natural, No Gums, Fillers, or Preservatives, No Animal Products, No MSG, No Added Fats or Oils." It's mostly precooked lentils or beans, plus textured soy flour, tomatoes, chili and bell peppers, herbs, and spices.

And it's nutrient-packed. Each one-cup serving has about 240 calories, 11/2 grams of fat (none saturated), an incredible 11 to 18 grams of fiber, 17 to 19 grams of protein, 30 percent of a day's iron, and at least 40 percent of a day's vitamin A and vitamin C. (At 480 to 500 milligrams per serving, sodium isn't low ... unless you compare it to other chilies.)

Add a salad and fresh fruit and you can enjoy the warm weather outside ... not in your kitchen.

Taste Adventure: (800) 874-0883.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Center for Science in the Public Interest
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group