Chia Power

How I Used to Spread the Word About Chia Seeds

Over the years, I have had some fun sharing my knowledge of chia seeds with the public. It all began with a booth at the Women's EXPO Long Island.

When I first started, in 2008, almost none of the visitors to my booth knew that chia seeds were edible. I sold a few Chia Pets that year, and enough chia seeds to cover the cost of my exhibitor fee. 

 

By 2014, virtually everyone who stopped at my table was familiar with chia seeds. Many stated that they had a pound of chia seeds in their kitchen that they didn't know what to do with. Others told me that they stir a spoonful of chia seed into their morning oatmeal. This year I had the opportunity to share literature and offer tastes of products donated by my sponsors. Health Warrior Chia Bars were especially popular, as were the ChiaBia Bars donated by Arizona Chia.

My $2 Chia Card Kits were a big seller that year,  for the first time. Maybe I'll try to put them on Etsy one of these days.

In 2014 I exhibited at Stony Brook University's Wellness Expo. Over 2,000 students and staff attended. I invited participants to sample chia products donated by our sponsors, and to complete a simple "Chia Taste Test" evaluation form in exchange for a free sample: bars, whole seeds, or Chia Pets!

I found that not many students were aware of the nutritional benefits of chia seeds, but they were very enthusiastic about the products they sampled, especially the Mamma Chia Vitality Beverage.

 

 

Weed Seeds in Your Chia

Have you found these round hard things among your chia seeds?

 

I recently received this photo from a reader who wanted to know what they were. She found them in a 6 pound bag of chia seeds that she had bought online.

I referred the question to Dr. Wayne Coates who says that they appear to be weed seeds from wild amaranth or pigweed. They are not harmful but they may have a strong taste.  He goes on to say, "That is the problem today many companies . . . are selling absolutely poor quality chia.  Either out of ignorance or they do not care."

So buyer, beware! This is animal grade chia and not the best quality.

 

 

Buy Chia in Bulk From Bolivia!

In February 2010, I received a phonecall from a chia seed grower, Mr. Marcelo Aspetty from Bolivia. He says he reads and enjoys my website and wanted to get in touch.
He represents a family farming company, GRANICORP, that grows chia seeds, along with corn, rice, and other cereals, near Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

In Bolivia, chia seed is planted in May and June, and is harvested in September.
Mr. Aspetty told me that his family produces nearly 200 metric tons of chia seed a year, and most of it is exported to Chile and Germany. He is asking my help in finding interested distributors in the U.S.

So Dear Reader, if you are in a position to import a ton of chia seed from Bolivia, here is who to contact!

 Link to Granicorp info.

Bob's Red Mill

Oregonian entrepreneur Bob Moore rated an article in the New York Times when he passed away this week.

Back in 2008-2009, Bob's Red Mill hadn't begun to carry chia seed.

When at last he added chia to his line of over 50 whole grains, beans, seeds, flours, and meals a few years ago, Bob posted this informative fact page on his website.

 

 

 

 

 

Good Onya, Mate

The Chia Company is an Australian company with a wonderful informative website, including recipes. They grow their own organic chia seed there in West Australia. And they now also have a presence in the United States.

Is Your Chia Seed Buggy?

Back in 2009 there was a rash of claims that one particular band of chia seed, Anutra, sometimes contained bugs.

One writer stated:

    I just recvd my Anutra (ordered thru Ebay). When I opened the container it gave a little pop and on the inside top of the rim there were webs (I still have the napkin with the webs on it to prove it). Also, there was a small greyish/beige bug with wings, which literally fell apart when I tried to spoon it out.

EEW! I'll bet it was an Indian Meal Moth like this one:

 

Indian Meal Moths can infest your pantry, especially the grains and flour. The larvae will wiggle around and try to look like grains of rice, but if you accidentally cook them, they float right to the top of the pot and you can skim them off. Not that I've ever done that!!

I have to admit that I've sometimes had Indian Meal Moths in my chia seeds, but ONLY after the open container has sat on my shelf for quite awhile. I've never found them in the whole seed, only the ground seed.

I suspect that the writer above purchased old and previously opened seed on eBay. That's a good reason not to buy food on eBay.

Anyway, a different guy, Jesse, really went crazy with this idea of bugs in Anutra:

http://anutrahasbugs.blogspot.com/
http://anutrahasbugs.wordpress.com/

(Some suspect he was a distributor for another brand of chia seed.)

Anutra was just another brand of chia seed, this one marketed by a Christian businessman, Angelo Morini. I haven't tried this brand, but since I haven't heard anything more about bugs in the last 10 years, I'm sure it's fine, although no longer sold on Amazon.

 

Reposting from February 2009

Not too long ago, chia seeds were virtually unavailable in the U.S.

I'm reblogging this 2009 post as evidence.

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Trader Joe's is a popular specialty grocery  store with a dozen outlets in the greater New York, and hundreds more around the country.

Yesterday, I dropped into our local (Stony Brook, NY) Trader Joe's to investigate. I spoke with the manager:

Me: What products do you carry that contain chia seeds? Do you carry whole or ground chia seeds?

Trader Joe's Store Manager: Chia seeds? What are they?

Me: Chia seeds are a rediscovered crop, used like flax seeds (we were standing next to the flax tortilla chips at the time.) They don't go rancid or have to be ground. Blah blah, etc.

Me: FYI, one of your competitors carries chia seeds.

Trader Joe's Store Manager: Sounds interesting. But we got burned with Acai berries. Anyway, there's no demand for them yet. You're the first person to ask.

Is it only the Long Island stores that are so far behind the times?  But no, I searched the entire Trader Joe's website for "seeds" and found pumpkin seeds and chocolate covered sunflower seeds, but no chia seeds. (When I searched the site for "chia" I found nothing!!) Commentors on Mizfit's blog have reported trouble finding chia seeds at Trader Joe's elsewhere.

So Joe! Get with the program!!

 

10/29/2023 UPDATE-- Trader Joe's did finally catch on and of course you can find chia there now.

Comparison of White Chia Seed with Black Chia Seed

In a 2010 blog post, Dr. Joanne L. Mumola Williams describes her experience making chia seed pudding from 2 different varieties of chia seed. You can read it here.

 

Black Chia Seed vs. White Chia Seed

Between 2007 and 2014, a blogger who calls himself Leisure Guy hosted a discussion on the relative merits of white and black chia seed.

Is Salba (white seeded chia) trademarked and is it a different species? Is there good evidence for its nutritional superiority?  Leisure Guy's readers left 435 informative comments, including my own.

BTW, the person going to jail for harassment is one of the early pioneers of the chia seed industry (see the link in the final comment).

 

 

I Sold Chia Seeds to Educators and Scientists at a Botany Conference in 2007

(From my 7/7/2007 blog.)

Call me crazy, but I'm in Chicago for the largest gathering of plant scientists in years!  It's the Botany & Plant Biology 2007 Joint Congress.

My goal here is to promote the use of chia seeds for fun and food, so I've just spent 30 minutes bagging up seeds.

I feel like a traveling salesman or drug dealer (I call the 150g size my "nickel bag" because it sells for $5).

I've bagged up 20 free samples, ten 1oz bags, and 2 nickel bags. My goal is to get rid of about half of them today, along with 15 business cards and some literature.

More important than selling the seeds is sharing the information.

 

 

 

Separating the fiber from the oil

Why would anyone want to do this??

These two jars will cost you over $30, shipped. This will give you 20 daily doses of fiber (a ground powder to add to smoothies) and 30 daily doses of omega-3 softgels. Here's a descriptive brochure.

I love to do math, so I created a spreadsheet comparing these products with a pound of generic whole chia seed, purchased for about $15.

Here's the bottom line:

So for an extra dollar per serving, this product will give you fewer calories and a little more protein,  fiber and calcium, but only 2/3 the omega-3s.

If you prefer your food in powdered and pill form, maybe it's worth it to you. But not to me!

Fifteen Years Ago You Couldn't Buy Chia Seeds Anywhere!

Acting on a hot tip, I just phoned this health food store, and sure enough, they carry chia seed for $5.79 for 1/2 a pound.

As far as I know, this is the only place you can purchase chia on Long Island (other than through Chia Power.) I've been to Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and lots of other health food stores, and so far, no one has even heard of chia!

However, I understand that Wild by Nature will soon be carrying Salba products throughout Long Island. I'll keep you posted.

(First posted in February, 2008.)

 

Brown Chia Seeds are Immature

You really need to spend some time on Dr. Wayne Coates' website. He calls himself (rightly) "Mr. Chia" and he has done more than anyone to educate consumers about the benefits of chia seeds. He was asked about the difference between the two samples of chia seed pictured below.

His answer:
The seed on the left is clearly inferior quality, contains many immature seeds (brown) and even the black seeds are a lighter color which is not normal. The seed on the right is much higher quality. So look at the seed you buy, brown is bad, white(cream) or black are good.