Who We Are

Who We Are

We are a family-owned business, specialising in the manufacture and wholesale distribution of Vegan & Free From food & beverage. At Aryan Produce, we don’t consider healthy eating as simple as having a good variety of ingredients on one’s plate, but rather we consider factors such as the type & quality of ingredients used; where & how they were produced; and we pay special attention to those nasty little synthetic substances – widely known as food additives – that some manufactures choose to add to their products.

What We Do

Simply put, our mission is to provide premium quality products, by sourcing and using only the highest quality of ingredients, without adding any artificial additives. We offer a fine selection of premium quality products including Meals & Appetisers, Spreads & Trempettes, Cakes & Confectionery, Fresh & Dried Fruit, Nuts & Seeds, Grains & Legumes, Herbs & Spices and Hot & Cold Beverages. We’re able to offer our fantastic range of products to both consumers & businesses at bulk & wholesale prices.

What is Vegan Food?

A vegan diet is a plant-based diet which excludes not only meat, eggs, dairy and other animal-derived substances, but also foods that are processed using animal products, such as refined white sugar and some wines. Veganism is far more than just a positive choice to improve one’s personal health and life style. In addition to saving the lives of helpless animals from torturous slaughter, it’s also beneficial to the environment , assists to tackle climate change and to conserve the Earth’s natural resources. There are two schools of thought when it comes to vegan food – Raw Vegan & Cooked Vegan – and the main difference between the two is how the ingredients are prepared.

Raw Vegan Food

Just like the name suggests, a raw vegan diet includes raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, legumes, sprouts, seeds, plant oils, sea vegetables, herbs, spices, mushrooms, and fresh juices. The raw vegan diet involves no cooking and processing of food. Therefore foods such as cooked rice, bread, and pasta are not on the raw vegan menu. However, commodities such as dried fruits are accepted as a part of the diet. Most raw food advocates deem cooking to be unnatural and unhealthy; and make claims about the health benefits associated with their way of eating.

Cooked Vegan Food

A cooked vegan diet includes not only the raw vegan menu, but also the option to boil, roast, steam or stir fry ingredients. Advocates from this school of thought admit that some nutrients such as vitamin C and certain B vitamins are lost during the cooking process, however, they claim that this breakdown is insignificant in practical terms, and that cooking breaks apart fibers and cellular walls to release nutrients that otherwise would be unavailable from the same raw food.

What is Free From Food?

The term Free From signifies a type of Food that excludes ingredients to which some consumers are allergic or intolerant, such as dairy or gluten. Practically speaking, all foods have a capacity to cause an allergic reaction in consumers who are sensitive to proteins. However, there are some common foods responsible for the majority of allergic reactions. According to the Food Standard Agency (FSA), In the UK, under the EU Law, there are 14 allergens that Food businesses must provide information on if used as ingredients for any food or drink sold. These include:

• Cereals containing gluten, namely: wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats
• Crustaceans for example prawns, crabs, lobster, crayfish
• Eggs
• Fish
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Milk
• Nuts; namely almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia (or Queensland) nuts
• Celery (including celeriac)
• Mustard
• Sesame
• Sulphur dioxide/sulphites, where added and at a level above 10mg/kg in the finished product. This can be used as a preservative in dried fruit
• Lupin which includes lupin seeds and flour and can be found in types of bread, pastries and pasta,
• Molluscs like clams, mussels, whelks, oysters, snails and squid

Nonetheless, over the years Free From food has become increasingly popular among the general public. Its no longer just an alternative for consumers who are allergic to certain ingredients, its now an increasingly popular option for those consumers who choose to go dairy or gluten free.

Our Philosophy

Artificial Ingredients & Why We Choose to Avoid Them

Food additives are substances added to foods to perform a range of specific function such as improving taste, texture, appearance or increasing its shelf life. Naturally, increasing the shelf life of a product may potentially result in higher sales and thus profits. However, increasing number of studies have found that there is a link between food additives and a number of health concerns including cancer and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Put simply, this is exactly why we’d rather avoid them. This means the shelf life of our products may be lower than those that do contain artificial preservatives, however, on the flip side, we’re confident and happy that our products are more natural and healthier.

Food additives are categorised as follows:

Natural Additives – Some natural food additives have been in use for centuries for preservation; these include salt (to preserve sliced vegetables), vinegar (preserving food by pickling) and sugar (in marmalade). Other Natural additives are substances found naturally in a foodstuff which are extracted from one food to be used in another. For example, citric acid is an organic acid most abundantly found in citrus fruit. It has been used in foods for more than 100 years as a preservative, a sour flavoring, or an emulsifying agent. Another example would be beetroot juice which can be used to color other foods such as sweets.

Nature Identical Additives – In simple terms, man-made copies of substances that occur naturally in food. For example, The isolation and extraction of citric acid from Citrus fruits can be a very expensive process, thus to save on costs, manufacturers commercially produce it from a chemical process. This process includes feeding simple carbohydrates to Aspergillus niger mold and then processing the resulting fermented compound, often by using calcium hydroxide and sulfuric acid.

Artificial Additives – These compounds are not naturally present in foods and are formed entirely through a chemical process by human agency, as opposed to those of natural origin. Examples include Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and azodicarbonamide.

While there is little evidence that natural preservatives – when used in moderation – are bad for personal health, there is however strong evidence that Nature Identical and Artificial additives are responsible for a number of health concerns including cancer and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

According to World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), nitrites and nitrates which are used as preservatives in processed meat such as ham, bacon and chorizo are linked with cancer.

According to the National Health Service (NHS), “Research has found a possible link between certain artificial colors used in food and problems with hyperactivity in children. If your child is hyperactive, or has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there’s some evidence to suggest that avoiding [artificial] food colors may help.”

Why We Abstain From The Use Of Plastic Packaging!

Plastic Containers | Effects on Consumers

Plastics are one of the most widely used material in food packaging. This is because they are versatile, easy to print on, light in weight, cheap to produce, easier to carry and use and unlike glass, there is less fear of dropping the container and breaking it. However, in recent years, there has been a rise in health concerns regarding potentially harmful components such as bisphenol A (BPA), phthalate, PVC, or polycarbonate found in plastics. According to Bearst Cancer UK “the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), used in polycarbonate bottles and food containers is a hormone disrupting chemical. Recent research suggests that despite being marketed as ‘BPA free’, commercially available plastic products leach oestrogenic chemicals when exposed to every day use.” According to the NHS “BPA may mimic hormones and interfere with the endocrine system of glands, which release hormones around the body. Some scientists think that if it interferes with sex hormones, this could affect puberty or the menopause or cause cancers that are related to hormones.”

Glass Containers | Effects on Consumers

Glass is a completely natural commodity that contains no harmful chemicals, additives or impurities. Glass is considered as an overall safer and healthier alternative to plastic since it doesn’t pose harmful risks to personal or environmental health. This is because glass is inert (does not chemically interact with other materials or leach potentially harmful chemicals such as BPA when in contact with food); non-porous (does not transfer smells or flavors and is extremely easy to disinfect, sanitise and maintain); and completely impervious to gases and liquids, keeping food safe from bacteria exposure and or other contamination that inevitably find their way into less well-protected foods. Glass containers add a sense of luxury, style and good taste and are ideal for home food storage. They can be safely used for hot foods or liquids and due to their ability to retain temperatures well and keep packaging airtight, food and beverage products stored in them taste better, for longer.

Plastic Containers | Effects on Environment

According to the Plastic Oceans Foundation “Plastic pollution is not only impacting our waters and marine life, but also the human food chain and our overall health. We are now producing nearly 300 million tons of plastic every year, half of which is for single use. More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year. Once in the ocean and broken up into tiny pieces, plastic attracts toxic chemicals released over decades from industry and agriculture, the concentration of which increases as they move up the food chain. Exposures to these chemicals have been suggested to contribute to some cancers, and infertility, as well as immune, metabolic, cognitive and behavioural disorders. The entry of plastic pieces into our food chain is of concern to human health.”

Glass Containers | Effects on Environment

Glass is made of all-natural minerals and is completely organic, thus it’s as healthy for the planet as it is for the people using it. Glass is one of the most sustainable products as it is 100% recyclable, infinitely. It does not decline in quality or purity over time or biodegrade and when properly handled, can be used and recycled again and again without ending up in landfills or placing an unnecessary burden on Earth’s natural resources. Glass is the greenest option as its production uses less energy and natural resources. This means lower carbon emission, a significant reduction in the amount of waste to landfill, and less green house gasses and carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere. Switching to glass for food preparation, eating and storage will make a significant contribution to lowing the production of plastic and thus plastic packaging waste.

Conserving The Earth’s Natural Resources

Deforestation | Recycled Paper vs Paper

According to Population Connection “More than 80 percent of the world’s old-growth forests have been destroyed; and each year, humans cut down an additional 32 million acres of forest”. Arjo Wiggins – a leading producer of paper products – states that of all commercial trees felled worldwide, 40% are to satisfy demand for paper”. The Forestry Commission, claims that nearly 20 per cent of global carbon emissions is due to deforestation. The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, commissioned by the UK government and released in October 2006, found a strong link between deforestation and changes in our climate. At Aryan produce, we’re confident that switching to recycled paper will make a significant difference in reference to tackling both deforestation and climate change issues. Simply put, using recycled paper means less demand for cutting trees, lower water and energy consumption and thus lower carbon emissions.

According to Arjo Wiggins – “when it comes to paper communications, recycled paper is the greenest option, it uses less energy, water, and produces lower carbon emissions than the manufacturing of non-recycled paper and at the same time reduces the amount of waste to landfill – as paper can be recycled 4 to 5 times. Processing wood to make paper pulp not only uses more fossil fuel-based energy, it also releases additional green house gasses and carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere, increasing overall air pollution. Recycling paper and cardboard saves space in landfills for trash that cannot be recycled and saving space in landfills reduces the need to build more landfills. Landfill releases methane gas, which is 23 times higher and more harmful to the environment than CO2.”

Further readings:
NHS – Avoid additives, but which ones?
BBC – Are E numbers really bad for you?
The Guardian – Danger to children from food and drink additives is exposed.
Evening Standard – New research reveals today the full dangers of additives in our food and drink.
The Daily Mail – The proof food additives ARE as bad as we feared.
The Daily Mail – Just how dangerous are those E numbers?
The Telegraph – Food additives deemed safe in the UK have been linked to cancer, allergic reactions, asthma and a host of other ailments.
The Telegraph – Parents warned about artificial food additives.
BBC News – Earth is becoming ‘Planet Plastic’
The Guardian – A million bottles a minute: world’s plastic binge ‘as dangerous as climate change’
Green Peace – Take the plastics pledge
Plastic Patrol – Plastic pollution is the single biggest environmental catastrophe our planet is facing
The Daily Mail – Shocking pictures show size of plastic pollution crisis
The Telegraph – We are all choking on plastic pollution – it’s time for the UK to act
City To Sea – Help Stop Plastic Pollution at Source!
Arjo Wiggins – Why use recycled papers?
Forestry Commission – Reduce deforestation
Green Peace – Deforestation and climate change
Green Peace – Protect forests