I was at the Canadian Superstore this morning and I noticed in the meat department they now are stocking President’s Choice Free From products.
The Beef products state “raised without the use of antibiotics and hormones” but the pork and chicken products only state “raised without the use of antibiotics”. I ask Rick from the meat department in Canadian Superstore but he was not sure whether hormones are used in the Pork and Chicken.
The dates on the Beef products were 9 days out (May 5th) which is pretty far out and the meat was already brown. Rick was not sure about that issue either. I called the President’s Choice customer support line at 1-888-495-5111 and talked to Romain Calvy who is a senior Loblaw Companies Limited customer relations rep.
Romain was very helpful and told me the Beef and Pork is hormone free. He sent me an email with a case number and told me it would get back to me with in a week on why the Beef products are brown and the expire date was 9 days out.
The Pork and Chicken is raised in Canada while the Beef is labeled as raised in USA and the prices are pretty reasonable.
Here are some of the Free From products listed on the President’s Choice website.
Free From Products:
PC Free From Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
PC Free From Whole Chicken
PC Free From Whole Turkey
PC Free From Pork – Grilling – Boneless Center Cut Chops
PC Free From Pork Grilling/Oven Roast – Pork Tenderloin
PC Free From Pork – Grilling/Oven Roast
PC Free From Pork – Grilling/Oven Roast – St. Louis Style Ribs
President’s Choice Free From Chicken:
President’s Choice Free From Beef:
President’s Choice Free From Pork:
May 7th, 2009 at 1:31 am
The beef looks brown because it is packaged in an airless enviroment. As soon as you open the package and expose it to oxygen the meat gets red like the regular beef on the meat counter.
May 7th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Hi Lynda,
Thanks for letting me know that.
I plan to buy at steak and see if that is the case. I think PC should note that on their packaging and in their display unit as people have been taught to avoid meat that is brown and that meat turning brown is an indicator that it is at the end of its shelf life.
Perhaps I will do a post on the process that meat goes though and why when you crack open a package of hamburger it is brown on the inside (being brown on the inside is not a bad thing).
May 10th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
According to Chicken Farmers of Canada:
Chickens are not given any hormones or steroids. They are not available in Canada and their use has been illegal for over 30 years.
http://www.chicken.ca/DefaultSite/index.aspx?ArticleID=3436&lang=en-CA
May 10th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Hi Katie.
Thanks for the info and link.
That is probably why the packaging on the chicken says “raised without the use of antibiotics” and makes no mention of hormones. I think PC should still add “and hormones” to the packaging statement of “raised without the use of antibiotics” as not all people know this.
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Hi,
I was wondering, do you know if the chicken, cattle, pigs are free range? I am concerned with antibiotics, feed and hormones, but I am also concerned with pain and suffering on the part of the animal during its lifetime. I hope that Free From also mean Free From Pain, but I can’t find any info about it on the net or on the packaging. Thought you might know.
thanks,
Lalena
August 23rd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Hi Lalena,
That is a good question. It would be nice to have them address that on their label and require a standard for the animals.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Hi there,
This is the ranch that the PC Free From beef comes from:
http://meyernaturalangus.com/#view=/ranch/history
(How do I know? Because it’s my cousin on the label and she works for the ranch. :) )
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I would like to know where *(which farm) PC gets their chicken. I would appreciate if there is a website i can go to get more information on the chicken provided by PC is in fact free of whatever they are claiming.
January 24th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Great discussion. I just bought a pack of Free From ground beef today. They advertise the beef as “vegetable grain fed.” What exactly do you think this means (or is it just a euphemism for corn-fed?)
January 25th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Hi Nick,
Can you take a picture of the package message and post it please.
Thanks!
Bob.
March 14th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Just wondering…..why is President’s Choice getting the “free from” beef from Montana? With all the talk of eating local….why aren’t they buying beef from Canadian Farmers who use the “free from” standard? Does anyone know? By the way….thanks to D. for leaving the website about the Montana ranch….however that information should be on every package of meat. We can’t just take their word for things…we all need to check things out.
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 am
How many weeks do you raise your chicken before slaughter?
Lily
July 5th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Hi there,
Thanks for the discussion! Has anyone found out which poultry farms are supplying the chicken? All I could see on the label was David Shoore from Langley. I’d like to know that the chickens are humanely treated and are free range, not just free from antibiotics.
Thanks!
Stephanie.
September 20th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Thanks for having this discussion. Great topic, and I was wondering the same things. I’d like to know where it came from - would likely take some investigation as to how the animals are raised.
If they were indeed treated wonderfully, I’m sure that would be mentioned a few times on the packaging as their main feature. I think the best bet is always: buy local and go see the farm for yourself. Something I really should do myself, actually.
October 7th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
I just found out, granted from Dr. Oz, that these labels mean nothing! I am shocked. I’ve been willing to pay more money to get better quality meat, but we are being fooled. First off, It is illegal to add hormones to Chicken, so surprisingly no meat has hormones added - so saying hormone free is unnecessary. I did not know this. Second, although labels states that there are no antibiotics this is not exactly true. One problem is, there is no body that regulates this claim, we are simply trusting the farmer in good faith. Also, the chickens likely is still being administered with an organic arsenic, which is very similar to the antibiotic, it prevents bugs from growing in the stomach and increased the sized of the chicken, just like the antibiotic. Antibiotics prevent and cure diseases and increases the size of the chicken. It’s seems that “Certified Organic” is the only way to go, all other labels are actually bogus! - Shocking!
October 16th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Hi Everyone. Does anyone know the answer to Stephanie’s question? I’d also like to know. Thanks!
October 16th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Hi Everyone. I just did a google search and found this:
http://www.canadianpoultrymag.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1345
December 19th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I have been selling Beef from http://www.bestbcbeef.com for some time and some of the main questions are how the cattle are treated. Our Ranch has Free Range Beef that are only fed grain for a good finish and are kept in the pastures to feed otherwise. The only time they are fed by us is during the winter when it is frozen and snow is covering the ground. Try our Grass Fed Grain finished Beef, health wise you can read the benefits on our site but the taste and quality can not be beat or matched by commercial Beef. Plus you get it delivered to your door!
March 21st, 2011 at 3:11 am
I found one of the farms where the Free From chickens and possibly pork come from. Fischer Feeds and Fischer Family Poultry Farm in Listowel, Ontario. Farmer details here: http://www.oyfontario.ca/Matthew%20Fischer.pdf and some farming details here http://www.fischerfeeds.com/broiler.html … 6065 Line 84
Listowel, ON N4W 3G9
Notice that they are using non-GMO feed. Bravo!
April 6th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
I haven’t seen any mention of whether or not the “Free From” meats are fed grain that is free of genetically engineered organisms.
Also on the Spam protection, if you’re going to write out the numbers but want someone to enter the answer numerically, would be helpful to say so because it loses your entire post when you get it wrong.