Prairie Orchard Farms has been awarded the 2007 top 10 innovators in food award by Food in Canada magazine.
It recognized the Winnipeg-based meat producer for being a pioneer in offering omega 3 pork products in retail markets and restaurants across North America and China.
Prairie Orchard Farms is the first pork producer in North America to produce pork chops, ribs, roasts, loins and bacon naturally enriched with omega 3 and selenium.
“We believe we have a special obligation to support and encourage the use of products that are healthy, delicious and nutritious,” Willy Hoffmann, president of Prairie Orchard Farms, said in a news release.
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Other innovators recognized by the magazine included Sorrento, B.C.’s Crannog Ales’ farm fresh beer and Van Dyk’s health juice products from Queen’s County in Nova Scotia.
Prairie Orchard Farms plans to expand into marketing omega 3 chicken into Canada and the United States. It has received official label registration from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to label its pork and chicken products as a source of selenium and omega 3 fatty acid.
Selenium is a trace mineral that acts as an antioxidant to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease and can also assist in the function of the body’s immune system.
Hoffman said his company is the first in North America to carry such a label designation for chicken. Last year, the Canadian company broke new ground in the U.S. when it began marketing omega 3 naturally enhanced pork south of the border. That followed regulatory approval for the product in Canada the year before.
In the past year, Prairie Orchard Farms has sold about $3.5 million worth of omega 3 naturally enhanced pork in North America.
