Holista and Nadja Foods Partner to Promote Low-GI White Bread and Baked Products in North America

Holista and Nadja Foods have formed a 51-49 joint venture, Holista Foods (“Holista Foods”).

 

Nadja Piatka – a former guest on the Oprah Winfrey show and baked goods supplier to major food chains such as McDonald’s and Subway – will assume the post of CEO at Holista Foods with Dr. Rajen Manicka taking up a board seat. 

 

Piatka said: “Consumers are more educated on making healthy food choices and are waiting for products to meet this demand. As the low-GI movement gains traction, Holista’s low-GI reducer will revolutionize North America’s food industry without compromising taste and quality. After collaborating with Holista the last few months, I am honored to launch Holista Foods and lead it as CEO.”
 
Dr. Rajen Manicka, Chairman and CEO of Holista, said: “We are excited by this landmark partnership cements our strategic positioning in North America, the world’s largest market for baked goods. As a trusted brand and a preferred supplier to the world’s biggest food companies Nadja Foods is the best advocate of our low-GI products.” 

 

Australia Securities Exchange-listed Holista announced on 12 January 2016 a breakthrough natural formula which, when added to white flour, dramatically reduces blood sugar levels without changing the taste or texture of the final product. It recorded a Glycemic Index (“GI”) reading of 53 in tests at a leading University in Sydney, the lowest-ever recorded for a “clean-label” white bread. 

 

Holista also achieved a GI reading of 48 for muffins – the lowest-ever clean-label reading for this product category – at GI Labs, a nutrition research organization in Toronto, Canada. 

 

Leveraging Nadja Piatka’s established reputation and network, Holista Foods will develop and market healthy low-GI baked goods for distribution to fast food companies, retailers, schools and hospitals. Its range of products currently includes white bread, muffins, croutons and brownies.
 
As reported in NutritionInsight, Holista had announced on 03 March 2016 that Nadja Foods will be the exclusive distributor in North America for its clean-label muffins, an arrangement which was extended on 06 April 2016 to include brownies, bagels and croutons. 

 

Founded in 1992, Nadja Foods is a leading healthy food supplier for food chains and retail stores under private-label and branded products. Its customers have included McDonald’s Canada and Subway Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. Its Cranberry Orange fat-reduced muffin has been a McDonald’s Canada menu mainstay for more than 20 years.
 
Baked goods are the top source of high-GI foods in the modern diet. GI values indicate the rate and level at which different carbohydrate-based foods increase blood glucose and insulin. High-GI foods are rapidly and easily converted to sugar, causing spikes in blood sugar levels that lead to heart disease, diabetes and obesity over time. 

 

Medical and food science experts are increasingly concerned that rising consumption of white flour-based products in the U.S. – which has high obesity rates – may lead to a health pandemic known as “metabolic syndrome”. Symptoms include obesity, Type-2 diabetes and heart disease.