Helping ease the challenge of finding foods that meet your high standards of quality
At PastaAndVino.com we understand the challenge of finding foods that meet your high standards of quality. We understand because we have three children and face the same challenges. How many times did you buy a product that is labeled “sugar free” only to find out later the sugar was replaced with a lengthy assortment of unreadable chemistry concoctions? So, we are committing ourselves to helping you choose real foods and beverages that we personally examine at the source and endorse products that meet our criteria as Platinum Level, Gold Level, or Green Level.
Soon when you shop on PastaAndVino.com and see one of the symbols shown above, you can have confidence that it has been vetted as natural and has met a minimum criteria level as described later in this article.
Criteria
What kind of foods do we want for our family? This is the basic question that drives our desire to hand-pick and share healthy and real foods with your family.
For each and every product we sell, we ask:
- Are ALL the listed ingredients natural, readable and real food? (i.e. water, durum wheat semolina, blueberries, etc)
- Are chemical pesticides used by the producer? If not, what methods are used for rodent/disease prevention?
- Are natural or chemical fertilizers used?
- How is purity and authenticity verified (especially as it relates to olive oil)?
- For ingredients not internally grown, what supply chain benchmarks are used by the producer to guarantee safety and authenticity?
- Is the product organic (as described by the EU or USDA)? Or NonGMO? Or gluten-free?
- How much environmental sustainability is designed into the product (farming through post-consumption: i.e. biodegradable packaging, ink, cattle fertilizer, etc.)
- Are we supporting a family-owned and operated farm or business?
- What, if any, certifications does the product hold? (Organic, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Kosher, etc)
- Was the producer willing to talk about this information? (Attitude is everything, right?)
Levels & Standards
Green Level Standard
By default, a majority of our products will always fall in the Green Level category because we prefer to choose wholesome and all-natural foods for our own family. At a minimum, products earning a Green Level must meet the following requirements:
- ALL the listed ingredients are natural, readable and real food.
- No artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup added. Natural sweeteners OK.
- No known harmful chemicals used for pesticides.
- No known harmful chemical fertilizers used.
- The product has some elements of environmental sustainability.
- Product supports small or private, family-owned farm or business.
Gold Level Standard
Gold Level products go beyond our standards of Green Level foods. These are products where the producer has exerted some measurable effort in both health and environmental sustainability. These are products Pasta and Vino considers to be unquestionably natural. At a minimum, products earning a Gold Level must meet the following requirements:
- ALL the listed ingredients are natural, readable and must be real food.
- No added sweeteners; only sweet coming from real food ingredients (such as fruit).
- No known harmful chemicals used for pesticides.
- Only natural fertilizer (farm or family’s own cows, etc).
- The product is organic as described by the EU or USDA (but may or may not be certified) or may either be gluten-free and/or non-GMO.
- The producer is meticulous and selective of the supply chain for the ingredients not internally grown.
- Packaging is made up of at least 50% recycled material or at least 50% of the packaging is recyclable.
- Farming and/or production practices are optimized and clearly indicative of long-term environmental sustainability (i.e. new high-efficiency equipment, renewable resources, etc).
- The product or producer has at least 1 certification related to the product or the process by which the product is made. Olive oil would need documented evidence of authenticity.
- Product supports a small or private, family-owned farm or business.
Platinum Level Standard
To achieve Platinum Level from Pasta and Vino, a product must be virtually perfect and have the documentation to prove it. As if the Gold Level status wasn’t hard enough to achieve, Platinum Level products are a coveted status awarded to only the best of the best products we have to offer. These are products that meet ALL the Gold Level status and go beyond. To achieve the Platinum Level, the products must meet the following requirements:
- ALL the listed ingredients are natural, readable and must be real food.
- No added sweeteners; only sweet coming from real food ingredients (such as fruit).
- No known harmful chemicals used for pesticides.
- Only natural fertilizer (farm or family’s own cows, etc).
- The product is certified organic as described by either the EU or USDA, certified gluten-free, and/or certified Non-GMO.
- The producer has documentation showing supply chain supervision for the ingredients not internally grown.
- Packaging is made up of at least 50% recycled material or at least 50% of the packaging is recyclable.
- Farming and/or production practices are optimized and clearly indicative of long-term environmental sustainability (i.e. new high-efficiency equipment, renewable resources, etc).
- The product or producer has at least 2 certifications related to the product or the process by which the product is made. Olive oil would need documented evidence of authenticity.
- The producer was open to discussion and sharing documentation to support the findings.
- Product supports small or private, family-owned farm or business.
Will Pasta and Vino only sell products that conform to a minimum Green level?
Not necessarily. The purpose of our Real Food Category Levels is to guide our customers into choosing foods and beverages they can trust without reservation. Every once in while you can, and should, indulge without guilt.
When shopping on Pasta and Vino, we want your entire shopping experience to be a luxurious experience where from the first click on the website to the first taste of one of our artisanal products, you are satisfied. But that satisfaction can only come when the food tastes good AND is good for you.
Will Food Level Categories Change over time?
Most definitely! As we continue the journey of studying each of our products and producers carefully, we are finding it easy to attribute a Green Level to a number of products. Some of those products will earn a Gold or even Platinum Level later but not until we are confident it meets our high standards.
Regardless of which level is earned by a product, we are committed to your earning your confidence and will make available a brief report outlining the findings for each product. This, of course, will take some time with the number of products we have and we ask for your patience as we continue to innovate, educate, and welcome you into our family with the quintessential Italian experience.
This article was sponsored by PastaAndVino.com
Visit www.pastaandvino.com for more information or to order products.
As an added bonus, Pasta & Vino has provided a 15% discount for Italia Living readers through Thanksgiving (Nov. 24). Use discount code: ItaliaVIP-Fall2017
Check out their blog at www.pastaandvino.com/blogs/news for authentic Italian recipes featuring their products and wine pairing suggestions.
