Sweet Potatoes Find New Market In Breakfast               

     

Looking for a break from the same old breakfast food? A New Iberia company has just what the doctor orderd.  Bruce`s Foods, Louisiana`s largest corporate food manufacturer and the nation`s largest manufacturer of sweet potato products, is now marketing sweet potato pancake mix. The product , which has the American Heart Association`s heart checkmark certification , was introduced at a press conference Thursday on the lawn of the state capitol.

Success of the product could be an important factor in improving the agricultural economy of  Louisiana , said Si Brown , president of Bruce`s Foods. The state is the second largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation behind North Carolina but  “Louisiana  yams and sweet potatoes are the No.1 vegetable in nutrition in the United States.”  The Center for Sciences in Public Interest rates a baked sweet potato at the top of it`s vegetable list with a nutrition score of 184.  The second highest is a baked potato at 83 , followed by spinach at 76.

The naturally sweet product  “ is truly good ,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Bob Odom, who sampled pancakes cooked by the product`s originator , Jane Johnson of  Lubbock , Texas. “ I didn`t have to put any syrup on the one I had.”

Sweet potatoes are a $ 72 million crop in Louisiana , he said , and are the state`s largest vegetable crop. By the time the sale of processed sweet potatoes is added , it`s a  $ 125 million value added crop. About 58 percent of Louisiana`s yams and sweet potatoes are sold fresh and 42 percent are canned.

Louisiana has 301 sweet potato farmers , Odom said , and if the pancake mix is as successful as he hopes , another 100 farmers could go into business.  That would make sweet potatoes a $ 100 million crop.

Because Louisiana doesn`t have the facilities necessary to make the mix , Brown said his company contracts with North Carolina plant to dehydrate and flake the potatoes. Then it`s sent to a texas mill where the flakes are mixed into a  regular  pancake mixture.

The final product consists 30 percent of Louisiana yams. Odom said he is hopeful the product is so successful that a manufacturing plant would be built here.

Asked the difference between yams and sweet potatoes , Brown jokingly said , “ All yams are sweet potatoes but not all sweet potatoes are yams. A yam is a sweet potato that has been to college and been improved. “

Actually , he said , yams have a rich orange color , are not stringy and have double the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes , which are yellowed and stringier. Odom said Bruce`s uses the Beauregard variety , which is the best. Bruce`s Sweet Potato Pancake Mix is low in fat , cholesterol - free and mixes with water. Recipes are also offered for dinner rolls , crawfish beignets , cookies and muffins using the mix.

 

Article posted in The Daily Advertiser Friday , April 21 , 2000         

 

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Michael Hulin

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