Mushrooms and Vitamin D

Source: Mushrooms Canada

Lately there has been alot of buzz around the issue of Mushrooms and Vitamin D. To clear up some of the questions you all might have, here is the official statement from Mushrooms Canada.

"Mushrooms and Vitamin D: A Status Report
Vitamin D Vitamin D has become the health story of the year, largely because a U.S. study* indicated that supplemental Vitamin D cuts the risk of cancer by 60 percent. Based on that evidence, the Canadian Cancer Society recommended that light-skin Canadians should obtain 1000 IU (International Units) per day during fall and winter, and dark-skin Canadians should obtain 1000 IU year-round.

Since 1920, it has been known that the main role of Vitamin D is to work with Calcium and Phosphorus to build bones strong. Recent findings suggest that Vitamin D also:

• helps to prevent bone fractures
• reduces the risk of diabetes in young people
• protects against heart disease
• reduces the risk of multiple sclerosis
• improves lung function

The best source of Vitamin D for humans is sunlight. Subcutaneous glands in the skin use sunlight to form Pre-vitamin D which is converted to Vitamin D by the liver and kidneys. But, other factors influence our exposure to sunlight, such as distance from the equator, body coverings and age. Skin colour also affects the body’s ability to produce Vitamin D. On a bright summer day, a fair-skinned person needs less than 30 minutes to make the daily requirement of Vitamin D. A dark-skinned person may need two to three hours. Winter light, in most parts of Canada, is ineffective for Vitamin D production, and vitamin D production decreases with age.

Besides sunlight, there are only a few natural sources of Vitamin D, and all of them are seafood or animal origin, such as eggs, margarine, butter, beef and chicken livers. Sardines, Mackerel, Cod, Salmon and Shrimp are good sources. Milk, some juices and breakfast cereals may be fortified at low levels, and multi-vitamin pills may contain up to 400 IU. D2 is the form found in foods and supplements, D3 is the form made by the skin.

Canadians in general, are considered to be at risk of Vitamin D deficiency, especially those with dark skin and/or vegetarian. Health Canada recommends a minimum of 200 IU (5 mcg.) from birth to 50 years; 400 IU (10 mcg.) from 51 to 70 years and 600 IU (15 mcg.) over 70 years of age.

Mushrooms
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA has been seeking a natural, non-animal food, rich in Vitamin D. That led them to mushrooms. It has been demonstrated that when white button mushrooms are exposed to Ultraviolet B radiation, for a short period of time, the level of Vitamin D increases to levels many times the minimum daily requirement, i.e. 10 mcg. Normally, a serving** of white button mushrooms contains 18 IU (0.45 mcg.). Treated mushrooms contain over 80 mcg.***

Mushrooms show great promise as a natural, non-animal source of Vitamin D. That being the case, there are some hurdles to overcome before Super-D Mushrooms are featured in the produce section of supermarkets. The hurdles involve not only production-line technology and shelf-life, but also bio-availability of the vitamin. These hurdles are being addressed in Canada, the USA and Australia.

Hurdle #1. Commercialization
In order to incorporate a UV treatment system into a commercial mushroom farm, some technical questions must be answered. For example:

• Where is the best location for UV-treatment, in the growing rooms (pre-harvest) or in the packing room (post-harvest)?
• What is the best source of UV light, distance from the mushrooms and duration of exposure?
• What is the shelf life of treated mushrooms?
• Do white mushrooms discolour? How much?
• Are brown mushrooms better?
• Is there an impact on food safety and/or microbiology?
• Does the level of Vitamin D decrease with time?

The Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA) has initiated a study of intermittent UV-light exposure in a growing room, from pinning to harvest. D2 will be measured in the mushrooms, 4 and 8 days post-harvest. The objective is to license a D2 process for the growers. In the USA, the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA is studying the time and dosage of UVB light treatment up to 4 days post-harvest and D2 degradation during storage. In Canada, Mushrooms Canada is sponsoring research at the Guelph Food Technology Center at the University of Guelph, Ontario, to determine the appropriate UVB light dosage to achieve 100% RDA levels (400 IU) in fresh, white and brown mushrooms. Shelf-life, discolouration and microbiology of the treated products are included.

Hurdle #2. Bio-availability.
Is the Vitamin D absorbed by humans when they eat the mushrooms? This question has not been answered. There are studies that demonstrate that the ingestion of Vitamin D supplements (likely pills) does result in increased levels of Vit. D in the blood****.

The Centre of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the FDA has commenced a study to determine if enhanced Vitamin D mushrooms will raise the Vitamin D levels in mice and rats, determining bio-availability. The experimental material, dehydrated UV-treated mushroom powder, was supplied by the Guelph Food Technology Centre and Mushrooms Canada.
In 2007, the Mushroom Council (USA) proposed a clinical-study of humans, to determine the bio-availability of vitamin D from mushrooms.

Conclusions
Mushrooms have the potential to become a nutraceutical or functional food. They may even be the Omega-3 egg of the produce section. We know that the Vitamin D level in mushrooms can be enhanced by simply treating them with Ultraviolet light. Mushrooms Canada will know the answers to commercialization within 6 months, but bio-availability studies will take more than 2 years."

*Lappe, J. et al., American Journal of clinical Nutrition, June 2007.
** 1 serving is equal to 100g of white button mushrooms.
***Mattila, P.H., Food Chemistry, 2002
****Holick, M. et al, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. December 2007

Sauteeing Mushrooms

Sauteeing any varitey of mushroom is fast, easy and adds tons of flavour to your meals.

Following this step-by-step guide to the perfect sauteed mushrooms.

1. Visit your local grocery store to buy fresh mushrooms. Make sure that the label says "Product of Canada," that way you know you are buying a local and safe mushroom product. I like to buy sliced packages of mushrooms, as it saves me two steps in the kitchen.
2. This is where I would usually open the package and clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth, but luckly the mushrooms are already triple-rinsed, saving me one step.
3. Slice the mushrooms. Once again already done, thanks to the handy sliced packages!
4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a medium-high heat pan.
5. Add mushrooms to hot pan in a single layer, if you add too many all at once they will steam in their own juice rather than saute. You might notice that as you are sauteeing the oil disappears. Do not add more oil, you are only adding more fat to a product that has zero! Just keep stirring the mushrooms around, in the final minute they will release a tiny amount of fluid. (This is also why I suggest using a non-stick frying pan or wok).
6. Add seasonings of you choice. I like to use Italian Seasoning.
7. Saute for 4-5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are nice and brown.
8. My favourite part... serve!! Sauteed mushrooms go great with steak, or mixed in pasta, or even ontop of a salad. Perfect for any meal.

Need a step-by-step visual of the whole process? Check out the video version of Simple Sauteed Mushrooms .
Also, check out what Mushrooms Canada has to say about Sauteed Mushrooms here.

Enjoy!

Anti-oxidant Power to the White Button

"The humble white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) has as much, and in some cases, more anti-oxidant properties than more expensive varieties.
Although the button mushroom is the foremost cultivated edible mushroom in the world with thousands of tonnes being eaten every year, it is often thought of as a poor relation to its more exotic and expensive cousins and to have lesser value nutritionally.

But according to new research in SCI’s Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, the white button mushroom has as much anti-oxidant properties as its more expensive rivals, the maitake and the matsutake mushrooms - both of which are highly prized in Japanese cuisine for their reputed health properties including lowering blood pressure and their alleged ability to fight cancer.

Anti-oxidants are believed to help ward off illness and boost the body’s immune system by acting as free radical scavengers, helping to mop up cell damage caused by free radicals.

Dr Jean-Michel Savoie and his team from the Institut National de la Recherche Agrinomique, a Governmental research institute in France, found that anti-radical activity was equivalent to, if not more, than the better known mushrooms when they measured the respective mushrooms’ free radical scavenging ability.

The French team also found that the body of the mushroom had a higher concentration of anti-oxidants than the stalk.

Dr Jean-Michel said: “It can be reasonably assumed that white button mushrooms have as much, if not more, radical scavenging power as mushrooms currently touted for their health benefit. The good thing is button mushrooms are available all year round, are cheap and may be an excellent source of nutrition as part of a healthy diet.”

Mushrooms in the Media

10 ways to fight cancer with food
Featured on Homemakers.com
January 4, 2008

Guess which cancer fighting food is #1 on the list? Mushrooms.

1. Certain mushrooms, such as those of Asian origin (shiitake, enokiatke, and
maitake) as well as boletes (oyster mushrooms) are especially rich in
anti-cancer molecules that slow tumour growth and the progress of cancer.

Read the whole article here.

There have also been some great recipes floating around over the Holidays including this one:

Herb Crusted Mushrooms
Delightful as side dish or as nibblies with drinks

Serve larger mushroom slices as a vegetable accompaniment or smaller ones for hors d'oeuvres to serve at holiday parties. Vary the herbs and type of bread for different flavours.

3 eggs, beaten
10 ml (2 tsp) garlic powder
3 ml (3/4 tsp) each salt and pepper
750 ml (3 cups) fresh breadcrumbs
50 ml ( 1/4 cup) chopped fresh parsley
30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped chives
750 g (1 1/2 lb) fresh mushrooms (white, cremini or portobello), sliced 1 cm ( 1/2 inch) thick, or
whole mushroom caps
1 l (4 cups) canola or light olive oil, for deep frying
Lemon wedges or dipping sauces

In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk eggs, garlic powder, salt and pepper with 15 ml (1 tbsp) water. Place breadcrumbs, parsley and chives in a food processor and process until finely chopped; place in another shallow bowl or pie plate.

Meanwhile, heat oil in deep fryer or about 3.5 cm (1 1/2 inches) oil in a heavy wide saucepan to 180 C (350 F). Using a fork or tongs, dip a few mushroom slices or caps at a time into egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off, and then transfer to breadcrumbs, pressing into crumbs to adhere (note coating will be uneven). Transfer to a tray or baking sheet.

Fry mushrooms in hot oil in single layers, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon to paper towel-lined tray or baking sheet. Return oil to 180 C (350 F) and repeat in batches. Keep each batch warm, uncovered, in a 180 C (350 F) oven while cooking remainder. Serve with wedges of lemon to squeeze over top or dip into prepared sauces.
Makes 6 servings.

Dipping Sauce suggestions: Honey-Dijon mustard, honey dill dipping sauce, no-fat herb, blue cheese or roasted red pepper dressing, sweet Thai chili sauce.

Note: Use whole-wheat, multi-grain, herb or rye breadcrumbs for different flavours.

Source: Canadian Press, Mushrooms Canada, and Yahoo.ca

French Mushroom Soup

French Mushroom Soup

Preparation Time: 10 mins. Cooking Time: 30 mins.

Subtle herbs compliment the rich mushroom flavour in this decadent soup. It makes a perfect starter to a luncheon or dinner party.

1/4 cup butter 50 mL
1 lb. fresh Mushrooms, thinly sliced 500 g
1/3 cup flour 75 mL
6 cups chicken broth 1.5 L
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves 2 mL
1 bay leaf 1
1/4 cup chopped green onions 50 mL
2 large egg yolks 2
1/2 cup whipping cream 125 mL
White pepper to taste
2 tbsp minced parsley 25 mL

In large heavy soup pot, melt butter over medium heat; sauté mushrooms for 5-6 minutes or until mixture from mushrooms has evaporated; sprinkle flour over mushrooms and cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in broth; bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add thyme, bay leaf and green onions; reduce heat and cover. Simmer 15- 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf. In small bowl whisk egg yolks with cream; stir 1cup (250 mL) hot broth into cream mixture and then return all to saucepan. Heat over low heat until hot about 5 minutes; add pepper to taste. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Makes 8 servings

NOTE: If table cream is substituted and allowed to boil it will curdle.

Variation: Add ¼ cup(50 mL) medium sherry.

Source: Mushrooms Canada

Simple Sauteed Mushrooms

Fresh sautéed mushrooms make a quick and nutritious side dish.

Mushrooms Gain Fans

"MADE IN ONTARIO
TheStar.com Food Jennifer Bain

Mushrooms gain fans

Local foods are all the rage this year. But how many can claim 24/7/365 status?

Mushrooms can.

They're grown indoors, year-round and around the clock, and harvested daily.

If you want to get all 100-mile diet about it, you can stick to Ontario mushrooms because our province grows half of Canada's 250-million pound, $325 million mushroom crop.

Whites (button) and browns (cremini, portobellos and baby bellas) are now standard. Specialty growers are stepping up production of oyster, enoki and shiitake mushrooms. Exotic varieties – like hon shimeji and maitake – are popping up in grocery stores and markets.

Mushroom lovers need never settle for imports.

That's the message Mushrooms Canada is spreading this year with two catchy ad campaigns.
The first shows a white mushroom emblazoned with a red maple leaf alongside the message: "Locally grown."

The second shows a white mushroom with a red scarf wrapped around it to drive home the "Fresh even in winter" point.

"Local just seemed to be a hot topic," explains Mushrooms Canada marketing manager Brittany Stager.

"We'd also taken part in Foodland Ontario's `Pick Ontario Freshness' campaign this year and want to refocus people on Ontario products."

Mushrooms Canada launched in 1955 as the Canadian Mushroom Growers' Association.

It rebranded in May 2006 with a new emphasis on promoting fresh mushrooms to consumers.

Since then, the group (whose members produce 90 cent of the mushrooms grown in Canada) has been active, cooking at public events such as the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, enticing media to tour mushroom farms, driving consumers to the website mushrooms.ca to view recipes and background information.

And yet, mycophobia persists.

"Mycophobia, or fear of mushrooms, is mainly in the Anglo-Saxon community," notes Bill Wylie, of Wylie Mycologicals in Wiarton. "The white button mushroom became accepted, but there is still a fear of going out into the wild and picking wild mushrooms and getting poisoned and dying."

You're welcome to join the Mycological Society of Toronto and learn how to safely forage. But a trip to the supermarket or farmers' market should suffice for most of us.

I grew up loathing (not fearing) mushrooms – but that was when they came canned (slimy/rubbery) or white (homogenous and dull).

Now I adore meaty portobellos/creminis and woodsy shiitakes, and am delving into the exotics, too.

That's right on trend with changing consumer tastes, according to Hank Vander Pol, president/CEO of Rol-land Farms.

Overall, mushroom consumption is holding steady, but browns "are growing at significantly higher rates" of about 10 to 15 per cent in the last three to five years.

"The brown mushroom tends to have a little bit more flavour than whites do," Vander Pol concedes.

His Campbellville-based business (likely Canada's largest with 1,200 employees and five farms) expanded into growing browns six months ago. (It sells under the Essex Kent brand.) And it rarely sends anything to the cannery.

The health benefits of mushrooms are also being touted.

We're all supposed to be eating more vegetables, and a half cup of cooked, sliced fresh mushrooms (1 cup raw or about 4 ounces/113 grams) is considered one serving.

Mushrooms Canada reports that this sized serving of white button mushrooms offers 14 calories and no cholesterol, is virtually fat-free and low in sodium, and has 1 gram of fibre. It's also high in riboflavin, niacin, copper and an antioxidant called selenium.

Another thing the industry is trying to alter is the mistaken image that mushrooms are grown in the dark in stinky manure.

During a tour of Rol-land, Vander Pol and farm manager Harjit Bamrah take pains to point out how their compost (horse manure mixed with wheat straw from race tracks) is pasteurized and deodorized during a multi-step outdoor process before being taken indoors to help grow mushrooms.

"For a mushroom farm, we smell pretty good," says Vander Pol – and he's right.
Large farms like Rol-land grow mushrooms in trays. Each of its 26 growing rooms is filled with stacks of these hemlock trays.

Mushroom spawn is mixed with pasteurized compost, topped with peat moss and given about 14 days and some water to grow. True, mushrooms don't need light, but the staff who monitor/harvest the rooms do, so they're kept lit.

Gloved workers harvest the mushrooms by hand, deftly trimming the ends with a knife and packing them into containers for supermarkets.

Three things are key from this point on. Mushrooms must be kept cold (in supermarkets and in your fridge), they're as delicate as eggs and bruise easily, and they keep best when stored in paper bags.

"Quality is always a problem at the supermarket," laments Wylie. "As for brown paper bags, Canadian mushroom growers have been pushing this directive but supermarkets haven't seemed to adopt it.

"Most things are consumer driven," he adds.

Meaning, I think, it's up to mushroom lovers to take a stand.

Portobellos With Roasted Garlic and Asiago Couscous

A Conestoga College team (Laura Kallay, Bridget Dignard and Nathan Lavoie plus course director Philippe Savaria) won Mushroom Canada's recent "Make it With Mushrooms" competition with this dish.

2 large cloves garlic
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large portobello mushooms (each about 5 inches wide), cleaned, stems (if any) diced, caps cut in thick slices
1/2 vidalia/Spanish onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 cup whole wheat couscous
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup finely grated asiago cheese
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt + freshly ground pepper

Trim root end of garlic, leaving skin intact. Place on square of foil. Drizzle with oil. Fold and seal to form package. Roast in preheated 350F 15 minutes to soften. Open foil to cool slightly.

Discard skin. Mince or mash flesh.

In small saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add onions. Cook, stirring, 3 minutes or until translucent. Add carrots, celery and mushroom stems (if any). Cover. Cook 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add couscous. Stir in boiling water. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand at least 5 minutes. Stir in cheese and garlic.

Meanwhile, mix remaining 1 tablespoon oil with vinegar. Brush all over portobello slices. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

In medium skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat, cook 1 to 2 minutes per side or until mushrooms release liquid, liquid is evaporated and mushrooms are tender at surface but firm in centre.

To serve, divide couscous mixture over 2 plates. Arrange equal portions portabella slices over each.

Makes 2 servings."

Courtesy of the Toronto Star