About Blueberries

Blueberry History

Blueberries, also known as bilberries, whortleberries and hurtleberries, are named for their velvety, deep-blue color, of course. These luscious berries are one of the few fruits native to North America.

Native Americans used the berries, leaves, and roots for medicinal purposes. The fruit was used as a fabric dye and combined with meat into a nutritious dried jerky.

The shrub is of the genus Vaccinium, from the Latin vacca for cow since cows love them, a fact first noted by Captain James Cook in the late 1700s.

Blueberries are often confused with huckleberries, which are of the Gaylussacia genus.

Blueberries used to be picked by hand until the invention of the blueberry rake by Abijah Tabbutt of Maine in 1822, so it's no wonder that Maine's state berry is the blueberry.

The most popular variety of blueberry is Vaccinium corymbosum, known as the "highbush" blueberry. The wild "lowbush" varieties are a favorite of those who like to pick their own in the wilds.

Blueberry and Health

Blueberries were prominent in Russian folk medicine, used as a preventative measure and cure for flux and other abdominal problems.

Native Americans used blueberry leaves in medicinal teas thought to be good for the blood and blueberry juice was used to treat coughs.

The blueberry is still prized for its antioxidant health benefits and as a laxative, as well as other folk remedies.

During World War II, British Royal Air Force pilots consumed bilberries (a blueberry relative), which purportedly improved their night vision. Later studies show a sound basis for this practice because blueberries are high in bioflavonoids which are used by the rods in the eye for night vision.

Blueberries rank as the number one fruit provider of antioxidants. They are also high in iron.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

INGREDIENTS

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
6-oz bunch of cut spinach
16-oz strawberries, quartered
4-oz crumbled blue cheese or goat feta
1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds or pecans
Red wine vinaigrette
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Toss together red onion and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with red wine vinaigrette; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 6 servings.

Vegan Rhubarb Strawberry Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 double pie shell
4 cups fresh rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
1 cup agave
6 tablespoons arrowroot
2 cups thickly sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unbleached white flour

DIRECTIONS

Fit bottom crust into a 10-inch pie plate. Refrigerate the dough and rolled-out crust.

Put sliced rhubarb into a colander with a bowl underneath. Pour agave over rhubarb and allow to drain 1 hour. In a saucepan, mix arrowroot with half of the drained agave. Heat until thickened over low heat, then add the rest of the agave.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix rhubarb and strawberries together in bowl. Add agave mixture along with cinnamon and flour. Gently toss to mix. Pour into prepared pie shell. Roll out top crust and place on top. Join crusts, fluting edges. Slash top so steam can escape.

Bake one hour in preheated oven. Allow to cool, then refrigerate a few hours to set (if you can stand to wait that long).

Serves 8 to 10.

Minister defends crackdown on safety of natural health products

GLORIA GALLOWAY

May 13, 2008

OTTAWA -- Health Minister Tony Clement is taking on the manufacturers of natural health products who object to his government's attempts to subject them to the same type of oversight proposed for pharmaceuticals, food and consumer products.

Rallies were held in Alberta, British Columbia and Toronto last week to protest against Bill C-51, the new federal consumer protection legislation that critics say will restrict access to natural medicines.

But Mr. Clement said in an interview that Canadians have a right to know the natural health products they buy are safe.

The problems created by mislabeling and the inclusion of potentially dangerous chemicals in a small number of the products has created the potential for severe harm, he said.

"I have had to issue warnings as Health Minister for liver damage, increased risk of cardiac arrest, increased risk of stroke. And these things are happening on a frequent basis," he said.

Most of the manufacturers want to make safe products, he said. But "we have to protect Canadians from the 1 per cent that are the bad apples. And if there are some elements of this industry that think they will go unregulated while other aspects of health care are regulated, such as pharmaceutical products, that's just not on."

Since 2004, natural health products have had to be registered with Health Canada. But the industry says that 60 per cent of the products that have been submitted for approval have been rejected.

"The issue with this bill is really around the enforcement, the definitions and the restrictions for natural health products on the marketplace," said Ian Stewart, the director of regulatory affairs for Truehope, an Alberta company that makes natural medicines for depression and stress disorders.

For natural products, Mr. Stewart said, "the requirements to get market authorization will be so onerous, [as will] the restrictions on being able to have these products in the marketplace, that these products are just going to be illegal in the marketplace or will be removed from the marketplace."

But Mr. Clement discounts most of the concerns being expressed by the industry.

For one thing, products that are currently on the market will not be pulled from the shelves, even if they are in the backlog waiting to be approved, unless there is a reported adverse reaction.

The rejection rate for approvals is actually closer to 50 per cent, the minister said, and usually it's just a problem with paperwork being filed incorrectly - something that can quickly be straightened out.

There are rumours that the new legislation would mean that doctors' prescriptions will be required for the natural health products, right down to vitamin C.

"That's ridiculous, that never will happen, that's not found in the bill and never would be," Mr. Clement said.

Products such as vitamin C, whose health effects are well known, will not be subjected to the intense scrutiny that will be directed at those that are chemical compounds akin to a pharmaceutical, he said.