A review of Taiwanese Sesame Paste
Saturday, December 27, 2008 at 08:53PM
Updated on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 07:45PM by
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Healthy eating in Taiwan can be a problem. While looking for an alternative to imported peanut butter made in China, I considered a Taiwanese brand of sesame butter. Sesame butter is manufactured from sesame seeds, and has the advantage of being sugar free and high in calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. Fufann Sesame Paste is hygienically produced (HACCP), has won awards for food quality, and is attractively packaged. It seems like a good product.
PROS
1] Geek appeal. The first thing I noticed about Fufann Sesame Paste was the use of Gwoyeu Romatzyh (tonal spelling of Mandarin) in the brand name: "fann" is 4th tone fan (four tones: fan, farn, faan, fann). I granted them five points for being wise enough to use the best romanization ever devised.
2] Hygiene. The second thing that caught my eye was the ISO-2200 HACCP certificate for food hygiene. That was enough for twenty more points.
3] The taste test will have to wait until I open the can
CONS
Brimming with virtue, I came home with my can of health-promoting sesame paste, but my joy soon turned to suspicion. Looking more closely at the label, I started to notice discrepancies.